Weirdly Human Podcast

Hey Weirdos! We know we owe you a new episode this week, but . . . Happy New Year?! We're taking a few weeks to travel and spend time with our families. We'll be back soon with a whole bunch of new stuff, so hang in there. See you soon!

Traditions help us Weird Humans feel connected to our families, our communities and our culture. We have to thank Dan, one of our listeners, for the inspiration to create this episode. Well, really, who are we kidding? We recorded this one in December, so making an episode about different holiday traditions was super low-hanging fruit . . .

We started off talking about how important it is for us humans to form these traditions in order to feel connected to each other. Almost immediately, we started picking apart the traditions of other cultures and pointing out their flaws in reasoning . . . If you're listening to us from the Netherlands, we're having some issues with your Zwarte Piet. Never heard of Zwarte Piet? Check out the controversy (here).

The Netherlands aren't the only country to have Weird Human holiday traditions. Elle is learning German, and had to bring in the German traditions of the Krampus  and the Christkind. Iceland has its own special holiday flavor with 13 Yule Lads. These Santa-Trolls each have unique personalities, and Icelanders put up with their shenanigans in exchange for daily gifts for Advent.  

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We would be completely remiss if we didn't mention some of the fun traditions enjoyed by our Jewish friends, and Candace tells us how she really feels about White Elephant gift exchanges . . .

Whatever your traditions Weirdos, we hope you have a Happy Holiday Season! We'll be back with more in the New Year . . .

This week's episode took us on a journey of self reflection . . . okay, who are we kidding? We're Weird Humans and naturally, we're just as concerned about our appearance and likelihood of age related memory decline as the rest of you. It's no big secret that our society is youth-obsessed, and we (especially as women) are inundated with messages that we had better be paying attention to our looks. And that we'd better be ready to drop some serious cash for lotions, potions, creams, Botox injections and eventually plastic surgery to keep up the ruse that we're going to be young forever.

Elle just celebrated a big birthday, and will be continuing the party for as long as she can get away with it. In her honor, we've decided to rename her birthday month "Elle-tember". Sure, we should have released this episode in that month. But, seriously, we're typically late to any party, so why should this one be any different? And she may or may not be wearing the same outfit . . .

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Leaf blowers are a perfect analogy for what's wrong with our society. They take a problem from over here, and just blow it over there. They don't really solve anything! The fact that we both own leaf blowers, just means we're part of the problem. We're also annoyed by the 24 hour news cycle, the NextDoor app, and digital calendars. Amy Poehler had it right in her book "Yes, Please!" The robots may eventually kill us, but until then they will just make us miss appointments.

In our research for this episode, Candace got some much desired Botox injections and binged some "Community".

Thanks so much for listening, Weirdos. We'll be back in 2 weeks . . .

Hey there, Weirdos! For this episode, we foolishly decided to tackle diet culture in our society. And by diet, we mean restricting or controlling the types of foods you eat, including how much of those foods you eat, in order to lose weight, or to maintain your body weight. It surprises no one to learn that women are often the targets, for better or worse, of this crazy system. In doing the research for this episode, we couldn't even remember all of the diet fads that have made a splash in the media over the past several years. Do you remember the cookie diet? It was interesting to us to learn that only 5 diets have some science backing them up. Low-Carb, Paleo, Mediterranean, Gluten Free and Vegetarian diets were the winners.

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After about 5 minutes of consideration, we've decided that ANY diet can be absolute garbage. Being the Weird Humans that we are, we can use these guidelines to justify eating food that is ultimately unhealthy for our bodies. For example, both of us are following Gluten Free diets, but with the plethora of GF baked goods now available, the GF junk food list gets longer and longer. We also decided that Veganism may be a socially acceptable eating disorder. A not-so-fun fact, 80% of people who lose 10% or more of their body mass will likely regain that amount and more within 2 years of the initial weight loss. Bummer. Feeling hangry yet? Yeah, us too. Now, go watch yourselves some "Dietland" on Hulu.

The good news is this - these Weird Human bodies are amazing and resilient. Knowledge is powerful, and while there may not be 12-step programs to rehabilitate the Vegans among us, we can make better choices. If your food comes in a bag, a box, or a can then just know that you're eating a laboratory manufactured food-like product. YUM!

Take a listen to Unladylike - this episodes podcast we wish we'd made. Stay curious Weirdos, and we'll be back with another episode soon.

In this episode, we tackle the idea of women reinventing themselves, which of course is a Weirdly Human thing to do. At some point, it seems inevitable that we would ask ourselves, " Who am I now?" We can't resist sharing more of Caitlin Moran's wisdom from her latest book "More Than A Woman", and by binge watching some "Cougar Town" on Hulu, starring the fabulous Courtney Cox (find the show here) and the Netflix original series "Grace & Frankie" (find it here) starring the AMAZING Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin.

Humans are genetically similar to both chimpanzees and bonobo monkeys. It was interesting to research how differently these species have evolved socially. It's common knowledge that chimp society is patriarchal, often chaotic and violent. In contrast, bonobo society is matriarchal and diplomatic. Bonobo females will engage in sexual activity regardless of fertility, so it goes without saying that male bonobos are getting laid way more often. The females are in charge and the males are being taken care of. Certainly sounds like a win-win.

And even in an episode dedicated to discussing the Matriarchy and empowered older women, we unsurprisingly couldn't stay on topic. Did you know that humans are one of the few mammals that don't have a boner bone? Yeah, you read that right. As in an actual BONE inside the penis that provides support during sexual intercourse. During our research for this episode, we were stunned to discover that the walrus baculum (the scientific name for the boner bone) averages 3 meters in length. Given the length of the shaft of the walrus penis, it is a thing for male walruses to autofellate (Yup, brings new meaning to the term suck it). For your daily dose of laughter, you can watch it happen below:

If you have an idea for the show, let us know! Candace wants you to follow us on Twitter @WeirdlyHumanPod, or @CandaceJax or @Elle_ipsis. Is this getting too weird?

Or you could just email us [email protected]

Love 'ya Weirdos! Next episode in 2 weeks . . .

In this episode, we jump right into the concept of the contagion heuristic. That's scientist speak for the idea that most of us believe, at least on some level of consciousness, that good and evil are physically contagious traits. It's a form of magical thinking that buys into the idea that a person's essence is transferrable to others through contact with inanimate objects, like clothing, created artwork, writings, locks of hair (or nail trimmings - GROSS!!!!!)

Now, along this line of thinking, most of us would think of any number of different forms of memorabilia from an autographed jersey from a popular athlete, or even a treasured family heirloom can give us positive feelings of connection with the person who used to own or wear that item. A cute film from 2002, "Like Mike" starring Lil' Bow Wow, is a great example of what we're talking about. You can check it out here.

But what about the darker side of the equation? Did you know that there are several websites where you can purchase MURDERABILIA? This is a term first coined by Andy Kahan, director of the Huston PD Crime Victims Office to identify collectible artifacts related to murders, homicides or the perpetrators of violent crimes. Who are these collectors, and why do they want any of this stuff?? It's hard to say, but there are several different working theories (see here) trying to explain the reasoning. Slate Magazine published an excellent article in 2011, you can read it here.

It was also very interesting to us that one of the biggest purveyors of Murderabilia collectibles was located in our very own city of Jacksonville, FL. If we were any sort of journalists, we should have contacted this dude and interviewed him for the show, but that just seemed like too much work. Besides, he's been interviewed by our local news teams on more than one occasion. If you're curious, take a peek here.

To prevent this episode from being a complete and total bummer, we wanted to give you a chance to take the Disgust-Sensitivity Test for yourself. You can find it here. Discovering what disgusts you, certainly is a Weirdly Human thing to do.

Stay tuned Weirdos! We'll be back with another episode soon.

Welcome back Weirdos! Like we said on the episode today, it's been a minute. We learned a ton from recording and publishing Season 1, and we've got much more frivolity in the works going into Season 2. We decided to launch this season with an episode exploring the Weirdly Human concept of HUMOR.   What sort of jokes do you find funny? Do you laugh often enough (hint: The answer is most likely NO) And most importantly, why do we have this behavior in the first place?

We have to give a big THANK YOU and shout-out to an episode of one of our absolute favorite podcasts, Hidden Brain. The episode "Humor Us" was a huge inspiration to us in creating this one. If you want to know how podcasting should actually be done, then take a listen here.

Our featured funny neuroscientist Sophie Scott will have you ROFL, and you'll be learning in the process. Watch her here.

Looking for an entertaining read? You can't go wrong with any of Caitlin Moran's books. But here is her latest:

Ever the tenacious, sharp and witty diplomat, Madeline Albright showed us again that women can be SMART and FUNNY.

Laughter does so much for all of us Weird Humans. It eases our stress levels, helps us to bond with each other and it improves the aging process. In case you've made it all the way down here, and you still need a laugh, then here is proof that cats really are the "hold my beer" guys of the animal kingdom:

Welcome Back Weirdos!!! It's been a long and productive summer, and we've been hard at work creating new episodes for you. The first episode of Season 2 drops October 13 . . . Stay tuned!

Thanks for hanging in there with us Weirdos! We made it to episode 10, the last one of our first season.

In this one, we tackle the phenomenon of the "Free Britney" movement, and discuss the New York Times documentary episode "Framing Britney". For those who haven't watched, this takes us through the celebrity rise and fall of Britney Spears. Looking back at these events through the lens of time, it's easy to see that our feelings about her behavior was heavily influenced by how she was portrayed in the media. From the paparazzi to respected journalists like Diane Sawyer, everyone was quick to point the finger at what looked from the outside to be mentally unstable behavior. Her father, Jamie Spears, who had been mostly absent from her life up to this point, stepped in and convinced a judge that Britney needed the protection of a conservatorship. This is a legal guardianship situation, which gave Jamie full control of Britney's assets, estate and personhood. Seems like a strange and unnecessary step to take against a grown-ass professional woman, but there it is. Britney has yet to speak out publicly about this, and remains bound by this conservatorship to this day.

In order to keep up with the ever moving celebrity universe, we also discuss the Oprah Winfrey interview with Harry & Meghan. Who knew that joining the stuffy British Royal family would be so tough? And lonely? And kind of BORING. We polished up our glass slippers, and made sure we could throw down a sufficient curtsy. If you haven't seen it yet, here you go. You're welcome!

Before we head off into vacation mode, we wanted to let you know that we've got updated designs in our merch showroom, and more will be coming soon.

If you have an idea for the show that you'd like to hear us have some fun with, let us know. Candace wants you to follow us on Twitter @WeirdlyHumanPod, or @CandaceJax or @Elle_ipsis. Is this getting too weird?

Or you could just email us [email protected]

Love 'ya Weirdos! We'll be back soon . . .

We stumbled upon the topic for this week's episode the way we often do. And by that we mean we binge watched some Netflix. "We Are the Champions", episode 2 "It's Like Breaking Bad with Chilis" inspired us to dig into all things related to one of America's favorite poisons: capsaicin! Candace is a fan of the spice, but Elle is admittedly "capsaicin naive". Peppers are rated on a range of spiciness called the Scoville Scale (thanks Wilbur Scoville), with your supermarket green bell at zero, and the formidable Ghost pepper ringing in at 1 million units. The Guinness Book Record holder, the Carolina Reaper, is the spiciest of them all (so far) at double that level. The Reaper's creator, Smokin' Ed Currie, the purveyor of all things peppers and the founder of the Puckerbutt Pepper Company from Fort Mill, SC is always turning up the heat as he is constantly tinkering around with those little gems in order to grow a hotter and hotter pepper.

However, peppers aren't even the most dangerous thing in your spice cabinet. As it turns out, you should be very concerned about how much nutmeg you are sprinkling on your pumpkin spice latte. Just kidding, a little is fine. But, apparently high doses will make you hallucinate, and assuming you survive it, will give you an ugly two day hangover. Cinnamon brings its own forms of peril, as anyone who tried the Cinnamon Challenge will likely agree.

Can Gastroenterology be entertaining? We think so! Let us introduce you to Dr. Ed McDonald, and his blog, The Docs Kitchen. We came to learn about the safety of eating spicy peppers, and we stayed for the laughs, chitlins and trendy diet info. Click here

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