Part-Time Genius

Will and Mango have lots of questions. Will we ever live without sleep? How do rats keep outsmarting humans? Where are the sunniest tax havens to hide your money? Join these Part-Time Geniuses as they dive into ridiculous topics... and discover some pretty smart stuff along the way.

Rank #1: Will We Ever Live Without Sleep?.
Will thinks sleep is a waste of time. But how far are scientists from a cure? Plus, ridiculous facts about Margaret Thatcher, tips on NFL gambling and why you can’t trust science from Garfield. Featuring Simone Giertz. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: What are the Most Incredible Things the Human Body can do?.
Did you realize that when your fingers get wrinkly in the bath, there's a crazy, superhero reason for it? Or that everyone's body is covered in invisible stripes? Or that a single snipped foreskin can yield a football field full of new skin in the lab? Will and Mango investigate the wonders (and strangeness!) of the human body. Featuring Jonathan Strickland. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Stuff Mom Never Told You

Join hosts Anney and Samantha to listen to Stuff Mom Never Told You, continuing the conversation of what it is to identify as female through research-based discussion around feminism and how it impacts everyday life. New episodes come out Wednesday and Friday.

Rank #1: Female Serial Killers: Part 1.
In part one of this two-parter, Anney and Samantha take a stab at explaining our morbid fascination with serial killers, the root of our cultural misconception that women can't be serial killers, the main differences between male and female serial killers, and attempt to separate the facts from the legend of some of history's most notorious female murderers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Lady Friends With Benefits.
Women's romantic friendships and lifelong partnerships were common -- and acceptable -- in the Victorian era. Cristen and Caroline discuss how and why these so-called "Boston marriages" flourished and what was behind their early 20th-century demise. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Deep in the back of your mind, you’ve always had the feeling that there’s something strange about reality. There is. Join Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick as they examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, evolutionary marvels and our transhuman future.

Rank #1: Lessons of Vesuvius, Part 1.
In the year 79 CE, the Italian volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted with with the thermal energy of 100,000 atomic bombs. Ashen destruction rained down on Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore this terrifying episode in history and what we can learn from it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: A Six Course Feast of Dangerous Foods.
Considering a holiday feast of toxic sushi and deadly casserole? Then this encore presentation is for you. Join Robert and Joe for a six-course meal of culinary danger! Discover six foods that deliver a lethal taste profile when carelessly prepared or consumed by the uninitiated diner -- and tune in for a brand NEW 'Deadly Foods' episode on Thursday. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio and HowStuffWorks.

Rank #1: (Almost) 100 Years of the Equal Rights Amendment .
The first version of the equal right amendment was first proposed almost 100 years ago. This amendment has been through cycles of support and opposition, but one thing that’s held true is that the loudest voices on both sides have been women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Hitler’s Early Rise and the Night of the Long Knives.
Over the course of several days in 1934, Adolf Hitler, who was at the time the Nazi Party Leader and Reich Chancellor, directed an action which eliminated all of his political enemies and enabled him to declare himself Fuhrer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

BrainStuff

Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.

Rank #1: Where Did Middle Names Come From?.
Having a first, middle, and last name is common in the West, but this wasn't always the case. Learn the history of middle names in this episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Why Do Cats Knead?.
Cats seem to love kneading at soft things with their front paws -- but why do they do it? Learn about this (sometimes very pointy) behavior in today's episode of BrainStuff. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn the Stuff They Don't Want You To Know ... an audio podcast from iHeartRadio and HowStuffWorks.

Rank #1: The Death of Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this year the guys traced the rise of the enigmatic financier and child abuser Jeffrey Epstein, discovering a quagmire of crime, corruption and cover-ups implicating some of the world’s most powerful individuals. It seemed Epstein’s connections effectively placed him above the law - at least, that is, until renewed public scrutiny and criminal investigations found Epstein arrested once again and, this time, placed in a real prison. Many speculated Epstein would never go to trial. On August 10th, he was found dead in what the media described as an “apparent suicide”. So what happened?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Conspiracies That Turned Out To Be True.
Often in the mainstream media the term "conspiracy theory" is used as a way of dismissing a claim or idea immediately -- and it's a technique that works more often than you might think. However, despite the ardent efforts of various powerful groups across the planet, numerous events initially called conspiracy theories turned out to be conspiracy facts. Join the guys as they explore conspiracies that turned out to be true.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Fictional

Classic lit with a modern tone, every other week.From the creators of Myths and Legends, comes an altogether same-but-different podcast set in the world of classic lit. These are the stories of Dracula, The Time Machine, The Three Musketeers. They're stories written by Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and H.P. Lovecraft, but with a casual, modern tone. Listen as Jason and Carissa Weiser breathe new life into the classics and tell the stories of some of the greatest books ever written.

Rank #1: Sherlock Holmes: The Devil went Down to Cornwall.
Sherlock just wants to take a vacation and not be bothered by mysteries. Just kidding. Sherlock lives for mysteries. Lucky for him (and really only him), even when they get out London they can still manage to get in to a situation with a dead body or two.  Want to really help out the show? Take a few minutes and leave a review in Apple Podcasts! Check it out at http://apple.fictional.fm ----- Music: Theme song and other music by Breakmaster Cylinder

Rank #2: Dante's Inferno: Burning Ring of Fire (Part 1).
Dante's Inferno is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in the 1300s as the first part in a much longer work called "The Divine Comedy". It's not a comedy in the "ha ha" sense of the word, but comedy because it starts bad and ends well. Dante travels down through Hell, then up into Purgatory and finally Paradise. Hell, in my opinion, is the most interesting area because it's full of weird characters and crazy punishments. This episode is probably too fun for one that has two characters touring a place of eternal torment. Oh, and here are pictures of the Fisherman! https://twitter.com/fictionalpod/status/904907942264262656

Ridiculous History

History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.

Rank #1: (Some of) History's Dumbest Military Prototypes.
It's true that the world's militaries often pioneer technological innovation -- but don't let all those great successes fool you! The world's militaries have at least as many failures as they do breakthroughs. Join Ben, Noel and special guest Christopher Hassiotis as they explore some of humanity's most hilarious military missteps, from round ships to rocket bullets and ball tanks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Why do British lawyers wear wigs?.
For centuries some lawyers and judges in the U.K. have worn distinctive wigs during court proceedings. But why? Join Ben and Noel as they explore the strange history of the peruke. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Daily Zeitgeist

There’s more news and less comprehension today than any historical period that didn’t involve literal witch trials, and trying to stay on top of it all can feel like playing a game of telephone with 30 people, except everyone’s speaking at the same time and like a third of them are openly racist for some reason. From Cracked co-founder Jack O’Brien, THE DAILY ZEITGEIST is stepping into that fray with some of the funniest and smartest comedic and journalistic minds around. Jack and co-host Miles Gray spend up to an hour every weekday sorting through the events and stories driving the headlines, to help you find the signal in the noise, with a few laughs thrown in for free.

Rank #1: DeVos Defends Debt, Woke When Provoked 12.9.19.
In episode 531, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian Jamie Loftus to discuss how Trump employed undocumented immigrants, Gayle King's interview with Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg's time at McKinsey, Trump making sensitive calls on lines open to surveillance, Betsey DeVos scheming to hurt candidates who want to cancel student loans, William Barr coming up empty, UPS coming out to support the police who killed their own employee, Uber's horrible stats, the new Clint Eastwood movie Richard Jewell, that Peloton ad, and more!FOOTNOES: How two housekeepers took on the president — and revealed that his company employed undocumented immigrants Former NYC Mayor @MikeBloomberg tells @GayleKing "nobody asked" him about stop & frisk until he started running for president. .@MikeBloomberg on candidates' diversity: "Don't complain to me that you're not in the race"  When Pete Buttigieg Was One of McKinsey’s ‘Whiz Kids’ Trump 'routinely' made sensitive calls on lines open to Russian surveillance, White House officials say 'Flat-Out Corruption': DeVos Accused of Scheming to Stop Next President From Canceling Student Loan Debt Barr’s handpicked prosecutor tells inspector general he can’t back right-wing theory that Russia case was U.S. intelligence setup if I am ever killed at work I hope my employer thanks my killer 4 Dead After Armed Robbers Hijack UPS Truck As Uber Prepares to Go Public, This Man Is Racing to Clean It Up Uber’s first ever safety report discloses 3,045 sexual assaults and nine murders in the US last year ‘Richard Jewell’: Clint Eastwood Declares War on the ‘Corrupt’ Media and FBI Did Clint Eastwood Troll Pro-Impeachment Democrats With ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Line in ‘Richard Jewell’? Clint Eastwood on Donald Trump’s racism: “just fucking get over it” Peloton share prices plummet as spin bike brand unveils losses of $49.8 million Peloton loses $1.5bn in value over 'dystopian, sexist' exercise bike ad Peloton responds to ad criticism, says it’s ‘disappointed in how some have misinterpreted’ the spot WATCH: YUNG BAE - I Want Cha Back Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: SOSHULIZM IS DEADLY! Dog-Faced Pony Soldier? 2.11.20.
In episode 567, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian Tiff Stevenson to discuss Joe Biden's reaction to a question about electability, the mainstream media claiming Trump had a good week, Chris Matthew's absurd fear of socialism, Oscar's coverage, and more!FOOTNOTES: Joe Biden just called his own supporter a Lying Horse-Faced Pony Soldier during a Town Hall in New Hampshire!  8 very good things that happened to Donald Trump this week Here's the video of the moment... It really is something WATCH: Oscars 2020: Winners, speech highlights from the Academy Awards Joaquin Phoenix's Oscars speech in full: 'We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby' We don’t talk enough about animal suffering. That’s why Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscars speech matters. “I Fucking Love My Life”: Joaquin Phoenix on Joker, Why River Is His Rosebud, His Rooney Research, and His “Prenatal” Gift for Dark Characters Why Don’t We Talk About Joaquin Phoenix When We Talk About Casey Affleck? WATCH: Twistclip Loop - Hudson Mohawke Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Myths and Legends

Jason Weiser tells stories from myths, legends, and folklore that have shaped cultures throughout history. Some, like the stories of Aladdin, King Arthur, and Hercules are stories you think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories you might not have heard, but really should. All the stories are sourced from world folklore, but retold for modern ears.These are stories of wizards, knights, Vikings, dragons, princesses, and kings from the time when the world beyond the map was a dangerous and wonderful place.

Rank #1: 2A-Aladdin: The Magician’s Nephew.
The story of a poor man who finds a being of unlimited power, and not only uses it to put food on the table, but goes a little farther to take over the kingdom and become the richest man alive.It's the original story of Aladdin, but it's very different from the story you know. The jinni (actual spelling of genie, by the way), don't really grant wishes. Listen to this episode to hear the bizarre original story that led to inspired retellings.

Rank #2: 131A-Greek Mythology: Sudden but Inevitable Betrayal.
The origin stories of the Olympians. The creatures this week are the Yule Lads, their mom, stepdad, and murderous cat. -- Sponsors: Check out Bird Box on Netflix! Casper: Ready for a good night of sleep for once? All you have to do is go to http://casper.com/legends and use the offer code LEGENDS and your next favorite mattress will be delivered to your door. -- Music: “Rainday” by Blue Dot Sessions “Pitho Magnus” by Blue Dot Sessions “Min” by Blue Dot Sessions “Betrayal” by Lee Rosevere “Everywhere” by Lee Rosevere “All the Answers” by Lee Rosevere “Gilroy Solo” by Blue Dot Sessions “Campanula” by Blue Dot Sessions

Movie Crush

Chuck Bryant of Stuff You Should Know sits down with your favorite people to talk about their favorite movies. Simple enough, but what we get is much more than that. It’s a look at what makes a favorite thing, and why someone’s favorite movie says so much about who they are. More conversation than interview, Movie Crush, at its heart, is about the love affair we all have with the silver screen.

Rank #1: My Favorite Murder on The Silence of the Lambs .
Podcast worlds collide today with a very special crossover episode with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark of My Favorite Murder. As a loyal murderino himself, Chuck was beside himself to get them into the LA studio for a long talk about podcasting, comedy, trick ankles and Chuck's special pick for this episode, The Silence of the Lambs. Listen in as three podcasting giants dive deep on the best serial killer movie ever made.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Kubrick Special Part I: The Shining.
Chuck's co-worker Casey joins him in the studio for part one of a three part series on the genius of Stanley Kubrick. Casey is a world-class cinephile and he and Chuck dive deep on his pick for part I, The Shining.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

TechStuff

TechStuff is a show about technology. And it’s not just how technology works. Join host Jonathan Strickland as he explores the people behind the tech, the companies that market it and how technology affects our lives and culture.

Rank #1: The DARPA Grand Challenges.
In the mid 2000s, the Department of Defense R&D agency DARPA sponsored competitions in an effort to kickstart autonomous car technology. This is the story of the 2004 and 2005 challenges. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Demystifying WiFi.
Where did the WiFi standard come from? What are the differences of the various flavors of WiFi? And why should you care? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Adam Ruins Everything

First, on the Adam Ruins Everything TV show, Adam Conover broke down widespread misconceptions about everything we take for granted. Now, join Adam as he sits down with the experts and stars from the show to go into even more detail.

Rank #1: Ep 32: Kevin Hall Gives Us the Skinny - Losing Weight and Keeping it Off is Hard.
It's rare to hear about a researcher from the National Institute of Health collaborating with a reality TV show. But that's exactly what Dr. Kevin Hall, a clinical researcher at the NIH, did after watching episodes of The Biggest Loser.

Rank #2: Ep 3: Mass Extinction and Video Game Music with Emily Axford.
Emily Axford of Adam Ruins Everything Talks Mass Extinction and Video Game Music.

Gastropod

Food Through the Lens of Science and History

Rank #1: Menu Mind Control.
At its most basic, a menu is simply a way for a restaurant to communicate its offerings and their prices to its customers. But, perhaps even more importantly, says Alison Pearlman, author of a new book on menus called May We Suggest, a menu has to persuade diners that they want what the restaurant is selling. So how do menus do that—and are they somehow subconsciously manipulating our choices? Are there universal principles of effective menu design that savvy diners can identify and outsmart? Listen in this episode as we decode the history and science of the not-so-humble menu. As long as there have been places to eat outside the house, there has been some form of menu. For most of its history, however, the menu hasn’t been the individually printed document we think of when we hear the word today. According to Pearlman, the earliest menu we’ve found is a list written on the wall of a bar in Pompeii, dating back to the second century BCE. Menus have also often been communicated verbally, or even, during China’s Southern Song Dynasty, in the form of special viewing dishes—sample dishes that servers would bring out for diners to choose between. In the U.S., the first printed bill of fare dates back to 1834. According to Josh Kun, who told Los Angeles’ history through the public library’s menu collection in his recent book, To Live and Dine in L.A, most early menus weren’t linked to restaurants, but rather to special events, as the high cost of printing individual menus only made sense for a banquet. (In Los Angeles, Kun added, the earliest menus were printed before the city’s first books. #priorities.) Nowadays, printed menus have trickled down to the rest of us—and the shifts in their design over time reveal not just the changing economics of restaurant dining, but also trends in demographics, aesthetics, and values. But what about menus as sales tools? Can menu design and language sway our choices as consumers? That’s exactly what art historian and food lover Pearlman set out to discover, by interviewing restaurateurs, visiting dozens of restaurants and analyzing their menus, and reading every book and study she could find on the science of menu engineering. To test Pearlman’s findings, we visited two restaurateurs with two very different menus: Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, owner of Alcove, a year-old fine-dining restaurant in Boston, and Ayr Muir, CEO of a small chain of fast-casual restaurants called Clover. With their help, and Pearlman and Kun’s research, this episode we get to the bottom of menu design’s many mysteries. Is there such a thing as a sweet spot on the menu—and, if so, where is it? Does anchor pricing, where a menu features one extremely expensive dish so everything else looks like a bargain, actually work? And how is the rise of digital menu technology helping restaurateurs make menus more manipulative than ever before? Listen in now for all that—and a couple of garlic cloves in a hot tub. Episode Notes Alison Pearlman and May We Suggest Alison Pearlman is an art historian and professor at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She is the author, most recently, of May We Suggest: Restaurant Menus and the Art of Persuasion. TGI Friday’s menu, 1976, collection of Alison Pearlman. Josh Kun and To Live and Dine in L.A. Josh Kun is director of the USC Annenberg School of Communication, and author of To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City , which Nicky wrote about for The New Yorker when it was first published, in 2015. The Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection The Owl Drug Company (various locations), 1940s. Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. Gastropod listener Bob Timmermann wrote this introduction to the Los Angeles Public Library’s menu collection, one of the Rare Book’s divisions many and varied special collections (Nicky’s favorite is the citrus label collection). If you’re in Los Angeles, you can make an appointment to see its treasures for yourself; if not, the library has been digitizing its collection and many are available online. Alcove Restaurant industry veteran Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli opened his first restaurant, Alcove, in Boston’s West End, just over a year ago. A year before that, he started working with designer Drew Katz on the menu. Both the design and the dishes listed on it are gorgeous—do visit if you’re in town. Alcove’s menu, photographed by designer Drew Katz. Clover Clover began life as a food truck on the MIT campus in 2005; today, the fast-casual chain (which is meat-free but deliberately never uses the word ‘vegetarian’) has twelve locations throughout Boston and Cambridge. CEO Ayr Muir prioritizes local, seasonal food, makes pretty much everything in-house, from scratch, everyday, and his digital menu is cutting-edge. Both Cynthia and Nicky are big fans. Clover’s digital menu, displaying the popover sandwich. Photo by Nicola Twilley. The post Menu Mind Control appeared first on Gastropod.

Rank #2: Of Ghost Foods and Culinary Extinction.
The earliest humans favored juicy, meaty mammoth at mealtimes. Ancient Romans loved their favorite herb, silphium, so much that they sprinkled it on everything from lamb to melon. In the 19th century United States, passenger pigeon pie was a cherished comfort food, long before chicken pot pie became commonplace. And, for dessert, Americans a century ago might have enjoyed a superlatively buttery Ansault pear, reckoned to be the greatest pear ever grown. What did these foods beloved by previous generations taste like? Well, apart from some written descriptions, we’ll never know: they’re all extinct. Join us this episode as culinary geographer Lenore Newman takes us on a tour of lost foods—and the lessons they can teach us as we fight to save our current favorite foods from disappearing forever. “Shooting wild pigeons in Iowa,” illustration from the 2 July 1867 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (vol. XXV, no. 625, p. 8), from “Large-scale live capture of Passenger Pigeons Ectopistes migratorius for sporting purposes: Overlooked illustrated documentation,” by Julian Hume. “This project started because of a bird,” Lenore Newman told Gastropod. “And that bird was Martha.” Newman’s project is a new book titled Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food; Martha was a passenger pigeon and the last living member of her species—an “endling,” as such lonely creatures are evocatively called. Her death, on September 1st, 1914, represented the first time that humanity watched a species disappear, in full awareness of the concept of extinction and our role in causing this particular one. “There was no denying it was us,” said Newman: somehow, together, we had eaten so many pigeons that we had wiped the most abundant bird in North America off the face of the planet. But the passenger pigeon wasn’t our first culinary extinction. This episode, Newman takes us on a tour through the foods we have eaten to their end, such as the Pleistocene megafauna, which early humans destroyed as our numbers spread around the world, and the leek-flavored silphium that was so valuable its last stalks were hoarded, alongside gold and jewels, by Roman emperors. In each case, we sift through the evidence that points to human appetite as the leading cause of extinction, and unpack the response of a bewildered, bereft humanity. Gold coin from Cyrene, from between 308-250 BC; the tails side depicts silphium. The Romans clung to the belief that their beloved silphium could perhaps spontaneous reappear someday; the idea that that something could be gone forever was simply, at the time, inconceivable. The concept of extinction—along with its mirror, evolution—wasn’t formulated until the end of the eighteenth century, and it finally gave humans a framework within which to understand their actions. But, as Newman describes, the pace of culinary extinctions has only increased since then, with thousands and thousands of varieties of plants and breeds of animals vanishing in the early 20th century. Why have we allowed so many of the foods we love to vanish? What impact has their loss had—and what lessons can it teach us for the future? Listen in this episode as Newman helps us tackle these morbid questions, leaving us with some hope, as well as a whole new perspective on chicken. Episode Notes Lenore Newman‘s Lost Feast Lenore Newman holds a Canada Research Chair in Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley, where she is currently an associate professor of geography and the environment. Her most recent book is Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food; prior to that, she authored Speaking in Cod Tongues: A Canadian Culinary Journey. The Ansault pear, painted by Deborah G. Passmore on 10/13/1897, from the collection of the USDA National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland. The post Of Ghost Foods and Culinary Extinction appeared first on Gastropod.

The Stuff of Life

Eavesdrop on experts and researchers as they ponder what makes our world so maddening, so strange and so achingly beautiful. Not to mention ridiculous. Join Julie Douglas for this week’s episode of The Stuff of Life, a podcast by HowStuffWorks.com.

Rank #1: Special Announcement: It's All Odin's Fault.
The Stuff of Life is packing up its bags and moving to Fridays. Find out why. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Rank #2: Men Dancing.
Some men dance, many don’t. What are the unspoken rules that govern the ways we move our body, and what does it say about our society and how we treat each other? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers