Since sugar spread from Polynesia a few thousand years ago, the world has been crazy for it. Insanely high prices, wars and even slavery couldn't undo world's need for a sugar fix. Today that fix is responsible for the obesity epidemic facing the West.

SYSK Distraction Playlist: Sugar: It Powers the Earth

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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It's common knowledge that famines are usually caused by major droughts: Rain doesn't fall, crops don't grow, and people go hungry. But recent research suggests that while weather may trigger famines, they may actually be more of a human-made catastrophe. Find out more in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Selects: How Famines Work

We think of estrogen and testosterone as the female and male sex hormones and they may seem kind of gross (is that just Josh?), but that simple understanding is way off. A magical biochemical dance between the two creates everything from bones to moods. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Testosterone and Estrogen: Wondrous Hormones

Straitjackets aren't really a thing anymore unless you're watching a movie or TV show. Or in prison. That's the sad truth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Short Stuff: Straitjackets

The 70s were the decade of the woman in the US. America finally was coming around to the understanding women and men are equals and the government sponsored a conference to advance women’s rights. The opposition that arose changed the fabric of America. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 1977 Women's Conference That Changed America

When Fort Knox was built in the 1930s to house America’s gold supply, it was billed as an impenetrable, impregnable, don’t-even-think-of-trying vault. But as the world has moved further away from gold, the stockpile’s lost a bit of its luster. Learn all about it in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SYSK Distraction Playlist: Sugar: It Powers the Earth

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