Stuff You Should Know - Archive

Back in the day, broadcasters were bound by law to provide contrasting opinions on political matters. Why? Because of the Fairness Doctrine. What happened to it? Listen to this classic episode and find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we dive into the unremorseful life of NYC Subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harvesting rainwater has tons of upsides and not many downsides – you just need to take a few precautions first. Don’t miss this episode, which features some Josh Math™.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They say that smiling requires fewer muscles than frowning, so why not smile? That doesn’t seem to be true, or at least unproven, and there is lots more about smiling that will keep you glued to your earbuds in this fun episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh and Chuck delve into the world of 911 in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The disaster at Three Mile Island thankfully did not cost any lives directly, but the notion that it didn't harm people is very much up in the air. Learn all about the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the United States today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1955, the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance motor race took a very dark turn when a terrible accident on the track continued into the crowd.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Van Gogh lived a troubled life and did not garner attention as a painter until after his death by suicide. Today we dive into this complicated journey as an artist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anything to it? In this classic episode, we dig in to this dense topic to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From 1968 to 1972 Howard Hughes holed up in a suite in the Desert Inn casino in Las Vegas. Addicted to morphine and living on candy bars and milk, he was in bad shape. When he was told to leave, he bought the hotel and stayed. Soon he owned half of Vegas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does knuckle cracking give you arthritis? It doesn't appear to. But that doesn't mean it's harmless.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are quacks and then there is Linda Hazzard. Not only did she starve her patients to death, but she took their family fortunes as she did it. This is the story of Starvation Heights.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flight attendants have come a long way. From having to put up with rampant sexism, to the current incarnation as your first line of defense in case of an incident, they are valued airline employees. Learn all about this cool job in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the darkest days in the history of American law enforcement came on April 19, 1993, when the FBI’s 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian religious sect’s compound in Waco, Texas ended with a fire and 75 men, women, and children dead inside.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are BPAs safe? Of course not. Does the FDA care? Of course not. Learn all about what and why today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eels are pretty much objectively unsettling. They’re not quite fish (although they are) and if they’re snakes, they’re messed up snakes (they aren’t). But they’re fascinating too! There are even little cute eels. It’s time you got acquainted with eels!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Mallory was a member of the first three European expeditions to Everest, world’s tallest mountain. He wanted to summit it so badly, he gave his life trying. Since that fateful day in 1924, climbers have wondered – was Mallory the first to summit? Listen as Josh and Chuck explore that question and lots more in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hard to believe we haven't covered this one yet, but here we are. Why did the Hindenburg crash and burn? We still don't really know.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Strange but true, actor Tippi Hedron kickstsarted the Vietnamese manicure industry in the United States in the 1970s. This is that story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you don’t believe in any kind of god or afterlife - or even that there’s a meaning to life – does that mean you’re doomed to a life of gloom and doom? Heck no!, say humanists. Their philosophical movement says you can make your own meaningful life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First of all, movies can't be cursed because curses aren't real. However, that can't stop Josh and Chuck from taking a look at some movies throughout history that have had a disturbing number of bad things surrounding their production and release. Dive into the world of cursed movies in this very fun classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camp David is awesome. But not all presidents have liked it. We'll dig into this historic property in today's episiode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kangaroos are the only marsupial to hop, which is pretty weird. We'll investigate why. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boeing used to be one of the most respected engineering firms in the world. Then it changed its focus from making great airplanes to increasing its stock value. The result was the 737-MAX, a plane that took the lives of 346 people in two avoidable crashes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Psychologist Julian Jaynes came up with a stunning hypothesis in 1976, that human consciousness only developed in the last 3000 years. And he seemed to have proof in ancient texts. Scholars have been picking it apart ever since and in this classic episode we join the club.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of course we're talking all about maple syrup today - the tapping, the processing, the eating.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By all rights there should be three sets of molars in your mouth. But it turns out that our skulls aren’t really set up to accommodate that many anymore. Exactly why depends on who you ask.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1970s, conservation groups around the world rose up to protect dwindling whale populations, some on the verge of extinction. They all worked under the same banner: Save the Whales! It turned out to be one of the most successful campaigns ever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fever dreams can be unsettling experiences. These ramped up nightmares are vivid, detailed and only happen when the human body experiences a fever. What is it about the combination of fevers and dreams that make these night terrors so hellish? Learn all that and more in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humanity’s created a lot of neat things over the eons and starting in the 1940s, the UN created an agency focused on preserving those things for the whole world and future people. But that mission is in danger of becoming only about branding and money.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a kind of bird that lots of people think is a real jerk. And it kind of is. But in the brown-headed cowbird’s defense, it’s just evolved that way. Find out why it has such a bad reputation among bird lovers in this Short Stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once in a while someone comes up with a solution for a problem we didn’t know we had, and maybe even a problem that didn’t even exist. Even more rarely, the stars align just right so that some crackpot invention captures everyone’s imagination.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this classic episode Josh and Chuck sit down and detail the complicated life of the late, great Sammy Davis Jr.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2014 a ferry carrying hundreds of South Korean high school students on a field trip sunk, killing almost everyone on board. Hauntingly, their deaths were fully avoidable: everyone from the dock inspector to the Coast Guard to the president failed them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Japanese Cherry Blossom is a sight to behold. But how did they get to Washington D.C.?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all love to tour our generation's superiority, but who decides where the split occurs and what to name it? And is this even a thing or just an arbitrary division?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think secretly coded messages sent via short wave radio is Cold War relic, think again. In this classic episode, Chuck and Josh are here to dispel that myth, along with many others relating to numbers stations, including why they might still be operational.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The worker co-op has a rich tradition and can work a variety of ways. Join us as we dig into the nuts and bolts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think Spring Break started with northern college kids heading to Florida to party, you'd be correct. But there's slightly more to it than that. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jump in today to hear all about the disaster that was the movie ROAR.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you live in the Northeastern U.S. then you may know someone who has had Lyme disease. But it's spreading all over the country and parts of the world. Learn all about this tick-borne disease in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deciding how to share water is pretty important stuff when there isn't much of it around. Today we dive into the Colorado River Compact.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pretty much everyone agrees that English is a chaotic language. There are nutso rules of grammar and spelling other languages don’t have. More than once, movements have emerged to simplify English and each time they were beaten back with a vengeance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lots of nations gauge the health of their country by how the middle class is doing. There’s just one issue with that – no one can say exactly what defines the middle class. But even when you take a guess, it seems like the health isn’t so good these days.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2014, a young German man walked into an airport in Bulgaria with a flight booked, then suddenly ran out leaving all his posessions behind, never to be heard from again. This classic episode tells the story of Lars Mittank.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malcolm X was one of the most revered, feared leaders of the civil rights movement. In contrast to Martin Luther King, Jr., X advocated black self-reliance and separateness in American society and that equal rights should obtained by any means necessary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1876 it rained meat out of the clear blue sky on a homestead in Bath County, Kentucky. While the mystery of what happened will never be solved, the best explanation makes the story even weirder than it seems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first fires came from lightning strikes. After that, no one is super sure when we started controlling it and then later, starting our own. But it's sure fun to speculate!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there's one thing we've learned about Chuck over the years it's that he loves his gin. And he loves it even more now that understands it. Pour yourself a martini and cozy up to the classic gin-cast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Caterpillars are simply the best. Don't think so? Well listen in and you'll soon agree.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you thought caterpillars were awesome, just wait until you see them with colorful, iridescent wings!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They seem gross and bothersome at first, but once you get down to ground level and get to know snails, we’ll bet you’ll grow quite fond of them. They are living in a whole world we’re largely unaware of.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dandelions are way more interesting than you think. Trust us and click play.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Permaculture is a growing trend in the world of farming and home landscaping. It's basically a design principle that emphasizes sustainability and the would-be, natural ecosystem of an area. Simple concepts like planting downhill from a pond and using gravity to feed plants to planting native plants and vegetation that work well together are hallmarks of permaculture. Learn all about this eco-friendly trend today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unless you have an arcane disorder from a lesion on a very specific spot on our medulla, the chances are you sneeze. Turns out most animals do it, even lizards! Learn the whys and hows of this most interesting involuntary reflex.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s time to get jazzed up for some Earth science of the waterlogged variety. Join Chuck and Josh as they tour some of the most interesting ecosystems on the planet and learn why we need to stop destroying them post haste.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may think composting is just a bunch of old banana peels rotting away into dirt but, friend, you're not looking closely enough. Inside that compost pile is a microcosmic universe doing some magical stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Squirrels are rodents, sure, but they’re rodents with personalities the size of Las Vegas and Detroit put together. Get to know your bushy-tailed (and sometimes not so bushy) neighbors who live interesting hidden lives right out in the open.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Honey is an amazing thing. Just ask any bee. They make a ton of it. So much that humans get what bees can't use and that's a lot of honey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you could put your leg behind your head, would you? Of course you would! You might even make a career out of it, amazing people around the world with your flexibility. That’d make you a contortionist! But first you’d better get started with stretching.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jeddah Tower is set to be the tallest building in the world. If it ever gets finished. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ruth Lyons basically invented the daytime talk show, yet she doesn't get the credit. Why is that? Probably because she was a woman in a man's industry. Today we tell her story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mangroves are incredible survivors and adapters. They're also amazing at lessening the impact of tropical storms and climate change. And heck, they're cool looking. So jump into the brackish waters and have a listen to this classic episode all about these beauts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the 1970s to the early 1990s a patch of land in Hong Kong the size of just a few football fields was the most densely-populated area in the world – and by a longshot. Even more remarkable, it was an outlaw land that somehow formed a tight community.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movies on planes have changed a lot in the last couple of decades. Today, we'll go over how this stuff works. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a career grifter tries to throw a "luxury" music festival in only six months? Not much it turns out.This was the Fyre Festival.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Something spooky was born on the American frontier in the mid-19th century: the idea that people’s personalities survive death and that some gifted individuals can communicate with them. It developed into a religion that some still practice today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before the internet could show you anything in the universe - including stuff it made up - people had few opportunities to have their minds blown. But every few years, somewhere in the world nations would gather and show off the cool stuff they invented.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might be familiar with the outlaw Johnny Ringo from the movie Tombstone. He was indeed a real-life black hat gunslinger, and a tragic figure at that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was a time less than 100 years ago when you could exchange your paper currency at the bank for actual gold. Gave folks a sense of stability, it did. Depending on your view, we either ruined or built our economies when money became just paper.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dopamine is perhaps the most talked-about, most misunderstood biochemical in our bodies. It’s linked to not only addiction and depravity, but also focus, motivation, and living a productive life. How can one molecule be so many things to so many people? Find out all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in 1973 a male chauvinist played tennis against champion Billie Jean King. This is that story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s a MacGuffin? We don’t know. No one knows. But it has to do with movies and that’s fun to talk about.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stanford University was co-founded by Jane Stanford. Not long after she was murdered and it was covered up. We'll probably never know what really happened. Listen in today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Free range parenting is all about giving your child the freedom to play and explore life on their own. Are there benefits? Sure. Do some people hate the concept? Yes! Listen to this classic episode and learn right here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Flexner Report shook up medicine in the United States when it was released in 1910 and it's never been the same since. For better or worse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in the 1800s, people had an outsized fear of being buried alive. Enter... THE SAFETY COFFIN!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve ever been out of your house you’ve probably been in a crowd before. They can be as mundane as an elevator full of people or as consequential as a mass of protesters. But did you know there’s psychology to crowds? And they follow fluid dynamics?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Darwin wasn't the first or only scientist to grasp the theory of evolution through natural selection, but he became its father and icon. In this classic episode, learn about the man who reluctantly but bravely became the source of the divide between religion and science.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It turns out that lasers are even cooler than they look. And as far as acronyms go, they’re pretty solid in that respect too. There’s way too much cool stuff about lasers to tease here so listen to this old school SYSK episode and let lasers blow away.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the late 90s, a strange musical instrument was excavated under the streets of CDMX. Listen in to learn all about the Aztec Death Whistle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans have all sorts of weird quirks that cause us to do silly things and make bad decisions. It’s not our fault though. Our brains are wired that way. Learn about the psychology of cognitive biases in this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If look into the mythology of just about any culture in the world, you will find a myth about a great flood that destroyed humanity and submerged the Earth in the distant past. Does this mean that a great flood actually happened? Listen to this classic episode to explore the possibilities with Josh and Chuck.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Cajun Navy was formed after Hurricane Katrina and really got its legs after the Louisiana flood of 2016.  They save a lot of lives, but some fear the pitfalls of "vigilante heroism." Learn all about this group of do-gooders today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever cried way longer than usual when you were in a yellow room? You’ve been smacked by color psychology my friend and it’s got your number.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan were one of the most amazing non-magical duos in history. Imagine living trapped in your own mind – unable to see or hear – and then imagine learning to read, traveling the world, and becoming an ambassador of peace.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In World War II, a secret department of British 'corkscrew thinkers' hatched a plan to use the cadaver of an unclaimed homeless man to turn the tide of the war in the Allies' favor. It worked. Listen to this classic episode as Josh and Chuck take you through the real life tale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think the Golden Gate Bridge is named because of its color then you are wrong. That name proceeds the bridge by a long time. But that’s just one interesting fact about this amazing structure. Tune in today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Magic 8 Ball, the mystical fortune telling pool ball started out as a piece of customer swag for the Brunswick Billiard Company.  Since then, it has changed the course of history and shaped nations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a famous poem about a lesser famous military action during the Crimean War. Tune in today for a rare SYSK walk through wartime history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’d think terms like cage-free and free-range means the chickens we eat are frolicking happily in the fresh air under the shining sun, but you’d be so, so wrong. Cage-free is a huge improvement but free-range is lacking and both have a long way to go. Find out all about both in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur had a famous beef with one another in the mid-90s. It was so intense, it sparked an even wider rivalry between the East and West Coasts. In just a few years, both men had been murdered and the music world was changed forever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Seven Deadly Sins are tied to religion, but not really in the Bible. So where did this naughty list come from?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Chuck and Josh walk you through the history of keeping time, from sticks in the sun to atomic clocks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Borderline Personality Disorder has been described as emotional “third degree burns over ninety percent of your body.” It’s as close to a curse as a personality disorder can be: deep fear of being abandoned creates behaviors that end up driving people off. Learn all about it in this classic episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Data centers are the backbone of our digital world. All the sites you visit and social media you post happen there. A boom in huge data centers to support AI is underway, and they’re taking a big toll on the environment and life for the people around them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the Cold War, the CIA used the legend of a vampire named Aswang to scare locals into not helping the communists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

West Virginia is home to sensitive radio telescopes that could easily pick up your cell phone’s signal on Mars. And the cell reception on Mars is about as good as it is in the NRQZ, since cell towers are banned in the interest of furthering astronomy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For most of history, forgiveness fell under the domain of religion. But in the 1980s science started investigating it and found that forgiving someone is really, really good for you. Learn how anybody can be the better person in this classic, and really great, episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is much more than the winter blues. It's a serious subset of depression. Learn all about it and what to do if you suffer from it today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.