Probably Science - podcast cover

Probably Science

Andy Wood, Matt Kirshenprobablyscience.com
Professional comedians with so-so STEM pedigrees take you through this week in science. Incompetently. Featuring hosts Matt Kirshen, Andy Wood (and sometimes Jesse Case or Brooks Wheelan) along with a rotating cast of special guests from the worlds of comedy and science.

Episodes

Episode 419 - Dana Eagle

Comedian Dana Eagle ( @DanaEagleTweets ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the latest on Desert Tony's health, the world's oldest computer , mechanical gears found in nature , sea slugs that survive self-decapitation , a change of heart from a former head/body transplant candidate and Dana's book How To Be Depressed . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access PLUS $30 off when you sign up for an annual plan by v...

Mar 17, 20211 hr 17 min

Episode 418 - Dave Gorman

Comedian, author and now cryptic crossword setter Dave Gorman ( @DaveGorman ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the world of cryptic crosswords , standup about math(s) , cuttlefish that pass the marshmallow test , words that are their own antonyms , testing the efficacy of psychedelic microdosing , creativity testing , Andy's favorite Tracey Ullman sketch , glow-in-the-dark sharks , the New Zealand tsunami that wasn't , counter-illumination , a swarm of earthquakes under Mt. Hood , and Dave's many ...

Mar 11, 20211 hr 28 min

Episode 417 - Sarah Dorfman

Comedian and analytics consultant Sarah Dorfman ( @SarahPDorfman ) joins Andy and Matt to discuss asking a ton of whys , magnetic pole flips and killing neanderthals , trees showing pole flips , India's lake of skeletons , the first photograph ever , the hidden message in Perseverance's parachute , AI conquering '80s video games , and little Jack Black in an ad for Pitfall ....

Mar 06, 20211 hr 15 min

Episode 416 - Wayne Federman

Comedian, podcaster and author of the upcoming book The History of Standup Wayne Federman ( @Federman ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the original location of Stonehenge , why its construction might not have been that hard , transparent wood that's stronger than glass , whether glass is a liquid or not , training pigs to use joystick s and what the future holds for standup comedy. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial ...

Feb 21, 20211 hr 12 min

Episode 415 - Brandie Posey

Comedian and podcaster Brandie Posey ( @Brandazzle ) returns to the show to talk about hosting celebrity karaoke and ending up on TMZ , more details on how wombat poop ends up cubed , a quick refresher on platonic solids , Brexit and bees , Wandavision, the insane amount of power consumed by Bitcoin and quantum encryption in space ....

Feb 11, 20211 hr 24 min

Episode 414 - April Richardson

Comedian April Richardson ( @apey ) of the podcast Why Do I Like This? returns to the show to chat about moving to England, the smallest reptile on Earth , hibernation in early humans , teaching spinach to send emails , Tiny Elvis and the Wilhelm Scream . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Feb 07, 20211 hr 13 min

Episode 413 - Eli Braden

Comedian/musician Eli Braden ( @EliBraden ) returns to the show to discuss stonks, the Robinhood fiasco, PredictIt.org , The Hustler , Psycho Goreman , more dinosaur butthole developments , Colgate University , Perseverance's upcoming Mars landing and evidence of multiple Mars ice ages ....

Jan 29, 20211 hr 19 min

Episode 412 - Marcus Brigstocke

Comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke ( @marcusbrig ) joins Andy and Matt to discuss blowing things up in school, puckle guns, coordinated electric eel attacks , solving the mystery of butterfly flight , separating dire wolf fact from fiction and giving shrooms to pigs ....

Jan 23, 20211 hr 10 min

Episode 411 - Frank Wilczek

Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek ( @FrankWilczek ), author of the new book Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality , joins Matt and Andy to talk about the work that earned him a Nobel Prize, as well as his book, which delves into the essential concepts that form our understanding of how the universe works, digging into fundamental ideas like time, space, matter, energy, complexity and complementarity. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-...

Jan 15, 20211 hr 18 min

Episode 410 - Ed Byrne

Comedian Ed Byrne ( @MrEdByrne ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss spiteful octopuses punching fish , using AI to solve protein structures , why recycling doesn't happen as much anymore (and Taiwan's amazing waste turnaround ), and Europe's plan for a space claw to capture orbiting junk . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Jan 07, 20211 hr 26 min

Episode 409 - Dr. Peter McGraw

Author, podcaster and behavioral economist Dr. Peter McGraw ( @PeterMcGraw ) returns to the show to talk with Matt and Andy about behavioral economics, cognitive biases, hellish comedy gigs, the science of humor, The Philadelphia Incident , Peter's new book Schtick to Business , stigmas surrounding unmarried life, flaws in happiness studies, how to support an aging populace that isn't being replaced, the new social media platform Clubhouse, Andy's recent shingles bout and Peter's latest podcast ...

Dec 18, 20201 hr 27 min

Episode 408 - Alex Schmidt

Returning guest Alex Schmidt ( @AlexSchmidty ) of the podcast Secretly Incredibly Fascinating joins Andy and Matt to swap Jeopardy stories and discuss Doug the cat ruining equipment, grapefruit facts, The Ray Cat Solution to use glowing cats to warn future humans about radioactive waste , the monolith in Utah , Europa's mysterious glow and a beetle you can run over with a car . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with...

Dec 10, 20201 hr 13 min

Episode 407 - Megan Gailey

Comedian Megan Gailey ( @megangailey ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about honeybees flying sideways , acoustic camouflage on earless moths , new moon rocks , meatless diets and brittle bones , the coolest dinosaur skeletons ever , fossil-hunting laws and Megan's podcast The Greatest ....

Dec 05, 20201 hr 10 min

Episode 406 - Charlie Fonville

Producer and current Jeopardy champion Charlie Fonville ( @charliefonville ) joins Matt and Andy , whose four-day Jeopardy streak Charlie put an end to just yesterday, to talk about sharing the stage with the legendary Alex Trebek, the game theory of Jeopardy, including Daily Double and Final Jeopardy betting strategies , the Two-Thirds Rule , and Andy's odd-seeming bet when facing Stratton's Dilemma , then diving into stories about the return of a rocket from 54 years ago , the launch of a dogh...

Nov 21, 20201 hr 15 min

Episode 405 - Alex Falcone

Comedian Alex Falcone ( @alex_falcone ) of the podcast Read It and Weep ( and a great NASA rejection letter ) joins Andy and Matt to talk about why Benford's Law doesn't apply to election data , Hamburglar voting irregularities , Andy's upcoming Jeopardy appearance (this Monday, November 16th), whether or not Alex Falcone was named after Alex Trebek, some good news on using psilocybin to treat depression , British soldiers on acid , a ridiculously named new Covid-19 drug and Canada's top science...

Nov 11, 20201 hr 19 min

Episode 404 - James Austin Johnson

Comedian James Austin Johnson ( @shrimpJAJ ) returns to the podcast after a seven-year hiatus to talk about dinosaur butts , water on the moon , cell phone networks on the moon , shocking your tongue to cure tinnitus ... and for some reason President Donald J. Trump happens to call in to give his take on Sega Genesis reboots and lame duck hunts....

Oct 29, 20201 hr 3 min

Episode 403 - Michael Marshall

Author Michael Marshall ( @m_c_marshall ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about his new book The Genesis Quest , which explores the century-long effort to understand how life began on Earth and the many interesting characters who dedicated themselves to solving this massive scientific puzzle. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Oct 24, 20201 hr 15 min

Episode 402 - John Hastings

Comedian John Hastings ( @thejohnhastings ) joins Andy and Matt to talk about the questionable comedy of Roy Chubby Brown , neanderthal genes and covid-19 , water bodies under the surface of Mars , and using balanced rocks to increase nuclear safety . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Oct 17, 20201 hr 26 min

Episode 401 - Gene Pompa

Comedian Gene Pompa ( @genepompa ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss methanol-fueled robot beetles , super long words , methylated alcohol , why the moon is rusting , smartphones knowing when you're drunk-walking and corn that makes its own mucus ....

Oct 10, 20201 hr 12 min

Episode 400 - Brooks Wheelan and Jesse Case

The gang's back together to celebrate 400 episodes of Probably Science! Erstwhile hosts Jesse Case ( @jessecase ) and Brooks Wheelan ( @brookswheelan ) join Matt and Andy to discuss counting magicians, Jesse's proximity to train tracks, Ig Nobel prizes for alligators on helium and narcissist eyebrows , detecting phosphine in the clouds of Venus , finding super old sperm in amber , an earthquake hack to measure ocean warming and podcast recommendations including Our Fake History , Entry Level and...

Sep 26, 20201 hr 10 min

Episode 399 - Kat Arney

Jesse Case rejoins the show for a cancer special with science writer Dr. Kat Arney ( @Kat_Arney ), author of Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Sep 17, 20201 hr 7 min

Episode 398 - Jen Burton

Comedian Jen Burton ( @jensburpin ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Africa getting rid of wild polio , painting turbine blades to save birds , a Jeopardy furry champ, an uncuttable material and Idyllwild's very good boy Mayor Max ....

Sep 01, 20201 hr 4 min

Episode 397 - Mia Jackson

Mia Jackson ( @miacomedy ) join Matt and Andy to talk about old-time casino heists, asteroids that are the greatest basketball player of all time , ancient Americans , songbirds warming up and 100-million-year-old microbes that are still alive . Check out Mia’s performances on Unprotected Sets on Epix, and her Comedy Central half hour . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus...

Aug 29, 20201 hr

Episode 396 - Adam Cayton-Holland

Despite a technical glitch, the excellent Adam Cayton-Holland ( @CaytonHolland ), star of Those Who Can’t, the new podcast The Grawlix Saves The World , and his new album Semblance of Normalcy , talks with Andy and Matt about the word stentorian , Earth’s magnetic anomaly , scientific collaborations and X shapes in the galaxy , finding out there's more than one foot , the threat of swooping magpies and what, exactly, ropey means . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offeri...

Aug 22, 20201 hr 1 min

Episode 395 - Lynn Ferguson

Writer, actress and story coach Lynn Ferguson ( @lynnfergy ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about house snooping and fountain misuse, chickens, wasps in figs , coyote melons, spying on penguin poop , Andy's hiking discovery , painting eyes on cow butts and whether hot water freezes faster than cold . Check out Michelle Biloon’s album Permanent Hat and Sara Schaefer's book Grand !...

Aug 15, 20201 hr 17 min

Episode 394 - Jon Reep

Matt’s Last Comic Standing buddy (and Season 5 winner) Jon Reep @jonreep joins Matt and Andy to talk about getting COVID, meteors and moons , Shazam for spiders , anus-escaping water beetles , unusual places to grow a penis , medieval antibiotics , Jon's new podcast Country-ish and this totally independent, unbiased ranking of podcasts that we hope to break. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiti...

Aug 06, 202058 min

Episode 393 - Mike McShane

Improv and comedy acting legend Mike McShane ( @thismikemcshane ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about the funniest kind of nudity, cognitive impairment tests, the limits of human eating , the star that's hurtling across the universe , a sperm robot story we've done before , and mathematicians boycotting the police . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Jul 26, 20201 hr

Episode 392 - Jonah Ray

Comedian Jonah Ray ( @jonahray ), host of Jonah Raydio and co-guest with Matt on TONIGHT'S episode of The Great Debate on Syfy, talks about his great Seeso show Hidden America , taking over MST3K (and his favorite episode ), how flying snakes fly , hungry hungry black holes , Twitter hacks and Bitcoin scams , talking to prairie dogs and the coming population crash . This episode is brought to you by StartAPod , providing our listeners with a special offer by visiting StartAPod.com/probably...

Jul 16, 20201 hr 16 min

Episode 391 - Steph Tolev

Comedian Steph Tolev ( @StephTolev ) joins Andy and Matt from Toronto to discuss quarantining and TikTok-ing with her family , the history of sled dogs , a black neutron star discovery , putting sheep in K-holes and a $23 million space toilet ....

Jul 10, 20201 hr 12 min

Episode 390 - Chris Garcia

Comedian and host of the outstanding podcast Scattered Chris Garcia ( @_chrisgarcia ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss getting a little too much parental help with science fair projects, dolphins using tools , 3D printing inside the body and how burning coal 250 million years ago led to climate change . This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably...

Jul 04, 202056 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast