Smartest Year Ever

In 1841, William Henry Harrison made history twice — first for giving the longest inaugural address , and then for serving the shortest presidency in American history. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks how Harrison’s stubborn show of endurance turned into a national tragedy — and how his death led to one of the most important constitutional precedents ever set. From his two-hou...

James Buchanan holds one distinction no other U.S. president ever has — but it’s not one he celebrated. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the story of America’s only bachelor president , diving into the mystery, heartbreak, and speculation that defined his personal life and presidency. From his tragic engagement to Anne Coleman , to his lifelong bond with William Rufus King ,...

Before Herbert Hoover ever became president, he and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover , shared a secret most Americans didn’t know: They were fluent in Mandarin Chinese — and they used it inside the White House as a private code. In this episode, Gordy explores how the Hoovers’ years living in China shaped their worldview — from the Boxer Rebellion to their habit of speaking Mandarin during sensitive con...

Before George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were ever called “Americans,” they were actually British subjects . So who was the first president born after independence — the first to be a true American from birth ? In this episode, Gordy dives into the life of Martin Van Buren , the first American-born president — and the only one who didn’t grow up speaking English as his first language. From his...

For over 200 years, the White House has doubled as a political powerhouse and a makeshift zoo. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy dives into the wild history of presidential pets —from George Washington’s hounds named Drunkard and Sweet Lips , to John Adams’s dog Satan , to Calvin Coolidge’s raccoon Rebecca , and even a hippopotamus on the White House lawn. These weren’t just mascots—th...

When did photography first meet the presidency? In this episode, Gordy dives into the story of the first U.S. president ever photographed —a moment when early technology collided with American history. It’s a tale of daguerreotypes , mercury fumes , and one president who called his own portrait “hideous.” From John Quincy Adams sitting perfectly still in 1843 to James K. Polk’s somber White House...

President William Howard Taft is remembered for one thing — and it’s not his presidency. For over a century, people have repeated the story that he got stuck in a bathtub . But is it true, or just one of history’s most persistent political myths? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy digs into the truth behind America’s most infamous presidential rumor . From custom White House bathtubs to...

Tennis is one of the world’s most elegant sports—and one of the weirdest when it comes to scoring . Why does it go love, 15, 30, 40 instead of 1, 2, 3, 4? Gordy dives into the strange history of tennis scoring , tracing it back to medieval France , the origins of jeu de paume , and the centuries-old quirks that shaped the modern game. This episode explores theories about how tennis scoring might h...

Placebo Buttons Are Everywhere! | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 15, 2025) In this episode, Gordy explores the world of placebo buttons — those everyday controls that look functional but don’t actually do anything . From elevator “Close Door” buttons that don’t close doors, to crosswalk signals that don’t change lights, to office thermostats that don’t control temperature — these fake controls are everyw...

Before modern genetic engineering , humans were already changing the DNA of plants — just one harvest at a time. Every apple , banana , peach , and carrot on your plate is the result of thousands of years of selective breeding — evolution powered by appetite. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores what fruits and vegetables looked like before humans domesticated them — from the scr...

In 1942, as World War II raged overseas, America launched one of the most unusual recruitment drives in history — a nationwide call for family pets. Citizens were asked to “lend” their dogs to the military to help the war effort. The campaign, called Dogs for Defense , turned ordinary pets into trained soldiers: bomb sniffers, messengers, sled dogs, and sentries. Gordy dives into the fascinating,...

When did people start calling it World War I —and who decided to start numbering the wars in the first place? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy traces the fascinating evolution of how humanity labeled its greatest conflicts. From the “Great War” and President Woodrow Wilson’s call to name it “The World War,” to early 1930s editorials predicting a “World War No. 2,” this episode explore...

On November 11, 1918 , the First World War officially ended. But one soldier— Henry Nicholas John Gunther —was killed just one minute before peace began. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unravels one of the most haunting and symbolic stories in military history: the last soldier to die in World War I . Discover how an American bank clerk from Baltimore , demoted for a misunderstood le...

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks the strange moment in American history when Veterans Day was moved to October —and why that decision quickly backfired. This isn’t just a quirky scheduling fact. It’s a revealing look at how Congress, symbolism, and civic tradition collided over the meaning of a national holiday. From the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 to the public backlas...

Why does Canada have a Polar Bear Jail? In Churchill, Manitoba, one of the coldest, most remote towns on Earth, the locals have a uniquely Canadian solution to an Arctic problem. When polar bears wander into town — and they do, a lot — they don’t call animal control. They call Polar Bear Alert . In this episode, Gordy uncovers the fascinating story of Churchill’s Polar Bear Holding Facility , a re...

The Michelin Man isn’t just a goofy mascot made of tires — he’s part of one of the most unexpected branding stories in history. Gordy digs into the strange evolution of Bibendum , the white tire man who started out as a cigar-smoking, glass-drinking Victorian nightmare before becoming the friendly icon we know today. This episode traces how the Michelin brothers , Édouard and André, turned a tire...

Ever stared at the bright sky and noticed tiny floating dots or squiggly strands drifting across your vision? In today’s episode, Gordy dives into one of the most common — and misunderstood — visual quirks: eye floaters . They’ve been described since Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks , feared as insects by early physicians, and are now understood through the science of posterior vitreous detachment —...

At the core of modern timekeeping lies a surprising hero: quartz . In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy breaks down how a simple crystal became the heartbeat of nearly every watch, clock, and computer on Earth. Discover the science behind the quartz revolution —from the piezoelectric effect discovered by the Curie brothers , to how Seiko’s 1969 Astron transformed the watch industry foreve...

At the University of Queensland , a small glass funnel has been “dripping” since 1927 . But what’s dripping isn’t water — it’s pitch , a tar-like substance so thick it takes years for a single drop to fall. Known as the Pitch Drop Experiment , it’s officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-running laboratory experiment in history . Physicist Thomas Parnell started it nearly a...

Every few years, Hollywood gets déjà vu — two nearly identical movies hit theaters within months of each other. Think Armageddon and Deep Impact , A Bug’s Life and Antz , The Prestige and The Illusionist. How does this keep happening? Are studios copying each other, or is there something deeper going on behind the scenes? In this episode, Gordy unpacks the phenomenon of “twin films” — rival movies...

Six million years ago, a bird the size of a human soared over prehistoric Argentina. With a 23-foot wingspan and a body weight rivaling a person’s , Argentavis magnificens wasn’t just massive—it was the heaviest flying bird the planet has ever seen. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy dives deep into the aerodynamics, anatomy, and evolution of this Miocene monster—exploring how it pushed...

The Corpse Flower , or Amorphophallus titanum , is one of nature’s strangest performances—a rare botanical spectacle that looks magnificent but smells like death. In this Fright Facts Week episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy dives into the bizarre science and history of the world’s largest and smelliest flower , uncovering how evolution engineered this tropical monster to mimic the scent of deca...

It sounds like a horror movie — but it’s real. In this Fright Facts Week episode, Gordy unpacks the eerie medical mystery known as Lazarus Syndrome , when patients declared clinically dead suddenly start breathing again — sometimes minutes after life support has been stopped. From a 1982 Lancet case report to the astonishing real-life story of Velma Thomas , whose heart restarted nearly an hour af...

 It’s Halloween, and Gordy’s saving the creepiest for last. Deep in the forest, a bizarre fungus called Dead Man’s Fingers pushes up from the soil — blackened, shriveled, and disturbingly human-like. But is it just an illusion… or something stranger? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the science and folklore behind Xylaria polymorpha , a fungus that looks like it’s clawing its...

In this chilling Fright Facts Week episode, Gordy uncovers one of the most haunting museums on Earth — a place where nature accidentally mummified hundreds of people . Deep beneath the streets of Guanajuato, Mexico , a strange mix of climate, soil, and 19th-century tax policy turned an ordinary cemetery into a gallery of preserved faces frozen in time. Why did only a handful of bodies mummify whil...