Teach Me Something

In this episode we tackle some plant based mythology. In part 1 of this 2 part series, we are going to explore a typical Roman villa to find out how they liked to garden. We'll also take a cue from the Roman poet Ovid and use his famous poem, Metamorphoses, to explore the mythological symbolism of different plants.

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In this episode Everett will teach us all about World of Warcraft. Why would he do this you ask??? Turns out, human behaviour is fascinating! Sociologists and epidemiologists have been able to study a great pandemic in World of Warcraft and gain valuable insight into human decision making during a real life pandemic.

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This is the episode where you learn everything about bird song. (That's a bit of an exaggeration, but I promise you'll learn a little bit about a lot of things.) If you've ever wanted to know the who, what, where, when, why, or how of bird song, we've got you covered.

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Join us this episode for a light and fun discussion about birds. We talk about some ways birds adapt to their environments, and some cool aspects of their wing and feather design. You can finally learn the answer to why flamingos stand on one leg, and you'll even get to learn about a penguin's secret kickstand (yes, you read that right.)

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This episode is a short but action-packed summary of the weather concepts we found most interesting. How do tornadoes form? Why do we have hurricanes? What's up with seasons? We'll dive into all these questions, and more, and slip in a brief history of meteorological science.

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Do you like obscure facts that are cool but useless (unless you go to trivia night at the pub)? Well this is the episode for you! You'll learn such things as the difference between flammable and inflammable (hint, there is no difference), the most smelly chemical, and the strongest acid ever made. You can also get answers to really pressing questions like, "can humans spontaneously combust?" and "will eating bananas give me radiation poisoning?"

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This week we are tackling chemistry, specifically the periodic table, in a totally not boring way! (We hope.) We'll give you just a bit of background into the periodic table and the origin of the concept of elements. Then we'll add to your random trivia knowledge by telling you where many of the elements got their names. So tune in to learn interesting and seemingly random facts, like that beans were the reason Pythagoras died.

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In this episode we'll give you a crash-course on Linnaean taxonomy (the gift you never knew you wanted). Then we'll fill you in on some super cool and tiny monkeys that live in the Americas. Marmosets and Tamarins use a fairly unique mating strategy and boy-oh-boy does it pay off. Make sure to listen to this week's episode to find out how these little guys manage to reproduce like bunnies, and learn how marmosets are related to a mythological beast from Ancient Greece.

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We have finally come to the conclusion of the Poison Squad series! Thank you for sticking with it all the way to the end; I promise that by the end of this episode, the US will finally end up with a workable national food safety law. Just wait (and then wait and wait...), and you'll finally get the closure you're seeking. We end this episode with some bonus coverage of a huge modern-day food adulteration case which started in 2008 and is still brewing today.

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Here in part 3, we finally introduce you to the Poison Squad (not the people, just the concept). We'll also explain how a novel gave a much needed boost to the Pure Food Movement and we'll finish off by returning to the roots of this series and grossing you out.

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