On Being Animals

The master sketch writer, and proud kitty momma Kayla came over to help me discover the Den Dwelling Muncher. But not only that, we developed our new prank show, figured out when to have the lights on for sex, and discussed french cinema. That's right, we classy.

Most egregious errors: the stuff comes out of the Den Dwelling Muncher's anus, the wolverine is also known as the skunk bear (not the stink bear), and cockroaches definitely spread all sorts of diseases. I was confident they didn't, but I was very wrong. I should never be in charge of public health.

Science level: pretty high, I even use the term "molecular mass" - how 'bout dat?

The world's biggest One Tree Hill fan came to the On Being Animals studio to record this episode. In addition to loving trashy TV, Meghan is well read and her immaculately tended brain garden helped us discover the Slender Fighting Fuzzy Snake. Along the journey, we also discovered fascinating knowledge nuggets about smoke bombs, mental health, and ham skin licking.

Most egregious error: I brought up the TV show Highlander. Not a good move.

Science level: we got talking about neurotoxins y'all!

Another road-pod from lovely Montreal! This time it was Andrew who helped me discover the Timid Unicorn Licker. Andrew's a smart cookie and we made startling discoveries about reverse centaurs, Usain Bolt evasion tactics, and the flavour of various white things. 

Most egregious error: no huge errors, but I was missing critical info. The song is Nocturnal by Disclosure, elephants have a "musth", it's BBC Earth, Congo has the rare earth element tantalum, the Mauritius kestrel, and I missed the opportunity to make a bi-corn joke. That's a hint that this Timid Unicorn Licker has two horns.

Science level: We got into infrasound and then some good speculative tangents.

I packed up the studio and headed down river to Montreal for this episode with Sarah Paré. Her dynamic personality helped us discover the Flexible Loyal Free-Spirit. We also learned more about traditions, grey hairs, and candy issues.

Most egregious error: I said cats had fluffier tails than dogs. We accepted that as true in the episode, but I just don't think it holds up. I also said that a tick in french was a "poux", but poux is lice. Tick in French is tique. That was a freebie and I totally messed it.

Science level: middle....like not tons, but y'all are still gonna learn.

Did you know that Deb Ring was deep? Super deep. Just supes deep. She brought her deepness and great comedic instinct to the OBA studio for this episode on the Deep Loner Doughnut. We also figured out daily head measurements, the ol' choke n stroke, and the worst car joke of all time.

Most egregious error: We were pretty good on the facts thanks to tons of google searches during the episode. Deb even passed the IUD quiz. The biggest error would be me messing up the sound. This is the 21st episode and I'm still not great at it. Deb's not a loud mouth, I'm a shitty sound-tech.

Science level: good juicy facts, but mostly silly tangents in this one. 

Animals, behaviour, and being people.

Our first multi-guest episode! Doctor Ellen, her charming husband Caliente-Karl, and their unborn child came all the way from Kingston for this episode on the Beautiful Spotted Fish Factory. During the episode, we discovered more about pronunciations, testicular torsion, and the unfairness of weight gain. 

Most egregious error: I made two biggies, so you can let me know which one is worse. First we talked about an OBA alumni, the great white shark, and we said it had anything but 5 gills. It has 5 gills. The second big error, I said that I had nieces and nephews. I do not. My cousins have kids, but my siblings don't. Which is worse? Bad OBA alumni fact? Or bad family fact? Oh, and their child was unborn at the time of recording and I was certain it would be a girl. It is no longer unborn and it is a boy. There you have it, three big misses.

Science level: very high! Ellen is a doctor of penis medicine, so I learned all sorts of very interesting things.

Val, aka Miss Ironhide, came by the studio to help us discover more about the Independent Hustle Fin. I'll just come out and say it, there was a lot of sex talk. She was forthright and sincere, which brought us to some really interesting places. In the intimacy of the OBA studio, we both sort of spilled the sex beans about others, so roughly 20 saucy minutes got cut out, but there's sill a lot in there. Apart from the sex, we also explored baby expectations, being in the zone, and nice guys. Most egregious error: I took credit for coming up with the term "victory conditions". I later realized I subconsciously stole that term from the video game Civilization. I'm not much of a gamer, but I definitely had a Civ phase of my life. I'll take credit for applying the term in this context, but I definitely did not coin it. Science level: Not so high. Val's as real as it gets, so there was more life talk than anything else

Val, aka Miss Ironhide, came by the studio to help us discover more about the Independent Hustle Fin. I'll just come out and say it, there was a lot of sex talk. She was forthright and sincere, which brought us to some really interesting places. In the intimacy of the OBA studio, we both sort of spilled the sex beans about others, so roughly 20 saucy minutes got cut out, but there's sill a lot in there. Apart from the sex, we also explored baby expectations, being in the zone, and nice guys. 

Most egregious error: I took credit for coming up with the term "victory conditions". I later realized I subconsciously stole that term from the video game Civilization. I'm not much of a gamer, but I definitely had a Civ phase of my life. I'll take credit for applying the term in this context, but I definitely did not coin it.

Science level: Not so high. Val's as real as it gets, so there was more life talk than anything else.

Why is this one so long? Because Matt of Trevor Comedy and I burrowed into the studio like determined ticks and just couldn't stop exploring! His perfect balance of inquisitiveness, wit, and zeal for callbacks allowed us fully understand our Harmonized Social Musk Furry Buddies. The plethora of discoveries included: vehicular crash epiphanies, the world's best one-man band, and flip flops at the urinal.

Most egregious error: I think I messed up gender ratios. I said there more males than females, which can be true, but the opposite can also be true. It seems environmental factors and population densities can play a role, but we're not too sure. I think I also overemphasized non-typical mating arrangements. Those non-typical arrangements are pretty rare. 

Science level: It's a long one, so in absolute terms, there's a lot of science, but the proportion of science is sort of low because there's a lot of non-science as well. In my opinion, a great balance!