The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week
At Popular Science, we report and write dozens of science and tech stories every week. And while a lot of the fun facts we stumble across make it into our articles, there are lots of other weird facts that we just keep around the office. So we figured, why not share those with you? Welcome to The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. For advertising opportunities please email PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We wanna make the podcast even better, help us learn how we can: https://bit.ly/2EcYbu4 Privacy Policy: https://www.studio71.com/us/terms-and-conditions-use/#Privacy%20Policy
Episodes
December 17, 2025 • 58 mins
Kendra Pierre-Louis joins Weirdest Thing for the season 9 finale! She talks about the rats chowing down on bats, producer Jess Boddy explains the scientific study on Chicago's rat hole, and Rachel talks about the wonderfully heartwarming penguin retirement home at the New England Aquarium. Plus, Rachel has a very special announcement!
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest fact...
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December 3, 2025 • 56 mins
Coltan Scrivner joins the show to talk about the strange empathy of horror movie enjoyers. Plus, Sara Kiley talks about bats dogfighting and devouring birds, and Rachel delves into the bizarre history of the first anti-vax movement.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us...
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November 19, 2025 • 78 mins
Behold: our LIVE show from earlier this year at Caveat in NYC! Rachel, Jess, Moiya McTier and Claire Maldarelli each bring a weird fact to the stage. Topics run the gamut this week. We've got an avian murder mystery, why having sex in space sucks, how preworkout is kind of like being a Viking Berserker, and how the sports bra is shockingly new. Tune in for a very special episode!
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November 12, 2025 • 14 mins
Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask.
On this episode: Goosebumps are a valuable tool for many animals. They keep mammals with thick fur warm by trapping air near their skin, or help make them look bigger when facing off against a rival. However, in humans a wide range of emotions can also induce goosebum...
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November 5, 2025 • 64 mins
Tom Lum joins the show to reveal what rats are ACTUALLY saying to each other. Plus, Rachel talks about the color of the Universe, and Lauren explains one evolutionary exception.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
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October 22, 2025 • 57 mins
Liz Clayton Fuller joins the show to talk about the deadly feather trade. Plus, Jess hops in to explain the strange virus causing bunnies to sprout horns, and Rachel gets into the way some folks are using ants to make yogurt. (It's actually kinda good...)
Check out all of Liz's art: https://lizclaytonfuller.com/
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us i...
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October 15, 2025 • 39 mins
We're sharing an episode of On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti. On Point is a rare public space where you hear nuanced explorations of complex topics live and in real time. Host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world, with urgency, timeliness and depth. In this episode: If you feel like car headlights have gotten too bright, you’re not alone. The National Highway Traffic Administration re...
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October 8, 2025 • 45 mins
Carly York joins the show to talk about the most heroic rats you'll ever meet. Plus, Sara Kiley talks about some drunk monkeys, and Rachel gets into sharks' toothy foreheads.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
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September 24, 2025 • 54 mins
Annalee Newitz joins the show to talk all about how 18th century gossip spread like an actual infectious disease. Plus, Laura delves into how dire wolf bones could help our modern pups, and Rachel talks about the archaeologists who are studying more modern stuff, like skate parks from the 1970s and 1980s. (It's worthwhile!!)
Check out Annalee's new science fiction book! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250357465/automaticnoodle...
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September 10, 2025 • 62 mins
Sarah Gailey joins the show to discuss why one scientist put the cutest little monocles on a bunch of chameleons. (And also to talk about their new book, Spread Me, out now wherever you buy books!) Plus, Rachel talks about the great Missouri snake panic, and Lauren talks about an accidental butt cam that lead to some very useful science.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest fa...
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August 27, 2025 • 61 mins
Nathan H. Lents joins the show to discuss why some birds are extra loud in bed, along with his new book: The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender and Mating Shape Modern Relationships. Plus, Sara Kiley explains how horses are used to create snake anti-venom, and Rachel talks about how Napoleon played a part in instigating the art of canning food.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Scie...
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August 13, 2025 • 56 mins
Mary Roach RETURNS to Weirdest Thing to share her new book, Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy! From this phenomenal new read, she discusses a section on breathing through your butt, a thing not only turtles can do, but also apparently humans. Plus, Rachel talks about the ancient (and DEADLY) origins of ice cream, and Lauren explains a strange, dark goop found on a research boat propeller in one of the great lakes. (Yes, ...
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July 30, 2025 • 65 mins
The wonderful Ryan Mandelbaum is BACK to discuss their latest animalian interest: salamanders in New York City! Laura also explains how peeing while swimming a marathon is shockingly complicated, and Rachel gets into why Dungeons and Dragons is therapeutic for your noggin.
Go check out Ryan's newsletter!
https://ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your wei...
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July 16, 2025 • 49 mins
Scientific illustrator and Twitch streamer Liz Clayton Fuller (ipaintbirbs) joins the show once more to talk all things cloaca -- and why some birds lack them. Plus, Jess hops behind the mic to talk about the world's rarest pasta, and Rachel dives into carnivorous caterpillars that sound like WWE wrestlers.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our...
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July 2, 2025 • 55 mins
Actor and creator of the Brat Apple Dance, Kelley Heyer, joins the show! The squad talks about a BRAND NEW green color, cheating at climbing Mt. Everest, and a sneaky trick to make cats less allergenic.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
Click here to learn more about all of our stories...
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June 18, 2025 • 48 mins
Casey Johnston joins the show this week to talk about how women are truly and actually stronger than men (all of which she details in her new book!). Plus, Laura talks about promiscuous fruit flies, and Rachel talks about capuchin monkey's version of a Labubu.
Get Casey's book here! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/casey-johnston/a-physical-education/9781538773253/
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June 4, 2025 • 52 mins
Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian joins the show to talk about horny eels. Plus, Sara Kiley explains the tree that loves getting struck by lightning, and Rachel goes into detail about kids passing notes in ancient times.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
Click here to learn more about all of our stories...
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May 21, 2025 • 57 mins
Divya Anantharaman aka Gotham Taxidermy joins the show to talk about a bird with a very big personality. Plus, Rachel talks about a whale conveyor belt, and Lauren dishes dirt on the ISS (literally).
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
Click here to learn more about all of our stories!
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May 7, 2025 • 46 mins
Balint Kacsoh of SciAnts_Streams joins the show today to talk about how flies have their own sort of culture. Plus, Jess hops behind the mic to discuss mimes mocking traffic offenders, and Rachel divulges the story of London's legendary timekeepers.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
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April 23, 2025 • 51 mins
Kate Downey joins the show to explain how little we actually know about why periods hurt so dang bad. Plus, Rachel divulges how to flirt using tubes, and Laura talks about the cutest, sweetest little rat sommeliers.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our Facebook group or tweet at us!
Click here to learn more about all of our stories!
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