Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Have you ever experienced dreams of forgotten classes, impossible exams and other examples of school-age anxiety? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the pervasive natu…

From the ice-based violence of Mortal Kombat’s Sub-Zero to the body-shattering kills in action films like “Time Cop” and “Demolition Man,” we seem to have this obsession with frozen human bodies expl…

The Well of Souls sequence from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is a memorable slice of blockbuster history but a very dubious presentation of snake behavior -- but that doesn’t mean the snake pit is mere …

You’ve probably heard the Biblical tale of Lot’s wife, in which a trio of angels destroy a couple of ancient cities and the resulting blast turns a woman into a pillar of salt. In this episode of Stu…

You probably know the Demogorgon as the powerful demon lord from Dungeons and Dragons, or perhaps as the interdimensional monster from “Stranger Things.” But where does this curious name come from? I…

Most of us have spent far more time at home this year, which raises the question: Just what sort of artificial interior environments have we created? What lives there besides our family and pets? And…

Anticipating a fall from 10,000 feet or more? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss your chances of survival. (Originally published 8/15/2019)

Whether plotting to build a great northern wall or an aircraft carrier made of ice instead of steel, the substance you’re looking for is Pykrete. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert an…

Ever feel like everyone in the Zoom call is looking at you? Ever astonished to find your contribution to a project goes unrecognized, or that your latest faux pas didn’t destroy you? Perhaps you’re n…

This episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind takes listeners to Transylvania, where a rogue baron made important early strides in the field of paleobiology and where, during the Late Cretaceous period, gi…

From our earliest experiences with paleoart to tales of Pompeii and visions of modern catastrophes, it’s easy to associate volcanoes with death and destruction. But what if it’s less a case of Mount …

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe continue their exploration of helmets -- both the horned and the non-horned variety. Learn about the beautiful complexity of Japanese samura…

In the second of two classic episodes, Joe and Christian continue their discussion of animal cognition, including animal morality, tool use, mental time travel, culture, and other strange clues to th…

Fantasy fiction is lousy with horned helmets -- and more than a few non-Vikings wore them historically. So what’s the deal with horned helms? Why are they impractical from an offensive standpoint? Fo…

Once again, Robert and Joe call forth the mailbot to read and discuss listener mail in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

In the first of two classic episodes, Joe and Christian discuss the work of Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal, and ask the question of not just whether animals are smarter than we understand…

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Joe chats with Kat Arney about her upcoming book "Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal."

Majorities of Americans believe in the literal existence of Heaven and Hell, but where did these concepts originally come from, and how have they changed over the centuries? In this episode of Stuff …

How will you feel the day you finally delete all your social media accounts? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss some of the arguments for doing just that in Jaron Lani…

Gold from the ocean? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the basic idea behind the accumulation of oceanic gold and the fascinating historical hoax based on the notion.…