Stuff You Should Know

Today we highlight and celebrate a couple of alternative libraries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since Shakespeare wrote his tragedy on Richard III the world has thought of him as an evil king with a shriveled soul. But is that actually unjust?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they go down the sport shoe rabbit hole, detailing the strange tail of the brothers who brought Puma and Adidas to the world. Sibling rivalry, Nazis, sho...

Disaster films are surprisingly tough to define. What makes them different from an action movie or a monster movie? Who cares? They’re great! Escape with us as we cover the the ins and outs and the hi...

The Doomsday Clock is closer too midnight than it's ever been, which is not awesome. But what does this metaphorical clock even indicate?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

British MI6 agent Kim Philby was a spy for the Soviet Union and one of the great liars in human history, right up until his retirement in Moscow where he lived out his days as a national hero.See omny...

Cake has been around for a long time, but mostly less than great forms. It took the Industrial Revolution, the advent of plentiful sugar, and some good old American know-how to come together to make t...

In the late 90s, a large chunk of the field of social psychology started dedicating itself to figuring out ways to subtly persuade and influence people’s everyday decisions without their awareness. If...

We’ve all heard of white noise, that static sound the TV makes when poltergeists arrive. There are other colored noise too that mimic natural sounds like rainfall and ocean waves. What they do for us...

Editorial, or political cartoons, have a rich history in the United States and abroad. And though the Golden Age may have passed, the use of images to create satire and sway public opinion is still al...

Agatha Christie was a great writer of murder mystery novels and is probably the best selling author of all time. Listen in this classic episode to learn her story.See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

The Pinkertons became the most famous detective company in the U.S. But were they noble or notorious? We get to the bottom of it all in today's episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

The world experienced its first economic bubble when the Dutch went bonkers for tulips in the 1630s.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We move for all sorts of reasons – new job, new grandkid – but moving because it’s just too darn hot? That’s a new one. But it’s going to pick up in the next few decades as more people around the worl...

The word doula in Ancient Greek might mean "female servant" but it's really not a great description of the 21st century job. Doulas are birth coaches who help women get through the process of childbir...

A manhunt is launched for MLK’s killer, James Earl Ray. After his capture he pleads guilty. With no trial the world won’t hear the facts of the case laid out in court, giving rise to decades of conspi...

Poutine is just one of those comforting dishes that's a must have when visiting the great nation of Canada. Is it good for you? Nope. But who cares right?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

When he was murdered by an assassin’s bullet, MLK was going through a hard time in his life and many close to him say that he knew the end was near. But even he couldn’t have predicted the impact his...

When you get a bunch of artistic types together into a community – aka, the art world – some intrigue and mystery are bound to arise. Listen in to this classic episode as Chuck and Josh cover strangen...

Indigenous women in Canada have always been vulnerable, but there’s a stretch of remote road that’s such a hotspot for disappearances, assaults, and murders of women that it’s been called the Highway...

Everyone knows brown eggs are more natural than white eggs right? Except that's not true. In reality there is zero difference because it's just a genetic variation. Listen in to learn more!See omnystu...

The Chelsea Hotel is one of New York City's landmarks for good reason. It's served as housing for bohemian creatives and addicts, and been through several iterations over its history, from divey resid...

Every year the flu virus makes the rounds, laying up young and old alike for days before moving on to another hapless victim. But flu viruses can mutate and once in awhile they turn into something muc...

The good news is that we know antidepressants can treat major depression, helping millions of people live healthier lives. The bad news is that we don’t really know how they do that. Check out the the...

Pete Rose said she was “bigger than any one player” in baseball during the 70s and 80s. Morganna the Kissing Bandit became a legend in sports for running onto baseball fields and kissing players durin...

Scrabble is a game that neither of us plays with regularity. And maybe that's good for this episode. We're all learning, right?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is literally all around you (and even inside you) - electricity makes up the basis of modern life. But what exactly is electricity and how does it work? In this classic episode, Josh and Chuck chas...

The market for Chinese art used to be very small and is now a billion dollar annual industry. What changed? And how is this all tied to a string of heists? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/li...

A request by our producer Dave C, we explore how totally on your own you were in Medieval England when the court declared you an outlaw.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The telephone switchboard was a real wonder of technology and laid the groundwork for the next generation of connectivity. Learn how these things worked today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...