Episodes
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You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Hardened plaque harvested from Neanderthal teeth is loaded with genetic material from plants and animals these prehistoric hominins ate, as well as remnants of microbes that reveal a surprising amount about how they lived and even what made them sick. …
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Man Oar Board
South African surfer Chris Bertish just pulled off one of the most remarkable feats of human determination, perseverance and sheer grit of all time by paddleboarding for 93 days, 4,050 miles across the Atlantic Ocean – by himself. Jeff is …
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Monitor Moniker Modeler
Low self monitors tend to use inner beliefs and values in deciding how to behave, while high self monitors tend to monitor their surroundings and change their behavior to fit in. Anthony and Jeff take a test to see where …
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Snake Smile Salesman
Python breeder Justin Kobylka says he spent over eight years selectively breeding ball pythons to finally achieve a smiley face emoji pattern on the reptile’s skin. Jeff and Anthony discuss pastimes, evocations, and what it takes to dedicate 8 years …
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The Immortal Cult Hokum
In 1939 a secretive cult known as the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians made headlines when its leader, James Bernard Schafer, announced their intention to conduct an unusual experiment. They were going to raise an immortal baby. Has there ever …
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Raindrops Keep Sprawlin’ All the Dread
After noticing an uptick in a rare disease called melioidosis during the rainy season in parts of Southeast Asia and northern Australia, researchers used high-speed cameras and fluorescent dye to observe raindrops delicately catapulting the microbes into the air. Jeff …
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Time Change
The longest personality study of all time, published in Psychology and Aging and recently highlighted by the British Psychological Society, suggests that over the course of a lifetime, just as your physical appearance changes and your cells are constantly replaced, …
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Stop, Chop, and Roll
A French electrician proved himself to be a bona fide MacGyver by building a makeshift motorbike out of his wrecked car after becoming stranded in the Moroccan dessert. Jeff thinks this also makes him a bona fide bad ass, but …
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Magnetical Mystery Ewer
By analyzing the pottery from an archaeological dig near Jerusalem, scientists have learned that the geomagnetic field around the earth fluctuated wildly during early human civilizations —and the news isn’t good for a world that depends on electrical grids and …
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Do NOT join our secret society. You’ll just wind up with a bunch of cool stuff. It’s gross.