Sushi historian Eric Rath debunks the notion that sushi is raw or that it's a good idea to dunk your sushi in a wasabi-soy slurry. This episode might revolutionize the way you approach Japanese food. Rath even mashes up his closing Theremin solo with Noh theater vocalizations — before signing off with the Japanese colloquialism "I have done rudeness!"

With social distancing being the mode du jour, many are relying on Facebook and other channels to keep in touch. Will that make us feel even more isolated? Communication guru Jeff Hall has done study after study whose findings push back against the common misconception that smartphone and social media use increase loneliness.

There are billions of dollars at stake — seriously. Data doyenne Xan Wedel is wading into her third U.S. Census. In this conversation, recorded as notices were going out to households across the nation, she says it's worth filling out the Census — that is if you like representation in the U.S. House and funding for schools. Half data geek-out and half confab about the 2020 Census, this episode spells out why it's important to get counted and why the real heavy lifting takes place after the data is collected.

The current health emergency is dubbed "the coronavirus," but also "COVID-19" or the "SARS coronavirus 2." What do we call it? How can we protect ourselves from it? And what is everybody getting wrong about the current health emergency? In this episode, we talk with Anthony Fehr, an expert on coronaviruses. He's an assistant professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Kansas and runs a lab studying how coronaviruses defeat our immune responses. Fehr tells us you don't need to wear one of those surgical masks. Or take pig vaccine or silver. Just wash your hands. Got that? Wash. Your. Hands.

More than just works of artistic expression, Russian literature and poetry has been influential in national and political debates. In fact, poetry can get you killed (seriously). Take it from expert Ani Kokobobo, who writes commentary for The Washington Post coming from her scholarly background — that is, when she's not writing about Tolstoy and sex.

People often don't realize that mass communications is much more than print and broadcast journalism or reporting the news. Understanding media messages can help young people cut through ads aimed to convince them to vape, guest Yvonnes Chen tells us. She also reports on a study that showed adolescents' brains react similarly to seasoned smokers' brains when they view vaping ads. If that sounds far out, wait 'til you hear her Theremin solo and enthusiasm for fermentation.

A Harvard Law School graduate and former litigator, Colin McRoberts became immersed in the wacky underground community of pseudolaw when he embarked on the 2016 Conspira-Sea Cruise. Sounds a bit out there, right? Actually, pseudolaw is far from fringe. McRoberts says it's tricky to determine what appears more absurd: a tinfoil hat or a powdered wig. "If you give an average person a page of real law and a page of pseudolaw, it's kind of hard to tell the difference. They both look ridiculous."

"Back to the Future: Part II" promised us flying cars and hoverboards by 2015. Remember how well that panned out? Transportation expert Bradley Lane says we shouldn't expect autonomous or electric vehicles to take over the road anytime soon either. Moving to those vehicles is a series of choices that individuals and society will make over a number of years.

The first thing most of us do on Google Earth is zoom in to see our house. Or maybe we use Street View to cruise down the block where we grew up. The creator of Google Earth says although it's the most accurate map in the world, even it sometimes misses the mark.