Stuff You Should Know

By iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

What's Stuff You Should Know about?

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

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Selects: The Disappearance ...

05.21.2022

In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. The next day, their car was discovered in a lonely mountain road. The next spring, their bodies began to turn up. What happened that night remains a mystery ...

Stuff You Should Know episodes:

05.21.2022 Selects: The Disappearance of the Yuba County Five In 1978, five friends set out for home from a basketball game. The next day, their car was discovered in a lonely mountain road. The next spring, their bodies began to turn up. What happened that night remains a mystery ...
05.19.2022 What's in a surname? Surnames are way more interesting that you think, trust us. Just hit play and prepare to be wowed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.18.2022 Short Stuff: Artificial Banana Flavor In the Watermelon episode, Chuck and Josh stumbled into a bit of little-known history about why artificial banana flavor doesn’t taste like bananas. Turns out it does; it just tastes like a banana you’ve probably never eaten. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
05.17.2022 Squirrels, Ahoy! Squirrels are rodents, sure, but they’re rodents with personalities the size of Las Vegas and Detroit put together. Get to know your bushy-tailed (and sometimes not so bushy) neighbors who live interesting hidden lives right out in the open. See ...
05.14.2022 Selects: How Lizzie Borden Worked Everybody knows how many whacks Lizzie Borden gave her mother and father with that axe, but there is plenty about the infamous double homicide that remains unresolved, like who actually did it. Travel into the mystery of Lizzie Borden in ...
05.12.2022 Rhinoplasty, aka Nose Jobs Nose jobs have been around a lot longer than you think. And the process is pretty interesting. Tune in for all things rhinoplasty. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.11.2022 Short Stuff: Fainting At The Sight Of Blood As many as 15% of people faint when they see blood! And it’s not just blood that gets them. It can be an injury or even a needle. Learn about this fascinating phobia in this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
05.10.2022 What are land acknowledgments? Land acknowledgements are all the rage in some parts of the world. But they also open a can of worms if not done properly. Learn all about this increasingly common practice today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.07.2022 Selects: How Champagne Works Sure we can all agree that champagne is probably the greatest thing humans have or ever will invent, but how much do we understand how it's made? Learn all about it in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.05.2022 Marcus Garvey: Black Moses One of the more controversial black leaders, Marcus Garvey divided black and white Americans with his assertion of black pride, and sowed division in the black community as well. Yet, possibly no one has had more global impact on black ...
05.04.2022 Short Stuff: Shar Pei Today we dive into the lovable folds of the Shar Pei. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.03.2022 The Mystery of Coal There’s a mystery afoot! Almost all of the coal we use around the world was created in the same 60 million year period. Before or after that relatively short window of time, not so much. Just what exactly explains this ...
04.30.2022 Selects: How Rodney Dangerfield Worked, Live From LA Other comedians cry on the inside, but Rodney Dangerfield built his entire act around his sad life. Get to know this legendary comic who was nearing 50 when he got his break, in this classic episode recorded live in LA. ...
04.28.2022 Understudies: Hardest Workers on Broadway? Being an understudy is far more challenging than simply learning the lines of a lead actor in case of emergency. Learn all about these unsung stage heroes today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.27.2022 Short Stuff: Smelly Homes Does your house smell? No? What if we told you it’s impossible for you to know whether it does or not? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.26.2022 “Postmodernism:” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.23.2022 Selects: The Baffling Case of the Body On Somerton Beach Since his corpse was found in 1948, wearing a nice suit in summer on an Australian beach, an unidentified man has refused to fade into obscurity, gripping the imagination of sleuths around the world. Learn all about the mystery in ...
04.21.2022 Just Say No to... Bottled Water Bottled water is huge business, and terrible for the environment. But where did this all start? Listen in and learn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.20.2022 Short Stuff: Salute the Grilled Cheese Today we pay tribute to the comfiest of comfort food, the grilled cheese sandwich. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.19.2022 The Christine Collins Story When Christine Collins' son disappeared in 1928, she thought that was the worst that could happen. What followed was more upsetting than any parent could imagine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.16.2022 Selects: What happens to abandoned mines? Did you know there are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines in the US, but the federal government knows where only 30,000 of them are? Learn about how these places go from money pit to death trap when mine companies ...
04.14.2022 How Mensa Works Most of us know Mensa’s a smart people club. And that Geena Davis is a member. But did you know it was originally intended as a rolodex when the government needed the UK’s most intelligent minds? And that the Kansas ...
04.13.2022 Short Stuff: Animal Politicians Small towns around the world have a longstanding tradition of nominating – and voting for – animals in elected positions like mayor and some animals have made it to being nominated for president. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.12.2022 The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles If you've ever been to Philadelphia then you've probably walked right by a Toynbee Tile embedded in the street. But what's the meaning on these mysterious installations, and who is doing it? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
04.09.2022 Selects: A Partial History of Action Figures Action figures have a long and glorious history. From GI Joes to Star Wars figures, these offshoots of dolls came along at just the right time to capture the hearts and minds of children everywhere. Learn all about the partial ...
04.07.2022 The Delightful History of Pubs In today's episode, Chuck and Josh dive into the wonderful history of the public house. So pull up a stool, grab a pint and have a listen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.06.2022 Short Stuff: The Church Choir That Didn't Explode Perhaps the most amazing coincidence ever documented took place when a church in a tiny town in Nebraska exploded in 1950. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.05.2022 Watermelons: Nature's Gift to the World Turns out most people love watermelons. Why? Because they're delicious. And they also have a pretty interesting history. Check it out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.02.2022 Selects: How No-fly Zones Work They have become such a ubiquitous tool used by the UN and NATO to intervene in international crises, that it seems like no-fly zones have been around forever. But it was only the 1990s that the first one was enacted ...
03.31.2022 What’s NATO All About? NATO formed at a time when Russia threatened Europe as a potential invader. Then the Soviet Union broke up and NATO lost its way for a bit. Now Russia’s back to business as usual and NATO has found its purpose ...
03.30.2022 Short Stuff: Greenbrier Bunker The Greenbrier Bunker was a secret nuclear hideout for Congress, until it wasn't. Once it was exposed as a thing, it ceased to be a thing. Listen in to a fascinating short stuff today! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.29.2022 How Light Pollution Works Artificial light at night, aka light pollution, affects almost everyone on Earth. And not just people – trees, plants, animals, insects, and marine life are affected by our propensity to light up everything we can. Learn what you – YOU! ...
03.26.2022 Selects: The Tylenol Murders, Part II The panic that began in Chicago spreads and begins to change the world. The investigation into the murders turns up leads and suspects, but still no one has ever been charged with the murders. It remains unsolved to this day. ...
03.26.2022 Selects: The Tylenol Murders, Part I On one terrible day in Chicago in 1982, seven people died suddenly and mysteriously. In just a matter of hours, it becomes clear, someone has poisoned bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol, one of the most trusted and widely-used products in America. ...
03.25.2022 The Truth Behind Cage-Free and Free-Range You’d think terms like cage-free and free-range means the chickens we eat are frolicking happily in the fresh air under the shining sun, but you’d be so, so wrong. Cage-free is a huge improvement but free-range is lacking and both ...
03.23.2022 Short Stuff: Magnet Fishing Magnet fishing has nothing to do with fish. It's more like metal detecting in waterways. Please enjoy our take! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.22.2022 Why was Titicut Follies banned? Titicut Follies is a documentary made famous by its banning. But why was it banned? And what was it even about? Listen in to learn all you need to know about this infamous doc. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.19.2022 Selects: How Hate Works Hate is generally defined as an extreme hostility to something or someone, usually stemming from fear, anger or a sense of injury. But how does it work? Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they dig into the ...
03.17.2022 How Rewilding Works A big new push toward nature conservation (and saving the planet) is based on a simple premise: remove humans from the equation and let nature take its own course. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.16.2022 Short Stuff: Nose Breathing Nose breathing > mouth breathing for many reasons. Listen and learn! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.15.2022 Operation Northwoods: The False Flag Op That Never Was There is presumably some very dark, very depressing stuff in the annals of America’s secret history. But perhaps the darkest classified document to see the light of day was the memo that called for faked attacks on the US to ...
03.12.2022 Selects: A Brief Overview of Punk Rock Punk rock really needs about 10 episodes to do it justice, but we'll try and tackle anyway. Learn all about this movement right now in this classic episode.
03.10.2022 Aleister Crowley: Blowhard Narcissist? Aleister Crowley was known as the "wickedest man in the world." But was he really just a blowhard narcissist? You decide! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.09.2022 Short Stuff: Great Smog of London In 1952 London was gripped by a acrid smog that settled throughout the city so thickly residents couldn’t see their own feet on the sidewalk.
03.08.2022 Behold, National Parks! The National Park system is one of America's great achievements. We'll take you on a journey, from sea to shining sea, in today's episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.05.2022 Selects: How Tabloids Work Having started as an egalitarian answer to 19th-century newspapers, tabloids came to peddle shock and sleaze. They've cleaned up a bit, but they remain the world's guilty pleasure. Learn more about the fascinating history of tabloids with Chuck and Josh ...
03.03.2022 How Effective Altruism Works A branch of philanthropy led by philosophers is dedicated to finding the most impactful ways to help humans survive and thrive. Anyone can find that agreeable, but it can be tough to hear it also means your donations to local ...
03.02.2022 Short Stuff: Friends of Dorothy The gay community had to use code not too many years ago and one way they identified was as “Friends of Dorothy.” So who was Dorothy?
03.01.2022 What's the deal with phantom pain? Phantom pain is when you sense pain from a lost limb. We don't entirely know how why, but we have some ideas. Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
02.26.2022 Selects: Is the Pied Piper About a Real Historic Tragedy? In the German town of Hameln a tragedy that took place on a specific date in 1284 and befell specifically 130 children is commemorated every year. Aside from those two details, the event is cloaked in mystery. What about the ...

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