Stuff You Should Know
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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.
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How the Flexner Report Changed Medicine
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.
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Short Stuff: Safety Coffins
Back in the 1800s, people had an outsized fear of being buried alive. Enter... THE SAFETY COFFIN!
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How Crowds Work
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...
Selects: How Charles Darwin Worked
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 th...
How Lasers Work
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 coo...
Short Stuff: Aztec Death Whistle
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.
Se...
How Cognitive Biases Work
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 wa...
Selects: Why Do Great Flood Myths Seem To Be Universal?
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...
The Cajun Navy: Heroes or Liability?
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...
Short Stuff: Color Psychology
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.<...
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan: Miracle is Right
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 he...
Selects: Operation Mincemeat: How A Corpse Fooled the Nazis
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 o...
The Magnificent Golden Gate Bridge
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 on...
Short Stuff: Magic 8 Ball
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 h...
The Charge of the Light Brigade
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 thro...
Selects: The Truth Behind Cage-Free and Free-Range
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...
The Ballad of Biggie and Tupac
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...
Short Stuff: The S7VEN Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins are tied to religion, but not really in the Bible. So where did this naughty list come from?
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Keeping Time
Today, Chuck and Josh walk you through the history of keeping time, from sticks in the sun to atomic clocks.
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Selects: BPD: The Worst Disorder or Not a Disorder at All?
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 p...
Data Centers: Can't Live With Em, Can't Live Without Em
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 sup...
Short Stuff: Did a vampire legend help win the Cold War?
During the Cold War, the CIA used the legend of a vampire named Aswang to scare locals into not helping the communists.
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Doin’ Science in the National Radio Quiet Zone
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 abou...
Selects: How Forgiveness Works
For most of history, forgiveness fell under the domain of religion. But in the 1980s science started investigating it and found that forgiving someone...
The SAD Episode
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...
Short Stuff: Neighborhood Watch
Since 1972 neighborhoods have been officially banding together to prevent crime together. Does it work? It seems to. Does it go too far? It often does...
The Warrens: Paranormal Power Couple
Today we dive into the interesting story of paranormal power couple the Warrens, inspiration behind The Conjuring movie franchise.
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Selects: MC Escher and His Trippy Art
We love us some MC Escher. Turns out his story is pretty fascinating too. Tune in to this classic episode and find out all about it with Josh and Chuc...
TV Moments That Changed The World
Whatever you think of TV, you have to admit it has shaped the world (maybe more than the internet, according to Josh). There have been moments here or...
Short Stuff: All About Porcelain
What exactly is this durable ceramic anyway?
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What We Lost When We Lost Home Ec
Home economics seems antiquated – a class that teaches high school kids how to bake a cake and sew doesn’t sound super useful. But would you believe t...
Selects: How Miniature Golf Works
Playing miniature golf is a very fun thing to do and, you’re about to find, learning about its origin and history is very fun as well. Join Josh and C...
Dolls and Dolls, Guys!
In this special Christmas Day episode, we get cuddly with one of the all-time great holiday gifts, dolls! Where did they come from? Why are the so cut...
Short Stuff: Why is holly a holiday thing?
Holly is waxy and super sharp, not exactly the kind of thing you'd want all over your house. Yet it happens every holiday season. Today we dig in to d...
SYSK's 2025 Holiday Extravaganza Christmas Special
Deck your tidings and get your halls nice and gladded because it’s time for maybe the best episode of the year, where SYSK loosens our ties, puts on o...
Selects: PT Barnum: More Complicated Than You've Heard
When your life is as outsized as the World’s Greatest Showman PT Barnum it’s pretty easy to - you know - gloss over the grimmer aspects when you turn...
Doggerland: Lost at Sea
The story of Doggerland is pretty fascinating. The idea is that mainland Europe and the UK were connected not only by a land bridge, but a place where...
Short Stuff: Battle of Itter Castle
At the end of WWII in Europe, one of the strangest battles of the war took place between German troops fighting alongside Americans and French to beat...
Battle Royale: Optimists vs Pessimists
Everybody’s always bagging on pessimists and telling everybody they should be more optimistic. Well, nuts to that! There are plenty of benefits from b...
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...