Stuff You Should Know

Looking back 300 years on, it’s easy to overgeneralize why the Salem Villagers decided to persecute (and execute) their neighbors. But as much as this story has become an American history chestnut, we still don’t understand why Salem lost its mind. Listen to this classic episode to find out what we think we know and what we don't. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get yourself ready to freak out with this year’s extra-freak Halloween freak-fest, starring the voice acting talents of Chuck and Josh. This year we feature stories from WW Jacobs and WF Harvey, both of whom, if they were alive, would love this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did a strange cryptid show up in Enfield, Illinois in 1973? Some people think so. DO YOU? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cultures have come up with lots of personifications of death: Young and attractive? Yes. Riding a black buffalo? Check. Covered in tongues and eyeballs? Uh-huh. But in the West there’s only been one go-to soul taker for hundreds of years: The Grim Reaper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that Richard Nixon had a FBI case file open on Beatle John Lennon? Well he did! Why? Listen to this classic episode to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Chuck and Josh unlock a door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... the Twilight Zone. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Josh and Chuck are trying something a little different, some recomemdations for the spooky season. For Josh, it's some movies, for Chuck, it's some books. Check it out and let us know what you think! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Dec 24, 1925, the world got a Christmas gift from a little-known writer named A.A. Milne when the first Winnie the Pooh story was published. Milne was inspired by the imaginative woodland strolls he shared with his son, the real-life Christopher Robin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sacagawea was only 16 when she joined the Corps of Discovery. That is one seriously impressive teenager. Find out all about her in this classic episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When socialite Dorothy Arnold disappeared in 1910, no one imagined the case would remain forever unsolved. Today we tell her story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's shorty, Josh and Chuck go over the stories behind some of the world's currency symbols. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no question that millions of asteroids are circling the Earth at incredible speed and every one of them is just dying to get a chance to smoosh our planet and wipe out life in the universe once and for all. But Earth has an ace up its sleeve: Us! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Swing states are all the rage once again this election season, but the makeup has changed a bit. In this classic episode, learn all about what makes a swing state a swing state right now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The SYSK boys continue the episode on stand-up comedy in part two, placing it in the rarefied company of other two-parters like Evel Knievel, the Hoover Dam, and the Trail of Tears. In this ep: should anything be off limits for stand-up? Consensus: no. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do clothing styles get stale and then come back into fashion? Listen in to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck and Josh do their best to tackle “the craft,” which most normal people call stand-up comedy. Stand-up dates back to the vaudeville days but it really started to take off in the 60s when comics stopped wearing suits and started getting edgy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bras are loved and hated, sometimes at the same time. But as difficult and restrictive as they can be, they rescued women from a much cruel contraption: corsets. The question remains, though, do women need bras at all? Listen to this classic episode to find out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Basically everything you think of when you think of vampires, mummies, werewolves, and Frankenstein all come from a spate of films made in the 1930s, and every one of them by Universal Pictures. Amazingly, they are still among the best films ever made. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is retirement bad for your health? Well it certainly can be if you don't take steps to prevent it. Listen in to learn more about the "retirement curse." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The history of golf is a bit muddled, but once it was truly born in Scotland, it started the beginning of lifelong obsessions for people dumb enough to pick up a club and give it a try. Learn all about the early history of the most frustrating game ever invented. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s time to get jazzed up for some Earth science of the waterlogged variety. Join Chuck and Josh in this classic episode as they tour some of the most interesting ecosystems on the planet and learn why we need to stop destroying them post haste. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 Putt Bogey is a golf podcast hosted by Chuck Bryant and Adam Pranica, two mid handicappers who are just good enough to know exactly how bad they still are. The name says it all: one great shot, followed immediately by the kind of self-inflicted disaster only a mid-handicap golfer can produce. That's the whole sport, really, and this show lives in that gap. Every week, Chuck and Adam break down t...

In today's episode, we detail the life and times of ettiquette queen Emily Post. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mabon is often called the Pagan Thanksgiving  but though it seems like it’s as ancient as Halloween, it’s actually only around 50 years old. But, pagan or not, it’s a great chance to really feel the fall and thank Mother Earth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No you’re no dreaming – go ahead, pinch yourself – we’ve finally made an episode on dreams! We’ve done episodes on lucid dreaming, night terrors, sleepwalking, sleep paralysis – basically everything but dreams themselves. Well, at long last here it is! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.