Do our dogs really understand us when we talk to them? Or do they just hear us and think “that is a terrible sounding bark”? Alex gets us indistinguishably closer to the answer by discussing methods used by researchers to study the cognitive abilities of animals. Bryan tries to convince everyone that Göbekli Tepe represents a lost human civilization that if true, would upend the currently accepted timeline of our ancestors.

Lyric edition episode 4! Alex and Bryan have a go at deciphering Weigh and Mound by the band Phish.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were required to call upon your instinctual will to survive? Us either but join us for some stories of people who have! For the second half we look at the jagged lines of distinction between natural and man-made, as well as new vs. original.

Alex explains how the nutrition facts panel attempts to guide and inform consumers about the nutritional composition of packaged foods. However, there are also suspicious aspects of this critical re$ource. Bryan tells of conspiracy theories that are fun, weird, or sometimes both!

It’s Wandering Barycenter’s 1 Year Anniversary! Join hosts Alex and Bryan as they reflect on the past year and look forward to year number 2. Bryan finally talks about Electromagnetic fields, a topic that was sitting in the wings for quite some time. Alex takes us on another nostalgic journey by exploring a few 90s era cartoons and how they came to be.

Bryan and Alex get a little silly this week as they briefly discuss the practice of hypnosis as well as a number of dangerous social fads and ideas people have engage in throughout modern history. Find out how hypnosis is used for both entertainment and therapy and why letting your kids play with radioactive material is no longer recommended.

What if we all got got 50k a year for nothing? Well not all of us, only a few. Think that would go over well? Bryan and Alex suspect not so much. Alex explores what drives us to keep a such a wide variety of pets and how those relationships might have come to be… what’s the deal with keeping fish anyway?

Ever wonder “Do fish know how to run a small cleaning business?”. Alex gives us a glimpse into the world of inter-species symbiosis and the answer appears to be yes. Bryan floats us along a slightly more abstract relationship between man and bird with some early attempts at flight

Ever thought “I could be an artist” or “I should be a rum runner”? Well you can! Just fake someone else’s art or learn the ins and outs of international waters. Luckily Bryan and Alex are here to guide us through both worlds. They even entertain the idea of combining them!.

Lyric edition episode 3! Alex and Bryan have a go at deciphering Tessellate and Taro by the band Alt-J.