Stuff You Should Know

Rock Paper Scissors is a child's game. But it's more than that if you can believe it, and it has a pretty cool history as well.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1974 the CIA undertook one of its most brazen operations – secretly raising a sunken Soviet submarine lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean right under the noses of the Russian Navy. With the help of billionaire recluse Howard Hughes, obviously. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The black codes were proposed laws that basically tried to keep a form of slavery alive and well after the end of the Civil War. It didn't last long but the shadow of those codes still exist today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Everything you thought you knew about fortune cookies is wrong. Learn all the right stuff in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For 20 years, a tiny town in Ohio was held enrapt by the prolific author of a series of unhinged letters. By the time they abruptly stopped, the letters – which revealed terrible secrets – had claimed a life and sent a possibly innocent man to prison. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Carl Sagan was the world's first mainstream media super scientist, capapble of breaking down complex ideas for the common folk. But what made him tick? Billions and billions of great ideas. Explore his life and legacy with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The exciting conclusion of Ants Part 2! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

And you thought we were done with talking about funeral homes. Well guess again! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ants are pretty much amazing. So we're gonna spend two episodes talking all about them. Please enjoy! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A lot of people read their daily horoscopes, but does anyone really take stock in them? Turns out the answer is yes, even though there is no evidence of their accuracy. Learn all about horoscopes today in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

No, we didn't find another international distress signal we forgot to mention in our Mayday! Short Stuff, we're just that jazzed about our episode on cookies. Are they even better than cakes? It's up to you to listen and decide! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The history of traffic signals is way more interesting than you might think. Trust us.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Attorneys and judges get all the press. What about bailiffs, court reporters and sketch artists? Yeah, let's give them their due.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Tipping is commonly expected in some places, such as U.S. restaurants. Yet this practice varies across cultures. Join trivia gurus (and former waiters) Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they take a closer look at the history, practice and controversy surrounding tipping. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Josh and Chuck's holiday mojo has returned and they're back in the saddle to rustle up some holiday cheer. So put on your comfiest sweater, ugly or otherwise, grab a mug of whatever makes you happy, gather round with your favorite people, and listen in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You ever thought about where those cards you send out during the holidays came from? Prepare to do just that! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The details may vary but building snowmen is pretty much universal where there's snow. Humans have probably been making them for tens of thousands of years. But it wasn't until the last century or two that they have become the winter icon they are today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Kidney stones are widely considered the most painful affliction a person can endure, even worse than labor. And in rare cases they can even kill. Learn all about how these things you really, really don't want form and pass in this faint-inducing episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It's the end of the year so we thought we might give you some advice on how to better pick out a charity, Short Stuff style. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Palm trees. You see them all over the world and for good reason. There are more than 2,500 varieties. Learn all about these giant plants today.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1974, Chinese farmers discovered the first of what would number 7,000 terracotta soldiers meant to protect China's first emperor in the afterlife. Learn all about them in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The famous blue people of Kentucky are no longer blue. But why were they like that in the first place?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hitting your funny bone doesn't just hurt, it feels really weird too. That's because you're not hitting a bone at all, but instead the most vulnerable nerve in your body. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If look into the mythology of just about any culture in the world, you will find a myth about a great flood that destroyed humanity and submerged the Earth in the distant past. Does this mean that a great flood actually happened? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Throughout the history of the world, there have been many cases of what is known as collective hysteria - groups of people, usually young women, who all exhibit the same physical symptoms of non-existent conditions. Is it psychosomatic? Is it group think? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Your gut – not your spare tire, but your digestive tract – is deceptively smart. Not only does it handle processing food and nutrients, but the hundreds of trillions of bacteria that live in your gut may actually be telling your brain what to do too. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1950s a group dedicated to clothing animals out of a sense or morality gained momentum. “A nude horse is a rude horse!” was their battle cry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you think going to the dentist now is not fun, just wait until you hear about what they did in the Middle Ages.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For at least the last 200,000 years, between 10-15% of the human population are left-handed and this fact has utterly left science baffled. In searching to explain handedness, all sorts of contradictory evidence has emerged, creating a fascinating mystery. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Pythons are big snakes. Really big. But there's more to them than their size. Learn all about these big daddies in today's episode.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Say it three times and help may arrive. But where did "Mayday!" come from? Listen in to find out.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

America's longest-running war was between the US government and the loosely-confederated groups we know as the Apache. As their lands were encroached upon, the Apache pushed back with disastrous consequences, nearly becoming exterminated. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

You may be familiar with compulsive hoarding from TV, but something that's often missing from those shows and the news is the deep and overwhelming shame that this disorder creates in its victims who are neurologically incapable of parting with their stuff. Find out all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The residents of Washington, D.C., the capital of the oldest democracy in the world, are not allowed to pass their own laws without the federal government agreeing with them first. That's because DC is not a state, something DC residents want to change. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There was a brief period when it was highly on trend to wear a super short dress made out of paper. Learn why right now! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

No, there aren't snouts and anuses in your hot dogs, so go ahead and chow down. There are, however, plenty of other things that may give you pause so listen to this episode where we dissect the beloved hot dog and poke around inside. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Feng Shui is an Asian concept that strives to unlock your chi by how your home or office is arranged. Or at least that's the simplified "Western" version. It's a little more complicated than that in reality. We'll unlock your chi by explaining how feng shui works in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In December 1900 three lighthouse keepers vanished without a trace from a deserted island in Scotland. To this day no one knows exactly what happened to them. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Is your bed dirty? You bet it is. Are chimpanzee beds dirty? Not as dirty as yours! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Blue laws are laws that restrict certain activities on certain days. Are they antiquated? Yes! Are they still around? In some places, yes! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

America loves to go nuts over new food trends and it turns out that the 20th century was a boon time for them. Revisit them with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cleveland rocks! So said the city of Cleveland when they lobbied for the "Rock Hall" way back in 1985. Since then the museum has grown and evolved amidst great support and controversy.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1992 more than 28,000 rubber ducks got loose in the ocean and began a decades-long experiment in oceanography. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The two mRNA Covid vaccines are the first vaccines to come out of a new field of immunology and represent such an amazing leap forward that they are taking us into a new era of medicine. Learn all about them so you can set your uncle straight. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What is folklore? Turns out it's just about anything you can think of that's shared by more than two people. Art, literature, stories, dance, music, traditions, even those family heirlooms qualify. Turns out folklore is pretty neat. Learn all about it in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Dim the lights and join Josh and Chuck for their annual spooky Halloween story reading.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1930s paranormal investigator declared Borley Rectory the “most haunted house in England” – and with good cause! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Looking back 300 years on, it's easy to overgeneralize why the Salem Villagers decided to persecute (and execute) their neighbors. But as much as this story has become an American history chestnut, we still don't understand why Salem lost its mind. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1960 physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that in the hunt for alien life, we should search for evidence of massive engineering projects that encapsulate stars with solar arrays to harness their energy. Could we humans ever make one ourselves? Find out in this classic episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Harry Houdini was a master magician. He was also a movie star. And an inventor. And an aviator. Listen and learn all about the late great illusionist. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com