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
SYSK Selects: The Cheesiest SYSK Episode Ever
In this week's SYSK Select episode, cheese is often overlooked as a one of humanity's great achievements. Making cheese is surprisingly easy: It's been…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Internships Work
The term intern comes from the medical community, but virtually every industry now uses them. From real world training to coffee fetchers, interns can be used…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Live: The DB Cooper Heist
Join Josh and Chuck live from Seattle as they (sky)dive into one of the most brazen robberies in the annals of crime and the only unsolved airline hijacking in…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Is there such a thing as a truth serum?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, ever since people have had secrets, other people have been looking for ways to get it out of them. Law enforcement and…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Buildering Works
Up until recently we had no idea buildering was a word. Or that people scaling buildings has been a thing since the turn of the 20th Century. Learn along with…
- Stuff You Should Know
How the Rolling Jubilee Works
Everyone thought it was the pits that banks were bailed out by taxpayers in 2008 while those same people weren't given any relief by the banks. So some Occupy…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK Selects: Did a cow start the Great Chicago Fire?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, Josh and Chuck find who's probably to blame for the Great Chicago Fire. The newspapers of the day reported that a cow (or…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Giraffes Work
Even though giraffes are one of the most recognizable animals on the planet, it wasn't until the 21st century that biology really set about studying them…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Police Body Cameras Work
Cops wearing cameras is a new thing. So new that we aren't entirely sure of all the ramifications that go along with them just yet. In theory they should…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: What was the most peaceful time in history?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, there is a lot of debate about whether pre-agricultural humans existed in a more harmonious state than we do today. Did we…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Nude Beaches Work
Probably all beaches were nude early on, but as society developed and body shame became all the rage, people started wearing bathing suits. Some, though, liked…
- Stuff You Should Know
How FOIA Works
In the 60s, Congress worried the White House was operating too much in secret and passed the Freedom Of Information Act, opening the government to public…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Fecal Transplants: You Gonna Drink That Poop?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, there's an emerging field in health care called medical ecology that's concerned with understanding how the 100 trillion…
- Stuff You Should Know
A Nostalgic Look at Crayons
Mixing wax with pigment is something artists have been doing since DaVinci. These little implements would later go on to be called crayons and gained…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Frogs Work
They survived the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, but unfortunately frogs seem to be no match for humans and are losing species in droves. This is not…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How Handwriting Analysis Works
In this week's SYSK Select episode, one of the fields of forensic investigation, handwriting analysis is based on the principle of uniqueness - that each…
- Stuff You Should Know
How the Secret Service Works
The U.S. Secret Service began after a mandate from President Lincoln called for a service to combat counterfeiters. Since then, they have become more well…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Psychopaths Work
There are people who walk among us who seem normal, maybe even more charming or intelligent than average, yet they hide disturbing and at times dangerous…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How Hip-hop Works
In this week's SYSK Select, what you hear is not a test, instead it's Chuck and Josh discussing the cultural history of the Hip-Hop movement. Born out of the…
- Stuff You Should Know
Are crickets the future of food?
Crickets are part of a larger insect-based diet enjoyed in most parts of the world. Loaded with vitamins, minerals and protein, and green to boot, crickets…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Baffling Case of the Body On Somerton Beach
Since his corpse was found in 1948, wearing a nice suit in summer on an Australian beach, an unidentified man has refused to fade into obscurity, gripping the…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How Shrunken Heads Work
In this week's SYSK Select episode, although U.S. museum collections are rife with counterfeits, shrunken heads are far from fiction. The Shuar tribe of…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Satanism Works
Satanism may be the most misunderstood "religion" in the world. Part of that is because there are, and have been, many offshoots of Satanism, from The Church…
- Stuff You Should Know
A Lip-Smacking Look at Barbecue
Barbecue, or for the lazy, BBQ, is a Southern cooking tradition, but also much more than that. It's a cultural touchstone of the South where people of all…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Is Stockholm Syndrome real?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, since a hostage standoff in Sweden took place in 1972 a peculiar and mysterious psychological phenomenon has had a name…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Personality Tests Work
For millennia, we have tried to put human personalities into neat types, an effort psychology took up early in its history in an effort to legitimize itself…
- Stuff You Should Know
Is the Uncanny Valley Real?
In 1970, roboticist Masahiro Mori wrote an essay that said the closer robots come to lifelike, the more they unsettle humans. His theory became the Uncanny…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK Selects: How Exploitation Films Work
In today's SYSK Select episode, we learn about exploitation films. During the 1930s-80s, the work of directors operating in the shadows of Hollywood led to…
- Stuff You Should Know
What's the deal with accents?
Accents are truly fascinating. Put simply, they are how a person sounds when they talk. From England to America and all over the world, the way people speak in…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Stuttering Works
Despite as much as one percent of the adult population having the condition, science doesn't actually know how stuttering works. The best it's come up with so…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How McCarthyism Works
In this week's SYSK Select episode, if you're accusing someone of disloyalty or subversion without decent evidence, then you may be guilty of McCarthyism. In…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Bioarchaeology Works
Thanks to advancements in fields like genetics, and molecular chemistry, archaeology is undergoing a renaissance and opening up new understanding of the past…
- Stuff You Should Know
Do motivational speakers motivate people?
There are all kinds of motivational speakers, from people who have overcome incredible hardships to those who hold pep-rally style events in stadiums. But do…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Why do men have nipples?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, they're always right there, taunting you: why do you have me, they ask? Why do men have nipples? It turns out there's a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Who Committed the 1912 Villisca Ax Murders?
In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept. Local reputations were ruined when accusations flew, but…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Public Broadcasting Works
Public broadcasting works a bit differently depending on where you are in the world. American TV made the leap more toward commercial broadcasting in the early…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How Disco Works
In today's SYSK Select episode, fly, robin, fly indeed. No musical genre has risen and burned out as quickly as disco, and historians are still trying to…
- Stuff You Should Know
A Dry Look at Toilet Paper
Over or under? One ply or two? How about six? TP has not been around that long, but is has been embraced in a big way by the United States. Learn all about the…
- Stuff You Should Know
What is Ghost Fishing?
It sounds cool, but ghost fishing is actually a tragic byproduct of modern fishing practices, where abandoned nylon nets can trap and kill sealife for hundreds…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How the Sun Works
In this week's SYSK Select episode, amateur astrophysicists Josh and Chuck break out the stats and attempt to explain the complex, boiling ball of gas that we…
- Stuff You Should Know
All We Know About Guessing
Guessing is a weird thing. For millennia, it could have meant the difference between life and death. Now it's not as vital, but we still do it every day…
- Stuff You Should Know
Sunburn, Suntans and Sunscreen
It's pretty obvious something's gone wrong when you get a sunburn, but did you know a tan means you've damaged your DNA? Dive into the three Ss of summer and…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Why can't we find Amelia Earhart?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, famed aviator Amelia Earhart's disappearance in 1937 is a mystery that endures to this day. Why don't we know what happened…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Fever Dreams Work
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Why is There a Battle Over Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality is the idea that the internet is a public good and that everyone should have equal, unfettered access to it. Though the FCC strongly supported…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How HeLa Cells Work
In this week's SYSK Select episode, after she was diagnosed with the cervical cancer that shortly killed her, a tissue sample was taken from Henrietta Lacks in…
Stuff You Should KnowJosh and Chuck's List of Horror Movies that Changed the Genre
Once in a while a movie comes along that's so forward-thinking it changes the way that horror is done. A new subgenre is spawned, new tropes are established…
- Stuff You Should Know
What exactly is stoicism?
The word stoic has taken on its own meaning apart from the philosophical movement which gave it life. Learn all about the early stoics, what the philosophy is…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Why isn't the U.S. on the metric system?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, the U.S. stands proudly defiant and the world looks at Americans as dopes for the U.S.'s stubborn refusal to go metric…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Standardized Patients Work
Even the most brilliant medical minds need a good bedside manner, and thanks to standardized patients, they can improve their skills. What are they? Part-time…
- Stuff You Should Know
Remembering Stonewall
One of American history's darker moments, the Stonewall Riots were also the event that galvanized the gay rights movement in the United States. Today there's a…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Scooby Dooby Doo, Where Are You?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, for decades, Scooby Doo has captivated children across the world. It's been translated to multiple languages and remains as…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Ketchup Works
Little-known fact: Ketchup, possibly the most all-American of condiments, evolved from fermented fish sauce people in Southeast Asia have been making for more…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Seed Banks Work
Since the advent of agriculture, humans have been storing seeds. But as sea levels rise and climates change around the world, our reasons for banking seeds…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: Do you stay conscious after being decapitated?
In this week's SYSK Select episode, historically speaking, decapitation was a popular means of execution -- it's been used by everyone from ancient Romans to…
- Stuff You Should Know
What was Camp X?
In the early days of World War II, there was a secret training program in Canada that taught Allied saboteurs everything from espionage and bridge blowing to…
- Stuff You Should Know
How the Beagle Brigade Works
If you've ever been to an international airport, you've probably seen one of the keenest spotters of illegal contraband - The Beagle Brigade! These cute dogs…
- Stuff You Should Know
SYSK Selects: How Maps Work
In this week's SYSK Select episode, yes, your brain may have just flash-dried from boredom at the thought of learning about maps, but it turns out they are a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Why Are Whale Strandings Still a Mystery?
For millennia, mass strandings of whales have confounded us. Why should dozens or more whales come onto shore only to die a terrible and lengthy death? Learn…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Coelacanths Work
Coelacanths are incredibly interesting as far as fish go. For one, they were thought to have gone the way of the dinosaur, along with the dinosaur. They also…