Stuff You Should Know - podcast cover

Stuff You Should Know

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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Episodes

Kids' Chemistry Sets: KABOOM!

A surprising number of Nobel Prize winners credit their childhood chemistry set for sparking their interest in science. But most kids just used them to make stuff explode. Compared to the originals, today’s versions are super safe, pale shadows. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 12, 202443 min

Selects: What's a quinceañera anyway?

A quinceañera is the celebration of a girl of Hispanic heritage becoming a young woman on her 15th birthday. It involves family, friends, music and a lot of great food. Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they don their favorite pink dresses and go over this wonderful tradition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 09, 202440 min

ADHD pt 2

Today, the conclusion of the two-part episode on ADHD. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 07, 202449 min

Short Stuff: Tornado Alley

North America gets as many as 1400 tornadoes a year. The place with the next highest is the UK at 33. So the spot with the most tornadoes in the US is also the spot with the most tornadoes in the world. That would be Tornado Alley. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 06, 202412 min

ADHD pt 1

Today, Josh and Chuck dive into part one of their two-part suite on ADHD. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 05, 202445 min

Selects: The Strange Story of Sea Monkeys

Anyone who ever picked up a comic book as a kid probably marveled at the ads for the mysterious Sea Monkeys. In reality, they are just brine shrimp, not fantastical beings with magical powers. But the story behind the invention of the Sea Monkey is tale all its own. Listen in to this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 02, 202453 min

15th Annual SYSK Halloween Spooktacular!

Buckle up folks, it's time for another of our favorite traditions, the SYSK Halloween Spooktacular! So sit down, dim the lights and get ready for some spooky stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 31, 20241 hr 1 min

The Mystery of the Skeletons of Roopkund Lake

One of the greatest unsolved historic mysteries is found in a lake atop a mountain glacier high up in the Indian Himalayas. The skeletons of as many as 800 people are inexplicably in and around the lake. No one knows who they are or what happened to them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 29, 202444 min

Selects: Why Landmines Are The Deadliest Legacy Of War

One of the worst legacies of war are the millions of landmines left behind. They hide for decades after a conflict is over, exploding beneath unsuspecting civilians and children. To many, removing mines and banning new ones is of paramount importance. Learn all about the scope of the problem and this important work in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 26, 202452 min

Spend Some Time with Fairies

Most people think of Tinkerbell when we think of fairies, but the Disney versions capture only the last century or so of what we’ve conceived fairies to be. Over millennia they’ve gone from ugly and scary to pretty and helpful and everything in between. Come meet the fae! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 24, 202447 min

Short Stuff: The Story of Spirit Halloween

Every August, abandoned storefronts across America are filled with the spirit of Halloween, by way of the store, Spirit Halloween. Learn all about this wildly successful pop-up today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 23, 202415 min

Q Anon: When Wild Conspiracy Went (sort of) Mainstream

Q Anon believes many things, including that Tom Hanks is a Satan-worshipping, child-eating pedophile. Yeah. We'll just leave our "drop" right here for you to make up your own mind. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 22, 202449 min

Selects: Porcupines: Little Stabby Cutie Pies

We love animals. A lot. Especially underrated ones like the darling porcupine. Listen in to this classic episode to learn all about these stabby little boogers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 19, 202440 min

Kudzu: The Vine That Just Won't Stop

If you're from the American South, then kudzu is something that cannot be avoided. But how did this invasive species get here and why does it love to consume everything in its path? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 17, 202439 min

Short Stuff: Redacted!

The process of redacting sensitive information is long and storied. But are there even any rules that apply to when and how it's done? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 16, 202412 min

The Anarchist Cookbook: Funny but Dangerous

You might have owned the Anarchist Cookbook once, but you probably didn’t use it to turn a shotgun into a grenade launcher or build a bomb. Unfortunately some people did and the author called for this book of “forbidden knowledge” to be taken out of print. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 15, 202441 min

Selects: How Paramedics Work

Paramedics are not EMTs. Or fire fighters. Or cops. But they do ride around in ambulances (and drive) to help to save lives. It's a stressful job and in this classic episode we shine a light on this noble profession. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 12, 202448 min

Swatches!

The story of the Swatch is super cool and one of the great retail successes. Listen in today to find out just why a country known for the finest craftsmanship started making plastic watches for the masses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 10, 202445 min

Short Stuff: Mystery of the Sarah Jo

In another chapter of our continuing mysteries of the sea theme, we deliver a truly baffling mystery involving a ship that was lost and found, which brought more questions than answers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 09, 202410 min

Gobekli Tepe

Gobekli Tepe is a profoundly ancient spiritual site that shouldn’t exist, according to conventional wisdom. The massive site of columns and pictograms was built thousands of years before humans were thought to have been able to create anything like it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 08, 202447 min

Selects: How the Escape from Alcatraz Worked

In 1962, three ordinary criminals transcended into folk heroes when they crawled out of their cells in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary took to the water in a homemade raft and were never heard from again. Could they have possibly survived? Find out more in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 05, 202455 min

The Strange Story of Lysol

The Lysol we know now is sold as disinfectant only. But at one time it was also marketed as a means of birth control. Listen in today to the twisted history of this common household product. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 03, 202444 min

Short Stuff: Flower Power

What we equate with acid, hippies, and garish polyester prints actually began as a theatrical way of protesting bans on free speech and the Vietnam War. When the hippies got hold of it, it definitely transformed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 02, 202412 min

The Shadow Biosphere: Is There Other Life on Earth?

As far as we know life evolved once in the universe – here on Earth in the form of life as we know it. Could life have originated in other conditions with different raw materials? If so, we may be sharing the planet with lifeforms we don’t recognize yet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 01, 202443 min

Selects: Rosa Parks: Agent of Change

Rosa Parks finishes out our Black History Month episodes in grand fashion. While most know her from that fateful day on the Montgomery city bus, she actually had a long life as an advocate, protestor and agent of change. Join us via this classic episode as we celebrate one of America's great history makers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 28, 202451 min

The Judas Priest Suicide Trial

A greatest hit of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s came when the metal band Judas Priest was put on trial for the suicides of two teens. While the case was preposterous – based on alleged hidden satanic messages in the music – it arose from a real tragedy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 26, 202449 min

Short Stuff: The SS Ourang Medang

We love our ghost ships here at SYSK and this is one of the better ones. But did it really even exist? Not likely. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 25, 202411 min

Four Eyes Good: The History of Glasses

Glasses as we know them have only been around for a few hundred years. So what did people do before this? And how did things change once spectacles were on the scene? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 24, 202450 min

Selects: How Government Shutdowns Work

Every year Congress decides how the federal government will spend money. Simple enough, but in practice politics tend to mess it up. Sometimes it gets so messy the budget doesn’t get passed and parts of the government shut down. Then the hurting begins. Learn all about it in this classic, always timely episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 21, 202452 min