Look It Up

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If you've ever wondered whether spiders get depressed, or what happens when you put a gun in a refrigerator, or what Presidents of the United States do after their terms end, this podcast will relieve you of the effort of having to look it up yourself.

Look It Up

  • May 20, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
  • infrequent NEW EPISODES
  • 12m AVG DURATION
  • 14 EPISODES


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Latest episodes from Look It Up

14: bean pools, international dairy, Soviet Union trumpet solos

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2020 33:07


Timestamps: 00:55 - Filling a swimming pool with beans 06:16 - International dairy classification guide  13:20 - Shorts: how much is in a ton of money, when can you resume wearing white if you stop on Labor Day 14:15 - Trumpet solos in Soviet movie-musicals 31:30 - Outro: Ivan Vasilievich   Sources:  Alyans - Na Zare (80s Soviet synthpop) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6wl-EyhXl0   Bean pools -  http://www.poolwizard.net/metric-pool-volume/ https://fina.org/sites/default/files/finafacilities_rules.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooting_Bec_Lido   Shorts -  https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/coin-specifications https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/files/Eliminating%2BHDNfinalXYZ.pdf   Trumpet solos -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYddUl-GItk  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEXDFaTFKsg  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZzG1XbDH_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJI09R-4ZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO6FMIrLaSs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3WUiJziSYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXMHsfUaFoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTFfd8ZKKzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ie01PETGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMEfNhShh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UslGLtDARcs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tun_ZYsnuAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt7r8tRVoXI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knRAf2-9Zs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LzKDH2hWJ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRmZ9KIBWhA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsUOBtR75u0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIyXiiaEzjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8P3rbDFFg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RVSm1i0fok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2yiIoEtXw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpQbxHhen4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvOAOghu2E  

13: Microwaving clothes, ants and mountains, meringue safety

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2017 11:20


Look It Up is a podcast for the curious. On this episode: can you microwave clothes to dry them? Are humans to ants as mountains are to humans? And a brief discussion on meringue safety.    Sources: bit.ly/microclothes, bit.ly/duckmolt, bit.ly/meringues1, bit.ly/meringues2. Outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqJQUYQphZM   

12: Fallow fields, Amtrak, otters

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2017 13:04


Look It Up is a podcast for the curious. On today's episode: are farmers given enough incentive to leave fields fallow? How does Amtrak stay in business? And otters.      Sources:  Farming subsidies (Grist): bit.ly/farmingsubsidie. USDA Conservation Reserve Program (AgWeb): bit.ly/crpsubsidies. Average expected crop yields: bit.ly/potatopounds. History of Amtrak subsidies: bit.ly/amtraksubsidies. Amtrak budget starting 2015: bit.ly/amtrakbudget15. Supplementary amtrak data (Federal Railroad Administration): bit.ly/amtrakfra. Baking yeasts: bit.ly/activedryyeast. Otters (Aquarium of the Bay): bit.ly/liuotters.

11: Voronoi school districts, rhubarb pie, blankets

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2017 11:36


On this week's episode: do school district boundaries follow the lines suggested by a Voronoi diagram? What are the origins of the Prairie Home Companion song about rhubarb pie? Are some types of blankets warmer than others?   0:42 - Voronoi school districts 3:09 - Rhubarb pie 7:06 - Shorts 7:40 - Blankets 9:33 - Sources 10:05 - Lev Theremin playing the theremin   Sources: supplementary images for "Voronoi school districts," bit.ly/liuschools1. School district boundaries, bit.ly/liuschools2. Prairie Home Companion, prairiehome.org. A book about Lawrence Tibbett, bit.ly/liulawrence.

10: Hammock heat loss, dangerous transport, weekday etymologies

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2016 9:19


Look It Up is a podcast for the indiscriminately curious. On this week's episode: why do I get so cold in a hammock? Which type of transport is safest per mile traveled? Where did the names for the days of the week come from?   Sources: transportation statistics from the NTSB and IIHS, bit.ly/liutransport1, bit.ly/liutransport2, and bit.ly/liutransport3. Weekday etymologies on Wikipedia, bit.ly/liuweekdays.

9: Lunar gymnastics, data scraping, forfeitures

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2016 11:17


Look It Up is a podcast for the indiscriminately curious. On this episode:  0:43 - What would gymnastics look like in low gravity?  4:19 - What is data scaping? 5:52 - Shorts: does the third-party doctrine apply to iMessage? What happens if you drive over a road flare? 6:48 - Forfeitures, a segment about the weird stuff the US Government seizes 9:09 - Sources. NASA video about movement in space suits, bit.ly/liugravity. Scientific American article on lunar Olympic gymnastics, bit.ly/liugymnastics. SLU Law Journal article about iMessage and the third-party doctrine, bit.ly/liudoctrine. US Government forfeiture website, www.forfeiture.gov. Today's episode featured a clip from Philippe Beer Gabel's "Cats in my mind" and "Mystical Picnic" by Nutmeg, all from the Free Music Archive, freemusicarchive.org Keep in touch on twitter (@liupodcast), or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com.

8: Closed cities, safest states, rebar

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2016 11:54


On this week's episode: what are closed cities? Is there anywhere in the US that's safe from natural disasters? What is rebar for and how is it made?     Contact the podcast at thelookituppodcast@gmail.com or on twitter at @liupodcast.

7: Perfect pitch, divisibility rules, forfeitures

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2016 9:32


This week: what tone languages have to do with perfect pitch, how to tell if a number is divisible by 13 (or 17, 19, etc.), and the return of Forfeitures.

6: Fumigation tents, sternal fractures, patents.

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2016 10:07


This week: why fumigation tents look like circus tents, how easy it is to break your sternum, and how to apply for a patent in the United States. 

5: Grain silos, etymologies, license plates

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2016 11:51


This week: a history of grain silos, etymologies, and what'll happen when California runs out of license plate combinations. Also on this episode, shorts and a list of cool stuff seized by United States Customs and Border Protection officers.    Sources: grain silos at bit.ly/liugrains and bit.ly/grains2; license plate article at bit.ly/liuplates; forfeiture lists at forfeiture.gov.    Contact thelookituppodcast@gmail.com with any questions or comments! 

4: 1500s Marches, Foreign Keyboards, Historic Pronunciation

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2016 10:15


On this episode of Look It Up: were there marches in the 1500s? How do you type on a Japanese or Chinese keyboard? Is there a correlation between geographic location or political party and whether you say "an -" or "a historic?" This, and more. Check it out.  Links: bit.ly/anhistoricspreadsheet: the data and results for an v. a historic bit.ly/liu1500march: the YouTube video of the march we listened to  Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com. 

3: Post-Presidential jobs, heroin highway, unfinished house tax laws

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2015 11:59


On this week's episode of Look It Up: what kinds of jobs do former Presidents of the United States have? What and where is the heroin highway? Can I leave a house unfinished and not pay property taxes on it?  This, and more. Check it out.  Links: bit.ly/liuhistoric: "an historic" v. "a historic" surveybit.ly/liupresjobsabc: ABC news article about post-presidential lifebit.ly/liupresjobschart: chart of former US Presidents' occupationsbit.ly/liuillsurvey: Illinois Youth Surveybit.ly/liutaxesallegheny: Allegheny County tax abatement codesbit.ly/liuconstructiontx: Texas construction definitionsbit.ly/liuconstructionca: California construction definitionsbit.ly/liuconstructionwa: Washington State construction definitions.  Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com. 

2: Refrigerated Guns, Pronunciation Surveys, Equity Politicians

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2015 11:10


This week's episode of Look It Up deals with whether or not it's safe to refrigerate guns, a survey looking to see whether Republicans say "an historic" disproportionately more than Democrats, and what would happen if Equity name rules applied to politicians.  Links: bit.ly/liusenturia: gun study bit.ly/liukennedy: Huffington Post article about Kennedybit.ly/liuhistoric: "an historic" v. "a historic" survey Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com.   

1: World's Fairs, Generational Furniture, Ambidextrous Animals

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2015 13:00


This week on Look It Up: World's Fairs and how they're surprisingly still a thing, how different generations make furniture-purchasing decisions, and whether or not animals can be ambidextrous.  Look us up on twitter @lookituppod, or email thelookituppodcast@gmail.com.   

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