Probably Science

Matt and Andy are back from a holiday hiatus to welcome Last Comic Standing alum Ryan Conner (@rccomedy) to the podcast, delving into topics including the passing of David Bowie, Alvin Stardust, British pantomimes, American and British Gladiators, computer programming, Andy Sidaris movies, a mountain lion with horrifying teeth growing out of its head, praying mantises in 3D glasses, wine story corrections, types of drunks, sperm switches, bone foam, Ryan's family and adult industry namesake and Ryan's podcast Caligula's Grotto.

With Jesse and Matt still out of town, Andy invited friends of the show TJ Chambers, Rylee Newton, Travis Clark, Karl Hess, Laura House, Jackie Kashian and Mitch Burrow to give recommendations on things from 2015 that are worth checking out. Enjoy this attempt at positivity and please forgive the poor sound quality and near-constant crosstalk. We'll be back with new episodes soon! Happy 2016!

SF Sketchfest co-founder and Pop My Culture co-host Cole Stratton (@colestratton) joins Andy and Matt to discuss the upcoming Probably Science SF Sketchfest show on January 14th with Adam Savage, academic decathlons, bringing spoiled wine back to life, Phineas Gage, Strange Bedfellows and Chuck and Larry, Hogan vs. Sandler, the Amber neighbor mystery, an old satellite that came back to life, red mercury, letterboxing and summer births.

Daniel Van Kirk (@danielvankirk) of The Wahlberg Solution, Hindsight, Sklarbro Country and much more joins Matt and Andy to talk about Wahlberg and sleeping, cow insemination, memory games, who can’t be president, Cruz behind the scenes, the Trump petition, outrage culture, the climate and smoking, Merchants of Doubt, profound bullshit, David Avocado Wolfe, the surprising appearance of the far side of the Moon, TV quality, Bubbli, blindness and multiple personalities, movies based on the 10% of the brain idea and a Venus probe hack.

Technology fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Yan Zhu (@bcrypt) joins Matt and Andy to dig deep into online security, privacy, encryption, HTTPS Everywhere, podcast patent trolls, Privacy Badger, the Tor browser, the future of online ads, Edward Snowden, the Silk Road, the upcoming Probably Science live show at SF Sketchfest on January 14th and a bonus audio snippet about Yan's legendary landlord.

The hilarious Travis Clark (@thatguytravis) joins returning guests Dax Jordan (@daxjordan) and TJ Chambers (@tjchambersLA) to form the first episode with a Space Camp alumni majority and talk about Andy’s UFO sighting that *may* have been a Trident missile test, breaking the blood brain barrier, 24 as a 90s show, GPS versus sextants, DARYL and what it stands for, jet packs, rocket belts, wing things and personal helicopters, Norm at brunch, Dr. Dick’s blood, dementia and Dr. Demento and Margaret Thatcher on Yes Minister.

Danes and Brits come together this week in the form of Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) and Sarah Morgan (@sarahlmorgan), both lending their expertise to discussions on the Hollywood sign, Halloween, the emergency wizard costume, Danish science, rice pudding traditions, useful German words, being thrown free, a chimera twin baby, new ghosts, a new bat, spider bites, China’s space plans, eyesight, face blindness, the bacon cancer scare, Andy’s comedy doppelgänger, Danish TV, the hilarious Klown, WKD and crocodile eyes.

Hilarious actor/comedian Kerry Godliman (@KerryAGodliman) is stateside to film a new Christopher Guest film, and she chatted with Matt and Andy about science vs. art, cadaver fists, the persistence of the plague, embarrassing bodies, a clickbait generator, Doug Stanhope's feud with Matt and bee farmers.

Kelly Carlin wears a lot of hats as a monologist, actress, radio host, producer and author of her new memoir A Carlin Home Companion, and she invited Matt and Andy over to her place to talk about calculus, mind-body connections, right answers in math, whether snake fear is hard-wired, monkeys balls, Hurricane Patricia that may or may not be climate change-related, science and the Canadian election, the editor of the BMJ slamming David Hunt, magnetic brain control, the Gripsholm Lion, Ken M, the world's greatest troll, orange peels to clean up mercury, Marie Curie and Mabel Normand.

This episode is sponsored by Harrys.com - use the code PSP at checkout for $5 off your first order.

Author Johann Hari (@johannhari101) was stateside recently to return as a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he invited Matt and Andy over to his hotel room to talk about the emotional deafness of the rich, his book Chasing The Scream and the failed 100-year war on drugs, the government's persecution of Billie Holliday, new theories of addiction, Rat Park, Portugal's radical policy changes and the way to sell America on drug decriminalization.