Get ready for football season with a behind-the-scenes peep at what it's like to be a professional ref. While most fans focus on the players, listener Erika wants to know about the other people on the field – the officials. How do referees get the job? What’s it like to be at the center of the action? And what does it take to make it to the Super Bowl? Retired NFL official and Coordinator of Football Officials at SIAC Tom Symonette fields some questions.

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Listener Alberto wants to know how handshakes became the go-to greeting in many parts of the world, and why extended shakes often take center stage when world leaders meet. Paleoanthropologist and handshake expert Ella Al-Shamahi hands us some answers, and deconstructs a handshake so bad it’ll leave you shook.

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Today, we’re rerunning one of our favorite episodes. Listener Gab is clumsy: white sweaters, stemmed wine glasses and sharp edges are off the table. Can Gab learn to be less clumsy? Professional steady-hand Bryan Berg and kinesiologist Priscila Tamplain share tips for foiling fumbles. Special thanks to Carl Gabbard and Michael Wade.

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To honor this Hallmark helliday, we want your stories of Valentine’s Day fails. Did you suffer third-degree burns from your vanilla-scented candle tower? Or discover your rose petal allergy… the hard way? Maybe you found out your friend with benefits was actually your friend with bedbugs? Call us with your best bad Valentine’s Day story: 833 RING ELT, or send a voice memo to [email protected].

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Today’s episode comes from our friends at the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz. They investigated the Netflix “ta-dum” – the sound effect that rings out when you queue up a Netflix show. It’s so iconic you probably can hear it in your head, but it almost sounded very, very different (think bleating goats). Find more episodes from Twenty Thousand Hertz here.

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During a late-night internet search, caller Brenna stumbled across an ancient super-sized snake. It got her wondering: why doesn’t it slither among us today? Where’d it go? Snake hiss-perer Jason Head tells us about the life and times of Titanoboa, the biggest snake ever found.

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A New Year’s resolution: Last year, hundreds of you submitted your mortifying tales. This week, we announce the winner.

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We’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes this week. A few years ago, listener Annie asked ELT to settle a longstanding family debate: exactly how old is Winnie-the-Pooh? To hunt down an answer, we consult with professional age-guesser Ben Ramey, bear biologist Rae Wynn-Grant, and Sarah Shea, a professor who has studied this question.

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Listener Taylor is back with a question about dining on ancient finds. Mary Lee Guthrie tells us about the 1980s dinner party that served up Ice-Age-era meat. Special thanks to Dale Guthrie, Eirik Granqvist, Julie Meachen, and Grant Zazula.

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After unearthing a 10-year-old bottle of maple syrup in his pantry, listener Taylor wants to know: What sorts of ancient foods do archaeologists find? Pothead and biomolecular archaeologist Julie Dunne cracks the case on ancient diets and tells us how we know what people ate thousands of years ago. Warning: the answers are NSFL (not safe for lunch).

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