Mark and Toddcast

In this episode, you'll learn that you really are enough.  You'll also learn about quantum computing, Wenatchee, Todd and the Unipiper's trip to see "Back to the Future: The Musical," how wi-fi routers can identify people with 95% accuracy, and Grandma goes street racing.

Does anyone even read these descriptions? You'll figure it out when you listen.

This week we take a look, um, "inward" with a discussion about the very real science of finally figuring out flatulence -- and more specifically, just *how* they do that, and what we can learn. Also, we take a trip to the small town of Dildo, Canada (located in Conception Bay), then to space with Artemis 2, transporting antimatter at CERN, finding out who's filling the sidewalk cracks of SE Portla...

This week we take a rollicking journey through Mark's gluten and boat news, the rise of Clavicular and LooksMaxxing, how much clouds weigh, Mark's ChatGPT humiliation fetish, hacking the French language, Ohio tries to steal Sasquatch glory, and finally, digging into the biggest selling product of all time -- what is it, and how did it come to dominate? Find out this week!

tbh so much goes on in this episode there's no way to summarize it.

Creating a new symbol to reflect the deadly consequences of something completely undetectable required two essential components: the symbol had to be meaningless enough to carry zero current meaning to any culture on earth, yet had to be memorable enough for people to remember what it means. This week we go from Ancient Egypt and the pyramids to the creation of the biohazard symbol in the 20th cen...

Let's go to Las Vegas, CES, and the Sphere with Mark!

There's a lot more happening when we hear our own voice than you'd think. We've all heard "it's because the bones in your head are conducting sound," but that's only part of it. Find out the rest of the reasons in this week's show. I won't be listening, because I hate the sound of my own voice. 

"Ugly Laws" were ordinances across the United States disallowed anyone who was “diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object” for appearing in public places. Not shockingly, this was used to discriminate and dehumanize the poor, needy, disabled, and anyone else that gave the vapors to people terrified of people different than them. All that and t...

This week we take a look into space by discussing the weird interstellar object known as 3i/Atlas, conspiracy theories about what the object may be, and how the original Apollo astronauts figured out their exact location on the moon without the aid of any GPS.  

We're finally back after a two month hiatus, and we threw out the format of the show to see where the conversation took us. The discussion veers from drying off after a shower to AI cats to what g-force actually is, to our final hero of the week: the teacher fired for using fart spray. Enjoy!

It's been a minute, but Mark and Todd are back for an end-of-summer news wrap-up, including great news for promiscuous koalas! (And for those looking for a break from last week's big news story, we don't discuss that here at all, so we're a nice escape from that particular news cycle.) Come hear about Texas's new maggot factory, DOGE's lack of efficiency, Oregon's fallout from Medicare cuts, the D...

The Unipiper noted that this movie begins like "Stand by Me," but ends up like "Reservoir Dogs." While not exactly right, he's not far off describing this 2000 movie with some legitimately shocking twists and compelling turns. But because this is a movie made around Portland (Vernonia, to be exact), it falls short of being an actual good movie. Find out why on this month's episode.

Our Portland at the Movies server is having issues, so in the meantime, here's the latest episode of PatM, which looks at the 2006 Alan Arkin film "Raising Flagg." "This month we head out to the Oregon countryside (and St. Helens!) for this family comedy (?) drama (?) about a cantankerous old man (Alan Arkin) healing the relationships (?) between him and his many, many children. Also, there's a la...

A mile underground under the tiny city of Lead, South Dakota -- a former gold mining town -- is home to one of the most sensitive scientific measurement systems ever created, all to find and measure one of the most abundant and mysterious particle in the universe. So what is a neutrino, and how do you find and measure something practically invisible? Find out on this week's episode.

After graduations, sicknesses, hospitalizations, travel, and more, we're finally back in the saddle catching up on all the news we missed while we were out. Come for the measles, and stay for a bath!

In this exciting all-news episode, we take a look at the dozens of attendees at Idaho's "Heterosexual Awesome Fest," asbestos is back, Washington State's proposed speed laws, Idaho brings back the firing squad, baseball might be coming to Portland, a Star Wars experience at Lloyd Center, a breakthrough for fighting HIV, environmental characteristics turn a male mammal into a female, and much, much...

Our planned interview fell through for this week, but that gives us an opportunity to catch up on all the news we've been putting off. Come with us as we meander through 250 million bees on the loose, acid leaks and new venues in N. Portland, no more thicc plastic bags, what happens in your brain during an 'a-ha!' moment, RFK Jr.'s "MAHA" report based on non-existent studies, night owls and dement...

With so many so-called "alien encounters" throughout history, has there been any consistency in people's descriptions? This week we dive into the top 5 most recounted alien types who may be living among us right now. Yes, there are lizard people (two kinds!). In the news, Oklahoma forces schools to teach conspiracy theories, Utah bans fluoride, U.S. cities are sinking, life expectancy in the south...

This week Todd is joined by Dave Baehler from the NotNerd podcast to plow through the giant pile of news accumulated since our last show. Join us as we dive into AI police robots, RIP Alpenrose Dairy and artificial coloring, Minnesota Republicans introduce vaccine bill written by a hypnotist, Measles Watch 2025, great news for those who love salmonella in their chicken, a deep dive into why conser...

Aum Shinrikyo was an active doomsday cult in Japan throughout the 1990s, and were responsible for the Sarin gas attacks on the Japanese subway, and threatened attacks around the world -- including Disneyland, which is where our story intersects with one Dr. RIP VHS. FInd out all about them on this week's show. In the news segment: "Illegal Ideas," Mein Kampf in and Maya Angelou is out at Navy libr...

Many of us know about the Mars Opportunity rover currently on Mars, but some may not know about a self-piloting helicopter called Ingenuity that traveled with Opportunity. Designed for 5 flights, it ended up making over 70, collecting all sort of data as well as a proof of concept that a drone helicopter can fly in Mars's atmosphere. Hear Ingenuity's story this week! In our news segment: Wienersch...

Most of us know his theorum: a2 + b2 = c2. But few of us knew Pythagoras was the leader of his own cult/religion that lasted centuries -- and BOY did they hate fava beans. Find out more on this week's show. In our news segment: Oregon Children's Theater fails, the measles thrive, the Smithsonian's "Improper Ideology," the founder of Pirate's Booty attempt a coup of his city, sonic weapons, "spare"...

As tech companies keep convincing us A.I. is the way of the future, we stop to take a look at what that means for the power consumption necessary to produce results nobody really cares about and wants to avoid anyway. Dust off those nuclear power plants, because A.I. is here to stay regardless of whether we want it. In the news, we discuss federal cuts to protecting our dams, Amazon Echo won't let...

We all know prepared foods and snacks are highly researched and studied to give us exactly what we want, but how do they do that? Are there measurements? When did it all start? Is that why we're all fat now? We'll answer those questions and so much more about the process of "Sensory-Consumer Science." In our news segment, we chat about Space X, Portland losing the "World's Smallest Park" crown, Ge...