In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out with an appetizer looking at how chopsticks came to be and why they became so popular in certain parts of the world vs things like spoons and forks.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor… Ourselves! Go check out our new-ish channel Highlight History, an upcoming re-launch / re-think of Fact Quickie, a new upcoming one in Ancient Marvels,  and Simon’s latest attempt to host all YouTube channels- Side Projects.

Next up, in the main course, we look at who exactly invented the spoon, knife, and fork, how they became popularized and the surprising amount of time it took for two of the three to become a staple of dinner tables the world over.

As for the desert for today, we discuss who actually invented the Fortune Cookie, which pretty much everyone always gets wrong. And, spoiler: no, it wasn’t the Chinese nor Americans.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Fascinating Origins of Everyday Things (Part 4) appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out with an appetizer looking at whether chastity belts were ever actually a thing in medieval times or if it is just a Hollywood invention.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor… Ourselves! Go check out our new-ish channel Highlight History, an upcoming re-launch / re-think of Fact Quickie, a new upcoming one in Ancient Marvels,  and Simon’s latest attempt to host all YouTube channels- Side Projects.

Next up, in the main course, we look at whether you could actually be transported back in time to Medieval Times and actually communicate to anyone in English or not as is often depicted in popular entertainment.

As for the desert for today, we discuss what you actually get for being knighted in modern times and what the process is these days for that.

And note, to see that wall of text Simon hard to read there, this is what he was looking at:

INTHEBEGINNINGTHEREWASNOPUNCTUATIONLOWERCASELETTERSOREVENSPACESBETWEENWORDSTHEREALSOWASNOGRAMMATICALWAYOFDISTINGUISHINGWHENANIDEAHADFINISHEDANDANEWONEBEGUNITDIDNTHELPTHATTHEIDEAOFSTANDARDIZEDSPELLINGWASALSONOTATHINGATLEASTNOTASWEWOULDTHINKOFITREADERSWERELEFTTOMUDDLETHEIRWAYTHROUGHANYTEXTASBESTTHEYCOULDUNSURPRISINGLYUNDERSTANDINGWHATAPARTICULARWORKWASACTUALLYSAYINGONTHEFIRSTREADTHROUGHWASPRETTYWELLUNHEARDOFATTHISTIME

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Medieval Times [Part 5] appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out with an appetizer looking at the film The Knight’s Tale and the very real historic knight Ulrich von Liechtenstein and what the real guy actually got up to.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor… Ourselves! Go check out our new-ish channel Highlight History and Simon’s latest attempt to host all YouTube channels- Side Projects.

Next up, in the main course, we look at what it was actually like to be a medieval knight and how one actually became one.

As for the desert for today, we have the absolute best part of today’s episode discussing whether there was ever actually a documented case of a knight rescuing a damsel in distress.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Medieval Times [Part 4] appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out with an appetizer looking at how the slipping on a banana peel comedy gag got started.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor NordVPN. Get 68% off NordVPN! Only $3.71/mo, plus you get an additional month FREE at https://nordvpn.com/brainfoodshow Or use coupon code: brainfoodshow

Next up, we have the main course discussing what it was actually like to be a court jester and some examples of some rather famous ones, as well as what killed the profession.

As for the desert for today, we look at what it was like to be a medieval executioner and how people got the gig.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Medieval Times [Part 3] appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out with an appetizer looking at how soap actually works to get rid of microbes.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor NordVPN. Get 68% off NordVPN! Only $3.71/mo, plus you get an additional month FREE at https://nordvpn.com/brainfoodshow Or use coupon code: brainfoodshow

Next up, we have the main course discussing whether or not Medieval Europeans actually didn’t bathe that much or not.

As for the desert for today, we look at whether castles in Medieval times actually ever had things like crocodiles in them or not.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Medieval Times [Part 2] appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out looking at why the toilet is called the “Crapper” and the “John”.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor Skillshare. For a limited time, use the following link to get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: http://skillshare.com/brainfood

Next up, we discuss all about what Medieval Europeans did with all their bodily expulsions and whether they really did just toss it out the window. This all culminates in the Great Stink of 1858 and how that was finally resolved.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Medieval Times [Part 1] appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out looking at the rather interesting way the couple hundred million dollar Hope Diamond has been transported a couple times.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor Skillshare for 2 months for free here: http://skillshare.com/brainfood

Next up, we discuss how diamonds went from a mostly worthless item throughout the majority of human history to in very recent times the extremely expensive item we have today. We then dive into the extremely fascinating story of the guy who first managed to figure out how to make diamonds, bypassing the normal couple billion year process to have them form naturally.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post Making Diamonds appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out looking at the rather curious phenomenon of the average of your friends being happier, wealthier, and more successful than you.

Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor Backblaze and unlimited automatic backup service for just $6 a month. Try it for free for 15-days! http://backblaze.com/brainfoodshow

Next up, we discuss how much caffeine it would take to kill you as well as the general healthy upper limit to intake daily. After that we look at the longest burning light bulb, the largest single bet in history, the male version of the word nymphomania, the Olympian who won a match despite being dead at the time of his victory, that time Simon Cowell hijacked a bus, whether blind people really have superior hearing, the horned lizard’s bizarre defense mechanism, Abraham Lincoln’s amazing “wrastling” skills, and a rather adorable fact about ants.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post What We’ve Learned This Month appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out looking at whether there is actually any difference between various men’s and women’s bathroom products like shaving cream, razors, etc and why women pay more for basically everything.

We also have a brief message from a sponsor, Skillshare. Help support this show and learn a lot of interesting new skills, as well as TWO MONTHS FREE using the following link https://www.skillshare.com/brainfood

Next up, we basically rant for a really long time… Embedded in there is a discussion of a topic that is going to sound really boring, but in fact is actually quite fascinating, looking at such things as what a dictionary actually is, which is very different than what most people think. We also look at what it takes for a word to get put in there, if they ever come out, whether dictionary makers ever make mistakes like spelling errors or the like…. We promise this topic is far more interesting than it sounds.

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post For the Love of the Word Nerds… (And Their Rather Unfortunate Nazi Brethren) appeared first on Today I Found Out.

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are looking at the difference between a number of things, kicking it off with the difference between BCE/CE and BC/AD systems of dating and the rather fascinating story of how those systems came to be.

We also have a brief message from a sponsor, Skillshare. Help support this show and learn a lot of interesting new skills, as well as TWO MONTHS FREE using the following link https://www.skillshare.com/brainfood

Up next we dive into a bunch of “difference betweens” American and British English and how the two main versions of English diverged in the first place, which it turns out mostly had to do with just one man and started basically immediately after the American Revolution. Various other things covered include why Americans say Math and the British say Maths, where the word soccer came from and why it’s the correct name for the sport ;-), and more!

On another note, if you could do us a huge favor and rate and review this show in whatever podcasting platform you’re using (including hopefully giving us some feedback related to the new format), we would be extremely grateful. Thanks!

(You can also discuss this episode and view references on The BrainFood Show forum here.)

Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | Spotify | Google Play Music | Stitcher | RSS/XML

You can also find more episodes by going here: The BrainFood Show

The post The Difference Between… [Part 2] appeared first on Today I Found Out.