Seemingly Unrelated Podcast

Sometimes, things that are so completely different and range wildly in their impact have a single, slender, fascinating thread that binds them together. Pulling on that thread, not just merely remarking upon it, but finding out what it means and how it matters is exactly what we do on this podcast. Today's episode finds the tie that binds three disparate elements: The CIA's attempt to win the Cold...

 There's been a buzz in the news lately about immigration causing all sorts of issues around the world. This isn't the first time that proposals to ban entire groups have been championed, and that has caused some serious problems in the past. This week on Seemingly Unrelated, find out how Spelling Bees helped bring an end to the disastrous Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and proved that diversity is...

Does January 1 make any sense as New Year's Day? Why not March 21 or even the first day after Labor Day just like school used to be. It turns out there is a very convoluted story to answer that question and it might be connected to how successful you are in keeping your resolutions this year. Dickson, Joanne. ‘Where Did the New Year’s Resolution Come from? Well, We’ve Been Making Them for 4,000 Ye...

Subscribe to Seemingly Unrelated on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Spotfiy or go to seeminglyunrelatedpod.com to subscribe however you like. Find us on Patreon where we have a bonus episode about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for just $2.  https://www.patreon.com/c/seeminglyunrelated/   Happy Holidays from Seemingly Unrelated! We're here just ahead of Santa Claus himself to look into the rise and fall...

Look up in the sky it's...well nothing because this week we're talking about some low hanging fruit. Is it possible that the so called 'bullet train' of Japan was designed with owls and kingfisher birds in mind? Or, is this yet another example of a story that makes the rounds on podcasts and social media that is based entirely on myth? Come join us this week on Seemingly Unrelated as Andrew does a...

Avast ye mateys! 'Tis time to set sail for adventure, and delicious fried delicacies. This episode on Seemingly Unrelated we are talking about the once and future global fast food chain Long John Silvers. What is a pirate constitution? Has America ever properly taken care of its veterans? What is the correct term for a place that sells fish and chips? Also go learn more about pirates at Jamie Good...

Do McDonald's employees secretly make terrible fries and burn customers with coffee while raking in huge amounts of money? No.

It's been a...tense...week for some folks. A tense year. A tense life, even. Now, more than ever, let's take a break and focus on some cheery topics such as: the blitz, the black death, and gambling addiction. Yay... This week we're talking about games on Seemingly Unrelated and their unusual habit of popping up right when the world seems to be at its lowest. Is the NYT Connections game a predicto...

Are you even a human? This is the existential question we all get asked on a daily basis from the likes of Google, Instagram, TikTok and other tech companies that frankly are in no position to question our humanity.  That's right, today's topic is CAPTCHA. Will you be able to decipher the words we say as they are scrambled into a wavy multicoloured mess? Perhaps you can identify which central Amer...

How did sperm whales help get Margaret Thatcher re-elected in 1983? Well, obviously they sent postcards from Antarctica.  Today's episode of Seemingly Unrelated takes us all the way down to the Antarctic to find out about whale hunting. Why are they called Sperm Whales? What happened on Deception Island? Where is the worst postal appointment in the world? Would you believe that Thatcher was univer...

Welcome to the very first episode of Seemingly Unrelated!  This is the podcast all about the mundane, everyday things we don't think too much about but which have connections to huge events, moments, ideas, etc.  We are your hosts, Dr. Andrew Johnstone and Jason Heat. One is a lecturer and academic with decades of experience in cultural heritage and the other is an actor, writer, and wrestling com...

Welcome to the patreon bonus podcast y'all! We did it, after much wrangling and tweaking we have debuted Seemingly Unrelated to the world. Welcome to the patreon bonus podcast y'all! We did it, after much wrangling and tweaking we have debuted Seemingly Unrelated to the world. In this first, exclusive, members only bonus episode we're talking about the devastating topic of Andrew being WRONG. Turn...