Shows / Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Should Know
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
- Stuff You Should Know
The Mystery of the Lost Amber Room
Chuck and Josh turn into the Hardy Boys for one of the great unsolved mysteries of WWII, a work of art worth a king’s ransom that went missing in 1945. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Max Headroom Affair
In 1987, a very strange broadcast intrusion occurred in the city of Chicago. For just a couple of minutes, the odd TV character Max Headroom appeared onscreen…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire
The fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was not in Los Angeles, but Kentucky. Which happened to be Las Vegas before Vegas was Vegas. Confused? Listen in and…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Beulah Mae Donald
In 1981 a Mobile mother of six was forced into the role of civil rights activist when the Klan murdered her son and she was moved to fight back. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Glorious Flamingo
Flamingos are much more than just pretty pink birds. They are in fact, quite remarkable! Listen and learn… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Cave Diving: Totally Nuts
There are extreme sports and then there is cave diving, the most extreme activity a person can engage in without leaving Earth. Cave divers stay underwater…
- Stuff You Should Know
How (O)possums Work
Josh and Chuck take a listener’s suggestion – many, many suggestions – and learn that possums are pretty great and very much misunderstood. By the end of this…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: No Shirt, No Shoes, WTF
You can thank your parents and grandparents for the longstanding ban against dining shirtless and shoeless. While the concept was around, it mushroomed when…
- Stuff You Should Know
Honey: Nature's Wonder Sugar
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Easy Bake Ovens Work
Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all about these light bulb cooking, working ovens that endanger…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Largely Equine History of Veterinary Medicine
Vets have been around for a long time, but mainly to care for horses. When horse travel went away, guess who saved the profession? Dogs! See…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Bird Migration
Where are all those birds flying anyway? How do they decide? When do they do it? All of these questions, and more, are answered in this week's ep. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
Must We Suffer Emotional Pain?
It’s part of the human condition, to feel the pain of sorrow, loss, embarrassment. But isn’t it kind of weird that an overwhelming emotion can cause you…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Elephants: The Best Animals?
Elephants are pretty much the best. Why? Josh and Chuck will let you know in great detail in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Attachment Theory Works
A theory in the field of psychology has become so pervasive, it’s generally taken on faith that it’s true. It says that how your parents respond to you during…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Adam's Apples and Throat Lumps
This week's short stuff is all about throat lumps and Adam's apples. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
Let's Talk About John DeLorean
John DeLorean: visionary, car maker extraordinaire, buyer of large amounts of cocaine, provider of time machine chassis. There is a lot to understand about…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Game Shows Work
Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live show on game shows and their place in cultures around the…
- Stuff You Should Know
Toast: As in browned bread
Toast is bread that has been browned by heat. It's delicious. This is our ode to toast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Women Pirates
The Golden Age of Pirates didn’t have just men floating on the high seas. Some women became very successful pirates and today you’ll learn about two of them…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Louisiana Purchase: Not a Purchase
Turns out the Louisiana Purchase was not so much a purchase, but the right to (steal) purchase it from indigenous peoples. But it did transform the United…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Therapeutic Hypothermia Works
Physicians noticed centuries ago that people exposed to cold temperatures often have amazing recoveries from serious medical emergencies. Now medicine is…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Tarot Works?
This is not a hit piece! Tarot helps plenty of people navigate their lives and reflect on their feelings – plus the art is unbelievable. We cover the…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Forest Lawn is no ordinary cemetery. Why? Listen in and find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
How Enron Fooled the World
Until 2007, the largest single corporate bankruptcy was Enron, a $67 billion energy trading company. Its decline was breathtaking, and while it’s a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Perfume Works
Women consistently rate scent as the most important factor in a man's attractiveness and men have been manipulating that for centuries with scents of all…
- Stuff You Should Know
When Mount St. Helens Blew Its Top
Mount St. Helen's is a lovely sight to behold, but was a pretty scary thing to be around in the Spring of 1980. Listen in to the harrowing story today! See…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Dangers of Nose Picking
You don’t have to lie - everybody picks their nose. But did you know it can be life-threatening? It’s true and you can learn how in this episode. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (not the song)
Today Josh and Chuck delve into the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not the song, but the maritime accident. Though the song makes an appearance. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Could There Be A Loch Ness Monster?
People have believed something strange lives in Loch Ness for at least 3500 years. Thousands of people have sighted the Loch Ness Monster and dozens of…
Stuff You Should KnowThe Rocky Horror Picture Show Podcast Episode
This one goes out to the SYSK Army as a special request. Let's do the time warp again! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Mesas: Flat
Mesas, buttes and plateaus are all very similar. We'll break down the differences in each one just to be sure. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
- Stuff You Should Know
Juicy: The Fried Chicken Story
Fried chicken is Chuck’s favorite food, and Josh sure doesn’t dislike it. It is with this appreciation that SYSK plunges into the hot grease of fried chicken…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular
Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never…
- Stuff You Should Know
2022 Holiday Spectacular!
Another year comes to a close here at SYSK, which means our annual Holiday Spectacular is at hand. So light a fire, pour up a comforting beverage and gather…
- Stuff You Should Know
Who was Dorothy Parker, really?
She was known for her quick wit and sharp tongue. But she was also a poet, screenwriter and activist. Tune in today to learn what outside her "vicious circle."…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Nostradamus: Predictor of the future? Not so much.
Nostradamus delighted us all in grade school, but it turns out the real guy wasn't quite as prescient as we were led to believe. In truth, he wrote a lot of…
- Stuff You Should Know
Interesting Origins of Everyday Phrases
We don’t think about the words and phrases we use all the time - until Josh and Chuck look into them and tell everyone what they found. That’s the gist of this…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: The Atlanta Washer Woman Strike
One of the very first union strikes in US history was mounted by a group of African American women in the deep South. Listen in and learn all about this little…
- Stuff You Should Know
How the Nintendo Entertainment System Changed Gaming Forever
For the holidays in 1986 (and ’87) (and ’88) the most stupendous, most wanted, most amazing thing any kid could possibly get – outside of a pony, *maybe* – was…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Polar Bears Work
Polar bears are more than just lovable creatures that roam the ice in search of food. They're one of the most fascinating animals on planet Earth. Sadly, as…
- Stuff You Should Know
True Crime: The Phantom of Heilbronn
After the murder of a cop in southwest Germany in 2007 a massive hunt was launched across Europe. The suspect was a female serial killer who had left DNA…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Birthday Paradox
The Birthday Paradox involves math, so you know this one will go perfectly. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
How Face Blindness Works
It’s not that the person who can never remember meeting you is snobby or even absent-minded; they may have a fascinating – and often difficult – neurological…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Rubik's Cube Episode
Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a guess and hop on board this classic episode, aka the 80s…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Down Syndrome Works
People with Down syndrome lead rich, complex lives like any other human, but it’s only been in the last few decades that everyone else stopped persecuting them…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Goosebumps
Goosebumps are a pretty cool evolutionary holdover from our earlier days as furry beasts. Don't believe us? Listen in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
- Stuff You Should Know
Peripersonal Space: Humans’ Got Talent
The space around you that you can reach with your arms is a very special place. It’s where we interact with reality. And although we are so good at using it we…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Umami Works!
For millennia humans have recognized four tastes, but in the 1980s a fifth taste first isolated in Japan gained worldwide acceptance - and took off like a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Roller Skating: Fun and Cool
The Victorians were the first to go bonkers for roller skating and since then the pastime has had bursts of popularity every few decades. Over the years…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Liquid Paper
Correction fluid goes by many names, but the OG was Liquid Paper. And it has a pretty cool origin story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
Typewriters: Mechanical Brilliance
Chuck loves typewriters because he loves mechanical brilliance. Dive into the cool history of these amazing machines today. See omnystudio.com/listener for…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Dark Money Works
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in the Citizens United case that political contributions are speech and should be protected, the floodgates of anonymous…
- Stuff You Should Know
Did Shakespeare really write all that stuff?
The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anything to it? We'll dig in to this dense topic to find out…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Incomplete Yawns
Is there anything – anything – worse than a yawn you can’t finish? It’s hard to think of anything else and as your obsession with yawning like a normal human…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Sordid History of Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties
When it comes to pre-wedding festivities, bachelor and bachelorette parties take the penis-shaped cake. Learn all about these sordid affairs today. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Finders Keepers: Real Law
You know that heartbreak of the schoolyard – finders keepers, losers weepers? That’s actual law in a great many grown up places. Enter the murky legal world of…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Owls Work
It’s time for another great animal episode and in this one we swoop into the world of owls – nature’s greatest silent predator who (hooo) also look very cute…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Dodleston Messages
It’s not everyday that a message from the 16th century appears on a computer from the 1980s, so when that happened it caught an English couple’s attention and…