Do You Work Here?

Time to go back in time! You know that insult when we call someone "a Neanderthal" …does that really work? Were they actually dumb, or do they deserve some credit?

Anthropology professor and Neanderthal expert, Fred Smith, tells us just how close of cousins we are to them.

We're also going to travel into the future...with a company that's working on bringing a Wooly Mammoth (among other things) back from extinction. Ben Lamm, is co-founder and CEO of Colossal and, Dr. Andrew Pask, is a Professor in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne, explain just how that could work.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

Time to expand our minds a bit and tackle a big one. And it probably comes as no surprise that it's incredibly hard to describe "being you." 

Sue Blackmore, writer, lecturer and Professor at the University of Plymouth and 
Anil Seth, Professor at the University of Sussex and author of "Being You: A New Science of Consciousness," explain what there is to know about consciousness. 

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

How can we get a feel for what colorblind people see? Marie Difolco with Colour Blind Awareness in the UK gives Mike an idea of the colorblind experience.

And, how do you gauge a "chance of rain" in the weather report? Alex Tardy, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Diego, explains what's known as one of meteorology's most misunderstood terms. 

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

Lots of people collect stuff. Some people collect really rare and expensive stuff. Where do you put it? Behind a giant heavy door!

And, what treasures are on the other side of it?

This week Mike Cummings, the General Manager for the Collectors Vault, takes Mike inside their vault which is...somewhere in Delaware. 

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

So many flavors to choose from but how do we taste them exactly? 

Mike finds out how our taste buds work from Dr. Zara Patel. Professor of Otolaryngology at Stanford Health.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

Can you get a "second wind"? Is it real?
Dr. William Roberts with the University of Minnesota Medical School and The American College of Sports Medicine along with Dr. Cara Hall from Keck Medicine at USC explain the "second wind" phenomenon.

Why are some English word spellings so weird? Why is there a "k" in knife?! A "b" in doubt?! Our favorite linguistics professor, Jaye Padgett at UC Santa Cruz, is back to answer.

And, why do we get gray hair?
We find out from Dr. Sandy Johnson, board certified dermatologist at Johnson Dermatology in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Do you ever wonder just how far down it goes and what it's like down there? Mike does!

This episode, we get answers from Charlotte Seid, Museum Scientist & Collection Manager at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

Why is it that we can remember the lyrics to a song we haven't heard in years but not what we had for breakfast yesterday? 

Mike learns all about how we remember and recall from Dr. David Spiegel at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

This week we have three listener questions!

What's the story of the red, white, and blue barbershop pole? Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmer's Almanac, shares its history.

Why does scratching an itch feel so good? Dr. Marie Jhin, Board Certified Dermatologist in the Bay Area, gives Mike answers.

And, why do we refer to ships as "she"? We'll learn from historian, Guy Nasuti, at the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]

What's all the buzz about?

Mike learns all things bees from biologist and author of "Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees," Thor Hanson.

Got questions? Email Mike at [email protected]