Stuff You Should Know

Those armrests in the middle of benches aren’t just for your comfort, they’re intended to keep the homeless from laying on them. Cities are filled with these mean-spirited inconveniences. But who’s to say how a person should use a bench?

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In almost every part of the world, in some form or fashion, widows have things harder than they did when their spouses were alive. In some places it means they pay higher taxes, in others it means they’re ostracized to live on the margins of society.

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About 5,300 years ago a Copper Age shepherd was murdered. He just happened to die in a place where his body was so well preserved that gave researchers an actual shot at determining the course of his final day on Earth. Josh and Chuck take you through their reconstruction in this classic episode.

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Today we take to the friendly skies to detail the fascinating history of air travel. From planes with piano bars and lounges to the current no frills varieties. 

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The peace sign is one of the most globally recognized symbols around today, but it’s only a few decades old. And it wasn’t the hippies who created it, it was a group of Brits dedicated to nuclear disarmament in the 50s.

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When we think of an abused spouse we tend to think of horrific physical or emotional violence. But over the last decade or so, it’s become clear that’s only a symptom – that domestic abuse is in fact an all-consuming form of interpersonal terrorism. 

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It's pretty obvious something's gone wrong when you get a sunburn, but did you know a tan means you've damaged your DNA? Dive into the three Ss of summer and learn all about how to protect yourself from the sun.

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In the last decade American schools became enrapt by a new psychological concept centered on persevering. Things went south when they started attaching funding to it.

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Learn all about the saddest phone notification in today's episode. 

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You've probably been to a symphony performance and wondered, what in the heck are conductors doing up there anyway? Well we're here to explain that as best we can.

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