Stuff You Should Know

If you try to kill someone who was already dead is that a bad thing? Yeah? How bad?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Say one thing about Mao's communist China, they could kill some sparrows. Learn why and how in today's episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subpoenas are all the rage. But what do they even mean if someone can just ignore it? Learn this and a lot more in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s an understated miracle that humans can get across ideas to one another by saying things out loud. We’re strangely good at not constantly talking over each other, interrupting one another, and cor...

One of the last uncontacted people in the world live in the Bay of Bengal and they have made it clear they don’t want you to visit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aussie James Harrison gave blood close to 1,200 times over a 60 year period and saved 2.5 million babies in the process. That makes him a hero. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever found your blood pressure rising because some guy down the street doesn’t know how to keep the trigger on a leaf blower pulled all the way, then you’ve experienced noise pollution. Not...

In the 1960s, America took stock of itself when scores of low-income cities broke out in riots. It found that racism was at the root of many social problems. Instead of addressing the underlying issue...

Why does water seem to freeze faster when it starts out warmer?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E-e-e-eek! E-e-e-eek, we say! Adding to the tradition of our wonderful animal episodes we contribute this amazing installment on one of the all-time great sea creatures, the dolphin! Attach a sponge t...

A pair of old timey fossil hunters had a rootin’ tootin’ rivalry that spilled from academic journals into the American Wild West - where fossils were dynamited and employees turned double agent. Learn...

Blue zones are areas where people supposedly have more 100+ year-olds than average. But is it all based on faulty records?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An amazing case of an early modern mass sighting of UFOs came in Nuremberg, Germany in 1561. Except it wasn’t that at all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crooked teeth have always been a thing, but it took us a long time to do something about it. Learn about the twisted history of orthodontics today!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December 1900 three lighthouse keepers vanished without a trace from a deserted island in Scotland. To this day no one knows exactly what happened to them. Find out all about this strange situation...

Private equity is a business operation where companies are bought and run at their leanest to maximize returns for a handful of investors. It can be a lifeline for a flailing company or run it into th...

Why aren't there lemurs in Africa? That question created a whole theory about a lost continent. Turns out it's not true.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1922, a pastor and his mistress were murdered in New Jersey. Nobody was ever convicted of the crime even though it seems clear who did it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rape kits are simple forensic evidence collection kits used when someone is sexually assaulted. But the story is deeper than this. Learn all about rape kits, the sad backlog problem, and what you can...

In part two of Heavy Metal Week Josh and Chuck break down how specialized heavy metal music has become, talk about some of the great album covers, look at how metal hits the brain, and explain the sad...

Metal fans have many ways to express themselves, but none are as metal as throwing the devil horns. But who did it first?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of the most talented musicians in the world play heavy metal, some of the hardest-hitting music ever made. In this episode Chuck and Josh wade into the history of the genre, and try to get to the...

In the absence of an official explanation of why flight MH 370 disappeared in 2014, conjecture and conspiracy theories have filled the vacuum. Find out the current state of things in this classic epis...

In 2014, a Boeing 777 airliner disappeared. Despite two full years of searching an area of ocean covering more than 120,000 square kilometers, it has never been found. It is the only unexplained missi...

What if we could take all the trash and waste we generate every year – gigatons worth – and used it again as raw materials. What we would have is a closed circle, one where we have everything we need...

Marianne Bachmeier committed a shocking act of violence in court in Germany in 1981 to avenge the murder of her young daughter. Many people understood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

The VW Beetle is the best selling car of all time. The story behind its creation is a bit complicated though. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Child prodigies are unique in that they achieve adult levels of achievement, but do not typically excel in adulthood. Why? Who knows. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The food we eat – especially the junk food – is a highly engineered technical marvel that’s designed to make you want nothing other than more! more! more! Learn about how food scientists make that pos...