Smartest Year Ever

In this episode, Gordy uncovers the unbelievable true story of Nikolai Sutyagin and the infamous illegal wooden skyscraper that once towered over Arkhangelsk, Russia . This bizarre structure—part folk-architecture experiment, part urban legend—became one of the most talked-about “houses” on the early internet. Gordy explores how a simple two-story home grew into a massive, improvised multi-story w...

Gordy digs into the surprising, often uncomfortable history of what humans used before modern toilet paper — a story that spans ancient hygiene , Roman sanitation , Chinese papermaking , early plumbing, and the unexpected innovations that shaped the bathroom habits we take for granted. This episode explores how different cultures adapted to their environments, why ostraka , pessoi , moss, hay, cor...

 Why did the monocle even exist — and why did it become such a strange cultural symbol? In this episode, Gordy dives into the unexpected history of the monocle , exploring how a simple one-eyed lens evolved from budget vision correction into a marker of European refinement , social class , and even early gender-nonconforming fashion . Gordy unpacks how fragile early spectacles were, why a single c...

The CIA once asked itself a question no intelligence agency ever wants to ask: what have we done that might cause a scandal? That question produced a seven-hundred-page internal document now known as the Family Jewels — a secret compilation of controversial intelligence activities from the height of the Cold War. In this episode, Gordy explores how the file began, why it existed at all, and how it...

In the 1960s, the CIA launched one of the strangest covert projects in espionage history — a top-secret mission to transform an ordinary house cat into a Cold War spy . In this episode, Gordy dives into the bizarre true story of Project Acoustic Kitty — a multimillion-dollar experiment where veterinarians and engineers attempted to surgically implant listening devices inside cats . It was part of...

In 1986, Cleveland tried to set a world record for the biggest balloon launch in history — and ended up with one of the most infamous public relations disasters of all time. On this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks the unbelievable story of Balloonfest ’86 — a charity event gone wrong that flooded skies with 1.4 million helium balloons , shut down airports , and even interfered with C...

In 1958, the U.S. Air Force drafted a top-secret project so shocking it sounds like science fiction — a plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon. In this episode, Gordy uncovers Project A119 , a Cold War proposal designed to send a nuclear warhead to the lunar surface — not to test weapons or gather data, but to put on a show of power visible from Earth. It was meant to intimidate the Soviet Un...

In 1980, a woman crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon with perfect hair, flawless makeup, and no sign of sweat. Her name was Rosie Ruiz , and her time wasn’t just impressive—it was one of the fastest women’s marathon times in history . There was just one problem: she didn’t actually run the race. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks one of the most infamous cheating scan...

What happens when a small Pennsylvania coal town accidentally sets itself on fire—and never puts it out? Gordy dives into the haunting story of Centralia , the real-life ghost town that’s been smoldering underground for more than sixty years. It’s a tale of coal seam fires , slow-motion disaster , and human stubbornness that turned one community into a living science experiment . From the 1981 sin...

Parrots can talk , mimic human speech, and even ask questions—but how? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the science behind how parrots talk , from the anatomy of the syrinx to the extraordinary neural circuitry that gives them one of nature’s rarest superpowers: vocal learning . Discover how parrots use mimicry not just for fun, but for social bonding , why they can reproduce...

In 1971 , during Apollo 14 , astronaut Stuart Roosa quietly carried a few hundred tree seeds into lunar orbit — and almost no one remembers what happened next. This episode of Smartest Year Ever explores one of NASA’s most overlooked experiments , where Earth’s forests met the space age , and a handful of sycamores, redwoods, loblolly pines, sweetgums, and Douglas firs became living symbols of hum...

When you trip, stutter, or realize you’ve been talking with spinach in your teeth, it feels like the whole world saw. But what if that embarrassment is just a psychological illusion ? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the Spotlight Effect — a powerful cognitive bias that makes us believe we’re the center of everyone’s attention. It’s a fascinating glimpse into social psycholog...

Why do the least skilled people often feel the most confident? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the strange psychology behind overconfidence , self-delusion , and how our brains confuse ignorance for insight — the phenomenon known as the Dunning–Kruger Effect . It all started with a real bank robber who believed lemon juice would make him invisible to security cameras — and t...

Why do we assume someone’s attractive , confident , or well-spoken means they’re also smart , honest , or competent ? Gordy explores the Halo Effect —a powerful psychological bias that colors every judgment we make about people, products, and even presidents. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks how a single positive trait can trick our brains into seeing an entire person through...

Why do we love what we build , even when it’s imperfect? In this episode, Gordy unpacks the IKEA Effect — a fascinating psychological bias showing that the more effort we put into creating something, the more value we assign to it. From IKEA furniture and homemade meals to LEGO sets and Build-A-Bear toys , Gordy explores how labor becomes love —and how our brains rewrite reality to make our hard w...

 Benjamin Franklin discovered something centuries before psychology gave it a name: people like you more when they do you a favor . In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the Ben Franklin Effect — a powerful psychological bias that flips the usual social script. Why does asking someone for help make them feel closer to you? How does cognitive dissonance rewire our brains to justify...

Why do horoscopes and personality tests feel so eerily accurate? In this Brain Hack Week episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy digs into the psychology behind why people see themselves so perfectly reflected in vague personality descriptions , from classic horoscopes to modern workplace assessments. This phenomenon has shaped everything from entertainment to hiring decisions, and it reveals someth...

Ever notice that once you learn about something, you suddenly start seeing it everywhere ? A new word, a new car, a random concept — and now it’s somehow following you. Gordy kicks off Cognitive Bias Week by exploring one of the strangest tricks your brain plays on you: why our minds convince us the world has changed when it hasn’t. This episode dives into the psychology of perception , pattern re...

Who really captained the Mayflower ? Everyone knows about the Pilgrims , but few remember the merchant sailor who actually got them across the Atlantic. In this episode, Gordy uncovers the extraordinary true story of Captain Christopher Jones — a man whose decisions shaped the fate of Plymouth Colony but whose name was nearly erased from history. From storm-tossed seas and cracked masts to a baby...

Gordy dives into one of early America’s most compelling historical enigmas: the 1587 birth of Virginia Dare , the first English-child born in the New World, and the eerie disappearance of the entire settlement known as the Lost Colony of Roanoke. On August 18 1587 that infant girl entered history on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, yet when her grandfather, Governor John White, return...

Centuries of visitors have gazed down at Plymouth Rock , believing it marked where the Pilgrims first set foot in America . But history tells a different story. In this episode, Gordy unearths how one emotional claim from a 94-year-old church elder in 1741 transformed an ordinary boulder into a national origin myth —and why that myth still matters. From cracked stones to carved dates and cold Dece...

Ever wonder why it’s called “Black Friday” — and how a term that once meant financial ruin ended up describing holiday shopping chaos ? In this episode, Gordy traces the strange evolution of “Black Friday” from an 1869 Wall Street panic to a Philadelphia police nickname, to one of the most profitable (and perilous) shopping days in modern history. Along the way, he unpacks how marketing spin , lin...

The first Thanksgiving wasn’t about turkey, cranberry sauce, or pie—it was about survival . In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy breaks down what the Pilgrims and Wampanoag really ate in 1621, using the only two surviving written accounts. Forget the gravy boats and pumpkin pie—this was a feast of venison, wildfowl, shellfish, and cornmeal shared between two worlds. Gordy dives into how t...

Every Thanksgiving, Americans sit down to eat a bird named after a country halfway across the world. But why is the turkey called “turkey”? In this episode, Gordy untangles one of the strangest stories in linguistic history—a tale of colonial trade routes , mistaken identity , and centuries of confusion that turned a North American bird into a global geography lesson gone wrong. From Ottoman merch...

Every autumn, the world transforms into a blaze of reds, oranges, and golds —but what’s actually happening inside those leaves? In this episode, Gordy unpacks the science of fall colors —from chlorophyll breakdown and nutrient recycling to why some trees create new pigments right before they drop their leaves. You’ll learn what triggers the brilliant reds of maples , the golden hues of birch and a...