Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Episodes

March 25, 2023 67 min

In 1970, roboticist Masahiro Mori wrote an essay that said the closer robots come to lifelike, the more they unsettle humans. His theory became the Uncanny Valley, and science has been evaluating it – and what makes something creepy - in recent years. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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One of the all-stars of the hobby world is collecting baseball cards. Over time it’s gone from a kids’ hobby to a major investment vehicle, complete with its own bubble that recently burst. But at the heart of it is something both engrossing and endearing.

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March 22, 2023 12 min

You know when you read a word over and over it starts to lose its meaning? There’s a term for that and why it happens is fascinating.

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March 21, 2023 47 min

Floyd Collins was a natural-born caver who met a terrible fate, becoming stuck underground where no one could get him loose. His unlucky, slowly unfolding plight also turned out to be one of the first national media sensations of the 20th century.

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Anyone who knows anything about Jean-Claude Van Damme knows he played a French legionnaire in the movies. He was just one of many actors to star in films that romanticized this mercenary force. Check out the details in this classic episode with Josh and Chuck.

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March 16, 2023 58 min

Chuck and Josh were around during the Golden Age of the arcade. And look how they turned out! Join them on a trip down memory lane. 

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John Cage was a unique artist to say the least. Learn all about this avant-garde composer today.

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March 14, 2023 53 min

Amaro is a delicious traditional liqueur, usually from Italy, that has delighted diners and drinkers for centuries. Tune in to learn all about this wonderful digestif. 

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During World War II, Nazis invaded the United States with saboteurs bent on fomenting chaos. Three times. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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You may have heard your parents or – gasp – grandparents prattle on about how amazing the original 1969 Woodstock Festival was. It turns out that, as much as people who lived through the 60s like to talk them up, Woodstock really was that amazing.

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March 8, 2023 8 min

Paprika is more than a smoky Hungarian spice. Actually, that's not true, that's exactly what it is. But it sure is delicious!

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March 7, 2023 50 min

A noncompete agreement, a pledge not to work for a competitor for a set amount of time, makes sense – when the worker is well compensated and privy to company secrets. But that doesn’t describe the vast majority of workers who’ve signed noncompetes.

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In this classic show recorded live on January 5, 2017 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, Josh and Chuck delve into the history and the heyday of the church of consumerism and what it means for local communities and our capitalist society at large when malls die.

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March 2, 2023 54 min

Crossword puzzles have an interesting history and are a lot of fun to do. Dive in today to learn about Chuck's latest obsession.

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March 1, 2023 11 min

In a bridal shop in Chihuahua, Mexico a mannequin has been standing in the window since the 1930s that’s so lifelike some say it’s actually a corpse.

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If you’ve ever thought, “What’s the Amazon rainforest ever done for me? Nothin, that’s what,” then you’re dead wrong, friend. It covers 1 percent of the Earth’s surface but houses perhaps 30 percent of its species and it’s invaluable to all life on Earth.

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In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept. Local reputations were ruined when accusations flew, but could a drifting serial killer working across the Midwest have been behind it? Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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February 23, 2023 44 min

Naps are great if you can manage to find the space to take them. The trick is to do it for the right amount of time. We get into all in the ins and outs of Chuck's favorite time of day. 

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February 22, 2023 14 min

It’s pretty well known that if you wait to make a big decision until after you get some sleep, you’re likelier to make a good one. But why should that be? Why, we’ll explain if only you’d listen.

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February 21, 2023 47 min

Chuck and Josh turn into the Hardy Boys for one of the great unsolved mysteries of WWII, a work of art worth a king’s ransom that went missing in 1945.

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