Podcast Episodes

Wireless Electricity: When Can We Unplug Our TVs?

You know all of those cords and cables and wires that we use to connect our stuff to the electrical grid so they’ll, you know, work? Imagine a day wh…

2 years, 7 months ago

Short Stuff: Smudging: Not just for hippies

Smudging is the process of wafting around the smoke of burning white sage. What is it good for? Listen in and find out.

See omnystudio.com/listener fo…

2 years, 7 months ago

Haile Selassie: Statesman, Colonizer, God?

If you grew up outside of Africa, you might know Haile Selassie’s name from reggae music - the man who ruled Ethiopia is considered a god in Jamaica.…

2 years, 7 months ago

Selects: How Zero Population Growth Works

In 1968, Paul Erlich published The Population Bomb, predicting coming famine and mass death. Erlich's predictions didn't pan out but his ideas launch…

2 years, 7 months ago

The Story of the Nuclear Boy Scout

David Hahn was a kid who was really into science. So much that he built a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed. And it worked. 

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2 years, 7 months ago

Short Stuff: Benin Bronzes

One of the world’s cultural treasure troves were created in West Africa. But for over a century they’ve been held in museums outside of Africa. In fa…

2 years, 7 months ago

Ray and Charles Eames: More than Chairs

Charles and Ray Eames were superstar designers who dreamed up some of the most iconic pieces of furniture ever made. And they did much more than that…

2 years, 7 months ago

Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't

Sometimes a good idea doesn’t pan out in real life. Take Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome: It requires less energy to heat and cool, it’s cheap, an…

2 years, 8 months ago

Like, here's the episode on "like"

Like is a very divisive word. Purists think it's like, a filler word born in the 80s that's like, destroying the English language. Turns out none of …

2 years, 8 months ago

Short Stuff: The Original Snake Oil Salesman

There’s a great origin story behind snake oil salesmen, and it has to do with just one guy who singlehandedly gave it a bad name.

See omnystudio.com/l…

2 years, 8 months ago