The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Amanda Reed and Riley Black join the show to discuss the fat American cheetah, weird mausoleum culture, and where the heck kissing came from. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tweet at us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Shane Madej and Matt Real join the show from The Quizard's Pit! There's discussion of sending Big Bird to space (thank GOODNESS we didn't), a suspicious skeleton, and one writer who loved coffee a little too much. Check out The Quizard's Pit: https://www.youtube.com/@TheQuizardsPit The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us...

Author and food historian Priya Mani joins the show to talk about the neuroscience of spice. Plus, Laura explains why whales have teeth on their eyes (SERIOUSLY), and Rachel gets into why a tickle robot exists. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Alexis Nikole joins the show to talk about the heinous etymology of the juneberry (if that's even it's real name...). Plus, Liz Clayton Fuller returns to explain how birds are behind Pantone, and Rachel details the ins and outs of Naked Mole Rat society -- and what it has to do with their STINK. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and s...

Greg Jenner joins the show to unravel all of the secrets hidden in King Tut's undies. (Seriously. There are a lot.) Plus, Sara Kiley tells the story of the crusty white dog from Madagascar, and Rachel goes down a rabbit hole about only marrying someone who DOESN'T speak your language. Check out Greg's show! https://link.mgln.ai/YDTM-Weirdest-Thing The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcas...

Sarah Dern and Emma Gommetz join Rachel this week to talk a trio of extra weird things. We've got babies spitting backwash into the boob, radio's biggest op being literal "night", and a gender-bending squirrel beloved by military veterans named Tommy Tucker. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Bee scientist Kit Prendergast joins the show to talk about... well... the birds and the bees. Plus, Rachel explains how portobello (portabella?) mushrooms are not exactly real. And Sara Kiley tells us how a spotted lanternfly's worst enemy could be a normal dog. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Ben Bradford, host of the podcast Are We Doomed?, joins the show to talk about when buying fallout shelter goods was all the rage. Plus, Laura tells us how she's related to mosquito royalty, and Rachel explains why the Library of Congress is holding onto Freud's "friend's" cocaine. Check out Ben's show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/are-we-doomed/id1893359212 The Weirdest Thing I Learned T...

Pattie Gonia joins the show to talk about how secret networks of underground fungi are basically like nature's mutual aid. Plus, Moiya McTier returns to discuss creativity, why it might be crumbling, and how one measures it (spoiler: it is NOT easy). And Rachel explains how scientists used yeast from a melting mummy to bake a loaf of sourdough. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast b...

Hari Kondabolu and Priyanka Wali join the show to talk about cells taken secretly and unethically... but ended up changing human health forever. Then, Rachel divulges a plethora of facts about dental care of yesteryear, from how Marie Antoinette wore braces (yes, seriously), to how Neanderthals drilled for cavities. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your...

Ben Lillie joins the show to talk about John Steinbeck doing very in-character things on a scientific expedition out on the open ocean. Plus, Sara Kiley talks about Joseph Pilates (yes, that Pilates), and Rachel explains why people are doing surgery on those cocaine hippos. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our...

Dropout's Grant O'Brien joins the show to talk about all things weird roller coasters. Plus, Jess hops on to discuss how a Gregorian chant has infiltrated all of our favorite media, from Shrek to Elden Ring. And Rachel gets into how having less of a beak can actually make you more of a chad. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stori...

Rachel's officially back! Chanda Prescod-Weinstein also joins as a guest host. This week, they talk about self-made caribou snacks, how to charm a worm, and why neutrinos can be classified as nontrinary. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In our final rerun episode during Rachel's parental leave, we have the oldest episode yet. It features one of Jess' first appearances on the show in which she details strange vampire folklore (and why they love to count), Claire Maldarelli shares a weird pepper-related medical condition, and Rachel gets into why some founding fathers bathed outside, in the open air, naked. The Weirdest Thing I Lea...

Jess brings adef and jacksonparodi on the show this week to discuss how one sphere killed two men in a matter of days, why folks in Victorian Australia used glowing paint to transform into ghosts, and how Louis Pasteur had more aura than ever imaginable. adef on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adef adef on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/adef Jackson on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonPar...

⁠⁠While Rachel is on parental leave, here's a vintage episode from our vault! Rachel, Sara, and comedian Josh Gondelman discuss dogs cooking in kitchens, chickens laying eggs inside themselves, and one of the most peculiar art heists in history. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook g...

Jess brings on science-minded friends Lindsey and Misti to discuss why space smells like a freshly opened beef stew packet, how having to pee makes you better at video games like Elden Ring, and how rituals and priests might be the solution to long-term nuclear waste warning. Follow Lindsey: https://www.twitch.tv/ohlindsey Follow Jess: https://www.twitch.tv/jesscapricorn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Wei...

⁠While Rachel is on parental leave, here's a vintage episode from our vault! Rachel, Claire, and Sara discuss all things weird related to the Olympics way back in 2021 (when the games were pushed back a year from the pandemic). The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

WELCOME TO SEASON 10! Jess hosts the show solo while Rachel is on maternity leave, but brings on a pair of her creator friends to chat about how beavers keep wildfires at bay, koalas eating their moms' poop (kind of), and exploding Australian trees. Follow rickypeacock: https://www.twitch.tv/rickypeacock Follow MattyisTalking: https://www.twitch.tv/mattyistalking The Weirdest Thing I Learned This...

Kendra Pierre-Louis joins Weirdest Thing for the season 9 finale! She talks about the rats chowing down on bats, producer Jess Boddy explains the scientific study on Chicago's rat hole, and Rachel talks about the wonderfully heartwarming penguin retirement home at the New England Aquarium. Plus, Rachel has a very special announcement! The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular...

Coltan Scrivner joins the show to talk about the strange empathy of horror movie enjoyers. Plus, Sara Kiley talks about bats dogfighting and devouring birds, and Rachel delves into the bizarre history of the first anti-vax movement. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Behold: our LIVE show from earlier this year at Caveat in NYC! Rachel, Jess, Moiya McTier and Claire Maldarelli each bring a weird fact to the stage. Topics run the gamut this week. We've got an avian murder mystery, why having sex in space sucks, how preworkout is kind of like being a Viking Berserker, and how the sports bra is shockingly new. Tune in for a very special episode! The Weirdest Thin...

Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions—from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask.  On this episode: Goosebumps are a valuable tool for many animals. They keep mammals with thick fur warm by trapping air near their skin, or help make them look bigger when facing off against a rival. However, in humans a wide range of...

Tom Lum joins the show to reveal what rats are ACTUALLY saying to each other. Plus, Rachel talks about the color of the Universe, and Lauren explains one evolutionary exception. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your weirdest facts and stories with us in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tweet at us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠C...

Liz Clayton Fuller joins the show to talk about the deadly feather trade. Plus, Jess hops in to explain the strange virus causing bunnies to sprout horns, and Rachel gets into the way some folks are using ants to make yogurt. (It's actually kinda good...) Check out all of Liz's art: https://lizclaytonfuller.com/ The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week is a podcast by Popular Science. Share your wei...