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
How Dolphins Work!
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: What Were the BONE WARS?
A pair of old timey fossil hunters had a rootin’ tootin’ rivalry that spilled from academic journals into the American Wild West - where fossils…
- Stuff You Should Know
What are Blue Zones?
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…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: 1561 Celestial Event
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
The History of Orthodontics
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Flannen Isles Mystery
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Private Equity: Your Ears Will Bleed
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…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: The Lost (?) Continent of Lemuria
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Unsolved Murder of Hall and Mills
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: How Rape Kits Work
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Heavy Metal Pt II
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…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Devil Horns
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Heavy Metal Pt I
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Disappearance of Flight MH370, Part II
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Disappearance of Flight MH370, Part I
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Who's Up For A Circular Economy
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…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Marianne Bachmeier: Vigilante Mother
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Iconic, Complicated VW Beetle
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…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Is birth order important?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Stuff You Should Know
Child Prodigies: Better to Burn Out Than Fade Away
Child prodigies are unique in that they achieve adult levels of achievement, but do not typically excel in adulthood. Why? Who knows. See…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Bliss Point
The food we eat – especially the junk food – is a highly engineered technical marvel that’s designed to make you want nothing other than…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Humble and Deadly Cigarette
This is not about smoking or lawsuits or lung cancer. This is about the cigarette itself, a truly unique and destructive invention. See omnystudio.com/listener…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Tale of the Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a religion, but really a parody of religion. Learn all about this group of weirdo outsiders in this classic episode. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
AQ Khan: How to Live Dangerously
He’s been called the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb and a real-life Bond villain and depending on where you’re from, he’s a national…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Boycotts Work (Or Do They?)
We have boycotts coming out of our ears these days, but did you know they go back a couple centuries? And that it’s named after the first poor sap to be…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: What exactly is stoicism?
The word stoic has taken on its own meaning apart from the philosophical movement which gave it life. In this classic episode, learn all about the early…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Alchemy Worked
Alchemy evokes sorcerers working by candlelight combining potions to create magical items, real Dungeons & Dragons stuff. But alchemy gets a bad rap…
- Stuff You Should Know
Short Stuff: Bengal Cats
Bengal cats are gorgeous animals, but they are bought and sold on the designer pet market, so booo. Learn about these hybrid kitties today. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Great Big Yarn of Mel's Hole
One of the most bizarre stories to emerge from the cult radio show Coast to Coast AM – and that’s really saying something – isn’t about…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Child Labor: Not Funny
Child labor is no laughing matter. Even though we've taken care of it in the USA (mostly), it's still an issue around the globe. Listen to this classic episode…
- Stuff You Should Know
Sixdegrees.com: A Social Media Origin Story
Before Facebook and MySpace, before even Friendster, there was SixDegrees. Dive in today to learn about the first social media site, that was a few years too…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: 8 Track Cartridges
8 tracks were during vinyl, but preceded cassettes. Why? So people could listen to their music on the go. Check out this antiquated medium today. See…
- Stuff You Should Know
Sherlock Holmes: The Man, The Myth
Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most famous fictional character in the world, and for good reason. More than a hundred years on, Arthur Conan Doyle’s 60…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: 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…
- Stuff You Should Know
What was the purpose of USAID?
USAID has saved tens of millions of lives across the globe since its inception. But those days are over. Learn all about this soon-to-be-gone program. See…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: BM Radio
There was a time – a glorious time – when you could turn the dial in any city in the US and hear popular songs rearranged to be the most pleasant…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Phil Hartman Story
Sadly, Phil Hartman may be best remembered for being murdered in his sleep by his wife. This episode covers that, but mostly aims to stoke the memories of the…
Stuff You Should KnowSelects: What was Tin Pan Alley?
Tin Pan Alley was an area of New York around the beginning of the 20th Century that served as ground zero for the earliest iterations of the music publishing…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: What's the deal with Bond, James Bond?
James Bond, the most infamous secret agent ever to grace the silver screen, originated in the pages of British author Ian Fleming's novels. Amateur agents Josh…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Steadicams Work
There have been many inventions that have advanced filmmaking, but maybe none as important as the steadicam. Invented in the mid-70s, it literally changed the…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How the MPAA Works
You may be surprised to learn those ubiquitous ratings, from G to NC-17, put on movies in America are actually handed down by anonymous employees of a…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: Josh 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 KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: Special Effects: A Short History
Special effects have been around since the first movies. In fact, the techniques the earliest filmmakers created are still around today, we just use computers…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: Some Movies That Changed Filmmaking
An estimated 50,000 films were made worldwide in 2009 alone. Many are surely clunkers, but in this episode Chuck and Josh talk about the ones that emerged…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Stuntmen (and -women) Work
They get blown up, shot, drowned and thrown out of windows on the silver screen - and we don't even know their names. Stuntpeople are the unsung heroes of the…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: 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 KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: The True Story of BlacKkKlansman
In 2018, director Spike Lee brought the story of Ron Stallworth to the big screen to great effect. Today, Josh and Chuck discuss the true story behind the…
Stuff You Should KnowSYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: Why was Titicut Follies banned?
Titicut Follies is a documentary made famous by its banning. But why was it banned? And what was it even about? Listen in to learn all you need to know about…
- Stuff You Should Know
Sunset Blvd: One Famous Road
Sunset Blvd is a long road, but is most known for the 1.7 mile stretch called The Sunset Strip. But it's much more than that. See omnystudio.com/listener for…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Oedipus Complex
The Oedipus complex is probably Sigmund Freud’s most famous theory – that every little boy or girl goes through a phase where they want to kill one…
- Stuff You Should Know
Shameful History: Project 100,000
During Vietnam, the U.S. lowered the IQ standards for the draft in order to bulk up their front lines. This put thousands of men in harm's way and was a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Great Nuclear Winter Debate of 1983
At the height of the Cold War, a group of concerned scientists promoted their findings on the horrific aftereffects of nuclear war and were accused of…
- Stuff You Should Know
Who are the Zizians?
The story of the Zizians is an unusual one. Are they a cult? Or are they simply a group who wants a better world? And why have six deaths in three states been…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: The Shortest War
How long was the shortest war in human history? Under an hour. Hard to believe? Not when you hear the story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy…
- Stuff You Should Know
The Fencing Of The Commons
When England privatized its commons – lands that by custom belonged to all English to work and support themselves for centuries – it began the…
- Stuff You Should Know
Selects: The Kitty Genovese Story
Most people have heard of the story of Kitty Genovese. She was murdered near her apartment in 1964 and her neighbors didn't do much to help. It caused a…
- Stuff You Should Know
Anacondas: Not Like in the Movie
Are anacondas big? For sure. Are they able to crush and consume a human? Maybe, but thankfully they don't really do that. Don't believe everything you see in…
Stuff You Should KnowShort Stuff: Andrew Jackson's Inauguration
Wild stories about a crazy party after Andrew Jackson's inauguration have been around since the weeks after it went down. But how wild was it really? See…
- Stuff You Should Know
How Styrofoam Works
All those to-go cups and food containers aren’t actually Styrofoam but those cups and Styrofoam are both forms of foam polystyrene, one of the rare…