Something Offbeat

In this episode, we preview the upcoming offerings from "Something Offbeat" with a look back on some similar subjects -- Gen Z habits and unusual zoo births. Featuring Charmaine Wynter; Mike Masellis, the lead animal care specialist at the Brookfield Zoo and host Mike Rogers. Produced by Lauren Barry and Chris Blake.

Ben Naman, Director of Medicinal Plants Research at the San Diego Botanic Garden, joined "Something Offbeat" to tell us about the creepy, poisonous real-world tree at the center of one of the season's hottest shows, season 3 of "The White Lotus".

Have you ever taken a good look at the player’s facial hair when you watched a game of baseball? You might not realize it, but the topic of grooming in the major leagues is actually full of interesting tales. Just this year, managing partner Hal Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees (son of the legendary George Steinbrenner) released a statement that the team would amend its longstanding facial hair policy, adding another chapter to the saga. Marty Appel, former PR director for the Yankees, joined “Something Offbeat” to help us understand how it fits in to the history of the team and how it has approached grooming through different eras of fashion.

What is the likelihood of an apocalypse like the one in “The Last of Us” actually happening? Dr. Cameron Carlson of the Zombie Research Society told Audacy’s “Something Offbeat” podcast that one of the greatest zombie risks may be hiding in litter boxes.

Chris and Lauren catch up on the astronauts lost in space and a bunch of interesting animal news.

And more weird story rundowns with Chris and Lauren.

Did you know that some school districts have been trying to ban Crocs? We’re diving into the history and current application of dress codes in this episode of “Something Offbeat” with Grace Goble, an actor, singer, playwright, and more who changed her school’s dress code and Richard Thompson Ford, the George E. Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and author of Dress Codes: how the laws of fashion made history.

This week on Something Offbeat, Mike Rogers talked to the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, about something you might not know takes place every 13 to 15 years: Saturn’s rings appearing to disappear.

Chris and Lauren discuss four weird news stories: the Old Testament-esque tale of a kayaker being spit out by a whale, smelly flowers in Australia, an ambitious ocean voyage that departed from Philly and a weird Walmart car wash project.

This week, people around the world have a change to see a “planetary parade” – you can read about it here.

Back in 2023, “Something Offbeat” investigated why people love looking into the sky. We reached out to two experts: Dartmouth researcher Nathan H. Heller, who specializes in pareidolia – hearing or seeing a specific sound or image in a seemingly random auditory or visual stimulus – as well as well-known astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, host of “Ghost of a Podcast”.