Something Offbeat

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What’s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week.

Audacy


    • Jun 13, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 15m AVG DURATION
    • 169 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Something Offbeat

    Hiking with burgers n' beers, surprise danger linked to golf and keeping up with robots

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2025 15:47


    Today, we're starting off with a story our host Mike Rogers covered this week on his daily “Other Side of the News” feature. Then, we'll get some dispatches from Detroit and Chicago.

    Orphaned time, the selfie museum and psychedelic college degrees

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2025 9:50


    On this episode, we check in with "Something Offbeat" host Mike Rogers' "Other Side of the News" reports and get a preview of our next Something Offbeat on degrees in psychedelics.

    Other Side of the News: Tasting the Six Flags diet, digging Dig World and finding the darkest night sky

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2025 8:46


    "Something Offbeat" host Mike Rogers has been bringing the "Other Side of the News" to listeners for decades. Now, you can catch up on his dispatches here! This week, we check out a man who is on a Six Flags diet, a new construction-themed theme park and the darkest night sky we could find.

    Other Side of the News: Extreme dogs, a daylong pub crawl and magic asparagus

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2025 6:47


    "Something Offbeat" host Mike Rogers has been bringing the "Other Side of the News" to listeners for decades. Now, you can catch up on his dispatches here! First up, we check out a U.S. playdate between the largest and smallest dogs and then head to the U.K. for tips on how to handle a 24-hour pub crawl and and to learn about using asparagus to peek into the future.

    She's giving mother: How 97-year-old tortoise Mommy finally became a mom

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 13:42


    One new mom in Philadelphia took her trip to first time motherhood slow and steady. She – a Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoise – waited until she was 97 years old. Host Mike Rogers talked with Lauren Augustine, curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Philadelphia Zoo, all about Mommy and her new tortoise babies, named after the “Golden Girls”.

    Why do GenZers spend so freaking much on breakups?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2025 12:36


    In this episode, we dive into research into how the costs add up to $4,000 for Gen Z. We talked to Aleksandra Medina - one of the founders of Frich, a financial app for Gen Z - about break ups and other spending trends they've noticed.

    We can't stop talking about Gen Z or unusual zoo births

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2025 11:14


    In this episode, we preview the upcoming offerings from "Something Offbeat" with a look back on some similar subjects -- Gen Z habits and unusual zoo births. Featuring Charmaine Wynter; Mike Masellis, the lead animal care specialist at the Brookfield Zoo and host Mike Rogers. Produced by Lauren Barry and Chris Blake.

    That poisonous tree from 'The White Lotus' is real: What you need to know

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2025 19:17


    Ben Naman, Director of Medicinal Plants Research at the San Diego Botanic Garden, joined "Something Offbeat" to tell us about the creepy, poisonous real-world tree at the center of one of the season's hottest shows, season 3 of "The White Lotus".

    Why the Yankees amended a decades-old ban on beards

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2025 14:50


    Have you ever taken a good look at the player's facial hair when you watched a game of baseball? You might not realize it, but the topic of grooming in the major leagues is actually full of interesting tales. Just this year, managing partner Hal Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees (son of the legendary George Steinbrenner) released a statement that the team would amend its longstanding facial hair policy, adding another chapter to the saga. Marty Appel, former PR director for the Yankees, joined “Something Offbeat” to help us understand how it fits in to the history of the team and how it has approached grooming through different eras of fashion.

    Vintage Offbeat: The real life fungus featured in 'The Last of Us'

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 16:07


    What is the likelihood of an apocalypse like the one in “The Last of Us” actually happening? Dr. Cameron Carlson of the Zombie Research Society told Audacy's “Something Offbeat” podcast that one of the greatest zombie risks may be hiding in litter boxes.

    Offbites: Talkin' about animals and outer space

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2025 20:18


    Chris and Lauren catch up on the astronauts lost in space and a bunch of interesting animal news.

    Offbites: Soothing robot fears with emergency ice cream

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2025 17:33


    And more weird story rundowns with Chris and Lauren.

    As schools try to ban Crocs, we're pulling back the layers on dress codes

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 19:26


    Did you know that some school districts have been trying to ban Crocs? We're diving into the history and current application of dress codes in this episode of “Something Offbeat” with Grace Goble, an actor, singer, playwright, and more who changed her school's dress code and Richard Thompson Ford, the George E. Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and author of Dress Codes: how the laws of fashion made history.

    The case of Saturn's disappearing rings

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2025 13:30


    This week on Something Offbeat, Mike Rogers talked to the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, about something you might not know takes place every 13 to 15 years: Saturn's rings appearing to disappear.

    Offbites: From kayaking in a whale to the crime car wash

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 19:31


    Chris and Lauren discuss four weird news stories: the Old Testament-esque tale of a kayaker being spit out by a whale, smelly flowers in Australia, an ambitious ocean voyage that departed from Philly and a weird Walmart car wash project.

    Vintage Offbeat: A bear on Mars

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2025 20:20


    This week, people around the world have a change to see a “planetary parade” – you can read about it here. Back in 2023, “Something Offbeat” investigated why people love looking into the sky. We reached out to two experts: Dartmouth researcher Nathan H. Heller, who specializes in pareidolia – hearing or seeing a specific sound or image in a seemingly random auditory or visual stimulus – as well as well-known astrologer Jessica Lanyadoo, host of “Ghost of a Podcast”.

    Not quite ‘Jurassic Park': Scientists want to ‘resurrect' the woolly mammoth soon

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 17:44


    Instead of harvesting long-lost DNA like they do in in the “Jurassic Park” film franchise, a company called Colossal is planning to take living species and genetically engineer traits of the extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger and the dodo bird into them. The company employs around 170 scientists and plans are moving forward… faster than you might think. Faye Flam, a science journalist who is researching the topic for Bloomberg, joined the show to discuss the project.

    Offbites: Adventures in déjà vu

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 22:19


    Stories about stolen eggs, Taylor Swift's Super Bowl experience, people getting stuck on theme park rides and the possible end of the penny all reminded us of “Something Offbeat” tales from the past.

    $2M Roman coin makes us wonder: What's the future of change?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 15:20


    A coin from ancient Rome featuring a depiction of Brutus -- yes, the Brutus who killed Julius Caesar -- sold at auction for $2 million. It got us wondering, in 2,000 years, could a penny be worth just as much? And what's the future of physical currency look like anyway? To find out, we talked to Aaron Klein, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, about what our money could look like in the future.

    Did Google just get closer to proving the multiverse? It's complicated.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2025 13:44


    George Musser, a contributing editor at Scientific American, contributing writer at Quanta as well as the author of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation (2023) and Spooky Action at a Distance (2015) joined “Something Offbeat” to help us get a better understanding of the multiverse and what it has to do with computers.

    Visiting the abandoned military base buried under hundreds of feet of ice in Greenland

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 13:40


    Camp Century was a US military base that was used for less than a decade in the 1960s. Now? It's all but a memory. William Colgan, a glacier and climate change researcher, currently in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Program, joins the show to discuss it.

    What new 'evidence' tells us (or doesn't) about DB Cooper

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 20:09


    Today we're talking about one of the most notorious, long-enduring real-life mysteries out there. The tale of one of the most infamous skyjackers of all time – DB Cooper. Researcher Eric Ulis joins the show to explain the decades-old enigma and help us unpack the latest theories about who Cooper might be.

    'Most Offbeat' of the year: From Stonehenge to brain chips

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 13:05


    Here's a taste of the best stories from the past year to get us ready for 2025.

    Offbites: Where the good gifts are

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2024 19:35


    Offbites: Where the good gifts are full 1175 Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:00:19 +0000 jkCbR2PVzkZWJ7pHird3XBZqqFsgV948 news Something Offbeat news Offbites: Where the good gifts are What’s the deeper story behind that weird headline you forwarded to your friends or shared at the watercooler? We ask questions to gain grounded insight into the stranger news of the week. 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%

    Where are all these giant Christmas trees from anyway?

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 10:05


    Rodney Jacobs of Stinson Lumber in Oregon joined the show. He's responsible for selecting the tree that is placed in downtown Portland every year. And there's a lot more that goes into it than you'd think.

    Researchers unlock new Stonehenge mystery level

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 16:59


    Anthony Clarke, a researcher from Curtin University, joined the show to discuss new findings about Stonehenge that have revealed yet another mystery related to the ancient landmark: how did one of the stones travel all the way from Scotland to reach the Salisbury Plain?

    Ages 5 & up: How to spot dangerous toys

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 13:54


    This week Mike spoke with Oriene Shin with Consumer Reports. She tells us how to keep kids safe with the toys we get them over the holidays and answers the age old question… can you eat Play-doh?

    When your bad bear costume gets you arrested

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 17:36


    Sam Benson Smith, digital managing editor at Audacy's KNX, brought us a story about insurance fraudsters who clipped up by using a bad bear suit. We'll tell you all about it.

    Offbites: Pythons on yogis, volcanoes on the moon, and podcasters on Google

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 20:32


    In this episode of Offbites, Chris and Lauren offer some side dishes of weird news before Thanksgiving, including snake yoga, a bad development for wired headphones, cruel AI and volcanoes on the moon,

    A star tries to take his dog to the grave: What you don't know about pet cemeteries

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2024 19:38


    Paul Koudinaris, author of Faithful Unto Death: Pet cemeteries, animal graves, and eternal devotion, and other books on both animals and death, joins the show to discuss French actor Alain Delon's strange posthumous request and more.

    Pizza party dread: Why you deserve more than two slices at work

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2024 13:53


    We all like pizza, right? In most settings, that's the case, but pizza in the workplace has gotten a bad rap. Workplace culture expert Dr. Jessica Kriegel joined Mike Rogers to explain what other, better options managers have to say thank you to their employees.

    Something Offbeat's Spooky Tales: Ghosts, vampires and zombies

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2024 15:48


    Here's a collection of our spookiest tales for Halloween! Full episodes available here: Ghosted: Man says ancient corpse is his 'spiritual girlfriend' https://www.audacy.com/podcast/something-offbeat-456dc/episodes/ghosted-man-says-ancient-corpse-is-his-spiritual-girlfriend-1a28c A vampire unearthed: Our interview with an heir to 'Dracula' https://www.audacy.com/krld/news/national/something-offbeat-a-vampire-unearthed Could 'The Last of Us' really happen?: Beyond the zombie https://www.audacy.com/podcast/something-offbeat-456dc/episodes/could-the-last-of-us-really-happen-beyond-the-zombie-fungus-232bd Here are the best and worst US cities to be in when the https://www.audacy.com/podcast/something-offbeat-456dc/episodes/here-are-the-best-and-worst-us-cities-to-be-in-when-the-zombie-apocalypse-happens-9a0b6

    Offbites: Baseball snakes and pyramid dogs

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 19:08


    Chris and Lauren discuss Spooky season, coffee, animals where they shouldn't be and more.

    Pumpkin spice everything: Is it too much?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2024 13:41


    Starbucks started Pumpkin Spice season in August this year, and some people thought it was a little too early. The “Something Offbeat” team reached out to an expert who could tell us all about people's reactions to pumpkin spice. Dr. Jin-A Choi is part of a team from Montclair State University that have been releasing the annual Pumpkin Spice Report. The latest just came out this month.

    Vintage Offbeat: An expensive office party

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 13:34


    "Vintage Offbeat" continues with our very first episode, from June 13, 2022. ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: We all know office parties can be a drag, but for some, they can be more than uncomfortable. Recently, a court awarded a man who suffers from an anxiety disorder $450,000 for being subjected to an unwanted office party. Why do some people dismiss mental health issues such as anxiety, and why are some boundaries not respected? To find out, host Mike Rogers spoke with Dr. Kevin Chapman, founder and director of the Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

    Dangerous selfies: When the quest for social media clout goes too far

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2024 13:15


    The search for the perfect selfie consumes many social media users. But when does it go too far? Content creators have been seriously injured, or even killed, while trying to get that once-in-a-lifetime photo. Sam Cornell a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales and a co-author of the study titled: “Dangerous Selfies Aren't Just Foolish. We Need To Treat Them Like The Public Health Hazard They Really Are," joined Mike Rogers to explain the risks and why we do it.

    Vintage Offbeat: A public autopsy

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024 10:57


    For our second anniversary, we're looking back at one of our first episodes! ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: It's not hard to find gruesome, macabre images or videos – they're on TV, in horror movies and online. But what if you wanted to see them in person? Through a series of donations and transactions, the body of a 98-year-old World War II veteran from Louisiana ended up on a table in an Oregon hotel ballroom where attendees paid as much as $500 to view a public dissection. Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine and host of the “How Can I Help?" podcast, explains what drives people to seek out such spectacles and what that fascination with death can tell us about ourselves and our society.

    Offbites: When otters attack, too many people in space, and athletic pets

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2024 17:25


    On this episode of Offbites, Lauren and Chris discuss the otters who attacked a woman out for a jog, ask how many people is too many people in space, and the dog capturing people's hearts on a beach in Brazil.

    'Vampire bacteria' with a thirst for human blood might be lurking in your body

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2024 16:36


    Vampires are spooky, bacteria can be scary… and when you put them together? Things get a bit spooky-scary. New research published earlier this year reveal that some bacteria actually act like vampires. That is, they thirst for human blood and will feed on it when the chance arrives. Dr. Arden Baylink of Washington State University, the lead author of the study, joined Mike Rogers on the “Something Offbeat” podcast to explain.

    Offbites: Brat summer or decapitated whale summer?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2024 24:29


    Lauren and Chris are finally back with another episode of Offbites. This week, they discuss their Brat summers, the most unattractive qualities in the opposite sex, and say goodbye to a fast food sandwich staple.

    Vintage Offbeat: An ancient sea creature named after the president

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024 15:35


    For our second anniversary this summer, we're looking back at one of our first episodes! ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Remember the fun of naming your pet? Now, imagine taking on the task of naming an entire species. Earlier this year, Dr. Christopher Whalen of Yale University got that chance. This week on Something Offbeat, we talk to Whalen about his discovery – an ancient ancestor of the octopus that he named after President Joe Biden – and to Dr. Brittany Kenyon-Flatt of North Carolina State University about the history behind scientific names.

    Pinot Naur? What the dino-killing asteroid has to do with your favorite wine

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 18:39


    According to a study released this summer, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago likely helped grapes flourish in the Western Hemisphere. While there may not be a direct correlation between dinosaurs and grapes, Monica Carvalho, the assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan and co-author of a study tracing the origins of grapes in our hemisphere, explains what new grape seed fossils discovered in South America reveal.

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