Episodes

Feb. 26, 2021

Fri. 02/26 - Is Mr. Potato Head Non-fungible?

Delving into the world of crypto art and non-fungible tokens. A history of Mr. Potato Head, or, I’m sorry, just Potato Head? And a few links to help you chill out this weekend. Sponsors: Audible, audible.com/kottke or text k…
Feb. 25, 2021

Thu. 02/25 - The Anti-Marie Kondo & Radical Keeping

How to make your clothes last longer and practice the art of “radical keeping” according to “the anti-Marie Kondo.” A segment about #Buttergate in Canada that’s not really about Buttergate afterall. And a browser extension t…
Feb. 24, 2021

Wed. 02/24 - How Childhood Illness Can Shape Future Immune Response

How the flu you had as a kid could shape your immune response to future flu viruses. A bunch of videos have been going viral showing snow not melting when held up against a flame, but it’s not a conspiracy. It’s science. And…
Feb. 23, 2021

Tue. 02/23 - The History (and Erasure) of Black Brewers

Beer culture is perceived as overwhelmingly white, but its history and its present is not. A historical look at the erasure of Black brewers. The impact of pandemic boredom on the economy. And a new app that will put David A…
Feb. 22, 2021

Mon. 02/22 - Two-Way Dream Communication

Scientists have tapped deeper into the depths of our dreams by achieving two-way communication with lucid dreamers. Why were there so many serial killers between 1970 and 2000? And what stopped them? And space is getting mor…
Feb. 19, 2021

Fri. 02/19 - Green Oranges, Pink Margarine, & Grey Salmon: A Brief History of Dyed Foods in the U.S.

A history of how the US government started deciding what color our food is allowed to be. Could lab-grown wood disrupt the lumber industry? And, The Muppet Show has been released from the Disney Vault. Sponsors: OurCrowd, ou…
Feb. 18, 2021

Thu. 02/18 - Improving Twitter with an 1800s Etiquette Handbook

The Los Angeles musician who helped design the microphones on the Perseverance rover that will hopefully give us our first-ever audio recordings of Mars. Can a 19th century etiquette book make Twitter bearable? And what some…
Feb. 17, 2021

Wed. 02/17 - How Perseverance Could Pave the Way for Humans on Mars

A historical defense of arranging book collections by color. Scientists have sequenced the oldest DNA ever found and made some mammoth discoveries in the process. And NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to touch down on Mars to…
Feb. 16, 2021

Tue. 02/16 - Del Monte Engineered Pink Pineapples for Instagram

The new fruit taking over Instagram. Why the winter storm sweeping the US is causing an energy crisis, especially in Texas. And a new-ish game that lets you take a virtual vacation with your friends. Sponsors: Skillshare, Ge…
Feb. 15, 2021

Mon. 02/15 - The Impactor That Killed the Dinosaurs: A New Theory

Scientists in Antarctica accidentally discovered animal life beneath an ice shelf half a mile deep. An app that lets you tune into live radio stations all over the world. A new study that challenges the long held theory abou…
Feb. 12, 2021

Fri. 02/12 - He Made a Guitar Out of His Uncle's Skeleton

The story of how two brothers gamed the YouTube system thirteen years ago and have since used that method to raise nearly 14 million dollars for charity. An interactive site that simulates the audio experience of being at yo…
Feb. 11, 2021

Thu. 02/11 - Myspace is back!

How the UK variant of Sars-CoV-2 may have evolved inside just one human. Some dating apps are adding video components, but it’s just another case of modern tech “inventing” something that has already existed for decades. Let…
Feb. 10, 2021

Wed. 02/10 - The Curious Case of the Purple Daisy Photo

Do all of these UV light “virus-killing” appliances really work? The mystery of the purple flower photo that has accounted for nearly 20% of all Wikimedia Commons traffic since last summer. And, it’s been ten years since “Fr…
Feb. 9, 2021

Tue. 02/09 - A Hacker Tried to Poison a Town's Water Supply

The scientific benefits of going for regular walks, and some tips for incorporating more walks into your life. The town in Florida whose water was almost poisoned when a nefarious individual hacked into their water supply. T…
Feb. 8, 2021

Mon. 02/08 - A Live Animated Stage Production... Wait, what?

How the Royal Shakespeare Company is using live motion capture to animate a virtual show in real time. A case study of a California town who has this whole pandemic response thing down. A 3D printed house has hit the market …
Feb. 5, 2021

Fri. 02/05 - This Is Your Brain On Juggling

How learning to juggle is the perfect example of what happens to your brain when you learn a new skill. A new literary version of Street Fighter II. Why Burger King France is handing out free potatoes. And, following on yest…
Feb. 4, 2021

Wed. 02/04 - An Unborn Baby's Debut Album

We were bracing for a flu and COVID double whammy of a winter, but it never came. What happened? An intriguing new community initiative taking off in Europe to help prevent the mounting problem of electronic waste. And have …
Feb. 3, 2021

Wed. 02/03 - Are We Too Cynical for Viral Stunts These Days?

What causes ice ages? The science behind your frying pan. You know, the one that’s supposed to be non-stick but isn’t. Scientists explain why. Other scientists have engineered spinach to send emails. Sort of. And did you hea…
Feb. 2, 2021

Tue. 02/02 - How Frozen Helped Solve the Dyatlov Pass Mystery

How a 1970s seat belt crash test and the animated movie Frozen helped potentially solve the 62-year-old Dyatlov Pass mystery. A fascinating correction to something I said yesterday about Langston Hughes. And remembering Capt…
Feb. 1, 2021

Mon. 02/01 - February's Mars Invasion

Sharing some thoughts from Langston Hughes on this first day of Black History Month, and questioning what makes someone a hero in our history books. Plus, the discovery of a new blue pigment. And all the Mars news for Februa…
Jan. 29, 2021

Fri. 1/29 - What Your Tone of Voice Could Say About Your Music Taste

What did everyday Romans in Pompeii eat? An archaeologist has tried to reconstruct their meals. Merriam-Webster has added 520 new words to the dictionary. How do they decide which words get added? And a sci-fi dictionary to …
Jan. 28, 2021

Thu. 1/28 - Legal Protections for Sounds & Smells in France

The mathematics of knitting. How France is trying to legally protect smells. A cautionary tale that will inspire you to go check on your office building if you’ve been working from home and no one’s done that for a few month…
Jan. 27, 2021

Wed. 1/27 - Putting Your Money In GameStop is Old News

A brief dip into the GameStop Wall Street mayhem. A new water-is-wet kind of study proving that money indeed can buy you happiness. And the story of some students who just found out their new professor this semester has been…
Jan. 26, 2021

Tue. 1/26 - Werner Herzog on Skateboarding

New DNA analysis upends some long held assumptions about the evolutionary background of dire wolves. How Adobe Flash broke an entire railway system. Astronomers have discovered a sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system. Say …