Brain Junk

Brain Junk

By Brain JunkScienceHistoryNatural Sciences
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Brain Junk episodes

  • 219: Wife Selling
    In the 16 and 1700s, wife selling was a type of marital separation that people did when they couldn’t afford divorce. It was shaming, mysoginistic, and patriarchal (basically it was a terrible time to be female). BUT wife selling was an attempt to work within a crushingly unfair system and sometimes even worked to the […]

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    5 min
  • 218: Gladiatrices
    Seldom written about, female gladiators fought for glory and Rome from around 509 BCE to 200 AD. What little information we have about them was in a few historical writings and one remaining frieze. image: Amazonia and Achillea

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    7 min
  • 217: Honesty Study?
    2012 published research detailed how you could influence someone’s honesty on say, a test. It all depended on if they signed an agreement to be truthful at the beginning or the end of the test. A lot of what is discussed in the paper feels like common sense. And was also hard to reproduce. How […]

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    11 min
  • 216: Parachuting Beavers
    In 1948, Idaho Fish and Game got the bright idea to transport beavers into the back country with PARACHUTES. It was a wild and wacky compromise to save dwindling beaver populations, promote healthy forests, and keep beavers out of post WWII housing developments.

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    6 min
  • 215: James Madison & the 4 Letters
    It’s 1789 and the beginning of bureaucracy in the United States. James Madison is writing letters to smooth the path of George Washington’s disorganized congress. The way it all went down is hilarious. Not one of the 4 letters BUT this one was written by James Madison to George Washington on Dec. of 1789. He […]

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    7 min
  • 214: Sky Puppies
    While baby Egyptian fruit bats start life getting carried around, once they get too heavy, their mothers leave them in a cave while they forage. It’s tough love that gets them out of the cave and learning how to find home and food. image by Yuval Barkai from New York Times Science Current Biology article […]

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    5 min
  • 213: Unexpected Origin of Roller Skates
    The first roller skates were patented by John Joseph Merlin in 1760. He showed off his new fangled wheeled shoes with an epic entrance to a party that ended not quite how he thought it would.

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    11 min
  • 212: Peanut Butter Diamonds
    With enough pressure and heat, just about anything with enough carbon in it could become a diamond. And thankfully for us, when a scientist was asked, could he turn peanut butter into a diamond, he decided to find out. How NOT to make a diamond at home:

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    8 min
  • 211: Eating Underwater
    How do whales open their mouths to grab a mouthful of food without drowning?! Because it’s not just krill that goes in, but hundreds of gallons of water. Amy digs into why. The adaptation is remarkable. Check out Science News magazine for a cool diagram! And here’s my other (Amy’s) sources:  EurekAlert Baleen Whales use […]

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    9 min
  • 210: Ancient Prosthetic Eye
    In 2007, a woman’s 5,000 year old skeleton was found in Burnt City, Iran. She was at least six feet tall and had what researchers think may be the first example of a prosthetic eye. image: Check out the original paper!

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com
    8 min

About Brain Junk

From the publisher's feed

Brain Junk is an off-the-wall, totally unbelievable but true podcast where Amy Barton and Trace Kerr shake up science & history in the hunt for answers to questions you never knew you wanted to know. We bring you the inside scoop on things like: Can goldfish drive? How do whales not drown while eating? Who had the first prosthetic eye?