Unexplainable

Noam wrote an end-of-year song with Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram, so we thought to drop it here as a little end-of-year surprise.

Lyrics:

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

Then the second the year’d begun

We had an insurrection

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

Then the second the year’d begun

We had an insurrection

Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see

We might have started too optimistically

So if we keep our expectations low

Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible

Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see

We might have started too optimistically

So if we keep our expectations low

Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible

Dial back to when the year had begun

We were looking forward to the end of hibernation 

But it didn’t even last a week

No it didn’t even last a week, mm-hmm

On the sixth day of 2021

Vanilla Isis tried to flip the election

But looking back we can’t agree 

On the facts, no, we can’t agree, mm-mm

Pretty soon we were signing up for shots (shots!)

Talking about shots (shots!)

Shots shots shots (shots!)

Everyone was a pharma fan

With the Pfizer fam, the Moderna clan (J&J)

But we should have known Delta would happen 

Most of humanity not getting vaxxed and

Fourth wave — fifth wave, in rhythm

That’s one more wave than feminism!

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

But according to Joe Ro-gun

You should take Ivermectin

Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see

We might have started too optimistically

But if we keep our expectations low

Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible

A booster, I’m not sure I need it. 

Dune on the IMAX, I seen it.

Back to the good life, I dreamed it. (Arrakis)

Wake up, reality, don’t fit.

Hope you don’t need a house or a condo (a condo)

Hope you don’t need a trip to Toronto (Toronto)

Hope you don’t need some gas for your Durango (Durango) 

Hope you don’t need a can of dried mangos (dried mangos)

Everyone is feeling frustration

Quitting jobs — the Great Resignation

Blaming Biden for rising inflation

While billionaires shoot off to space, racing

Did we fix the grid in Texas? (yes)

Figure out how wide the Suez is? (yes)

Don’t ask me

All I see on TV 

It's just fights on Critical Race Theory

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

Moving onto issue number one:

Whether to allow abortions!

Yeah it wasn’t just what we hoped to see

We might have started too optimistically

But if we keep our expectations low

Maybe the world won’t seem so terrible

I just want to be free

Of thinking about Covid-19

I just want to see

Something done about global warming

And I still don’t get NFT’s

Can’t understand crypto currency and

And we can’t agree on anything

But at least we got together to free Britney

(Oh baby baby)

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

Then the second as the year’d begun

We had an insurrection

And people lied about the last election

And made it harder to vote in elections

At least we don’t have another election

Wait, I think there’s another election...

2021, it was gonna be fun

Get a couple shots and then you’re done

Then the second we thought we’d won

We’re learning how to say "Omicron"

Guess you never know what’s gonna come through

Making plans for things you’ll never do 

But take it from a brown guy (and a Jew)

There’s always 2022.

This song was written and performed by Sean Rameswaram and Noam Hassenfeld, produced by Noam, engineered by Efim Shapiro, and features additional vocals from Christina Animashaun.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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Most of the matter in the universe is dark matter, an invisible, untouchable, mysterious substance. Scientists don’t know what exactly dark matter is, despite decades of searching. But recently, they got a new clue in the form of an extremely tiny dancer.

This episode is a remix of two prior episodes of Unexplainable, which has been airing on broadcast radio through a partnership with American Public Media.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.

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We read every email.

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How can we solve the problem of ocean plastic if we don’t know where most of the plastic is?

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.

Also, email us! [email protected]

We read every email.

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Until 1993, many researchers excluded women from clinical drug trials, leaving doctors in the dark about how new treatments work in more than half the population. This is the story of why that happened, the women who fought to change it, and what we still don’t know about how sex and gender affect health.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.

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Venus is the hottest, scariest planet in the solar system, but billions of years ago it may have been a lot like Earth, complete with an ocean of water. So, what killed Venus? And could Earth be next?

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

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Will scientists ever fully understand the human brain? In their quest for knowledge, they’ve tried knives, magnets, computers, blood, and even a good metaphor.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.

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Slime molds can navigate mazes, control robots, and make complicated decisions, all without a central nervous system. If this weird gooey blob can think, does that mean scientists are thinking about intelligence all wrong?

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.

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Every year, thousands of marine mammals end up trapped on beaches, but it’s often hard to figure out why. It’s even harder to figure out how much humans are to blame.

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.

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Why do so many people think they can see and hear ghosts, and what does that say about our conscious experience of the world?

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.

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A recent study of tens of thousands of birds has shown that birds are growing smaller over time. It could be due to climate change, and if so, we ought to consider: How else might humans be altering the literal shape of life on Earth — now and in the future?

For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable

It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.

Also, email us! [email protected]

We read every email.

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