Smartest Year Ever

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...

In 1841, William Henry Harrison made history twice — first for giving the longest inaugural address , and then for serving the shortest presidency in American history. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unpacks how Harrison’s stubborn show of endurance turned into a national tragedy — and how his death led to one of the most important constitutional precedents ever set. From his two-hou...

James Buchanan holds one distinction no other U.S. president ever has — but it’s not one he celebrated. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores the story of America’s only bachelor president , diving into the mystery, heartbreak, and speculation that defined his personal life and presidency. From his tragic engagement to Anne Coleman , to his lifelong bond with William Rufus King ,...

Before Herbert Hoover ever became president, he and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover , shared a secret most Americans didn’t know: They were fluent in Mandarin Chinese — and they used it inside the White House as a private code. In this episode, Gordy explores how the Hoovers’ years living in China shaped their worldview — from the Boxer Rebellion to their habit of speaking Mandarin during sensitive con...

Before George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were ever called “Americans,” they were actually British subjects . So who was the first president born after independence — the first to be a true American from birth ? In this episode, Gordy dives into the life of Martin Van Buren , the first American-born president — and the only one who didn’t grow up speaking English as his first language. From his...

For over 200 years, the White House has doubled as a political powerhouse and a makeshift zoo. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy dives into the wild history of presidential pets —from George Washington’s hounds named Drunkard and Sweet Lips , to John Adams’s dog Satan , to Calvin Coolidge’s raccoon Rebecca , and even a hippopotamus on the White House lawn. These weren’t just mascots—th...

When did photography first meet the presidency? In this episode, Gordy dives into the story of the first U.S. president ever photographed —a moment when early technology collided with American history. It’s a tale of daguerreotypes , mercury fumes , and one president who called his own portrait “hideous.” From John Quincy Adams sitting perfectly still in 1843 to James K. Polk’s somber White House...

President William Howard Taft is remembered for one thing — and it’s not his presidency. For over a century, people have repeated the story that he got stuck in a bathtub . But is it true, or just one of history’s most persistent political myths? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy digs into the truth behind America’s most infamous presidential rumor . From custom White House bathtubs to...

Tennis is one of the world’s most elegant sports—and one of the weirdest when it comes to scoring . Why does it go love, 15, 30, 40 instead of 1, 2, 3, 4? Gordy dives into the strange history of tennis scoring , tracing it back to medieval France , the origins of jeu de paume , and the centuries-old quirks that shaped the modern game. This episode explores theories about how tennis scoring might h...

Placebo Buttons Are Everywhere! | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 15, 2025) In this episode, Gordy explores the world of placebo buttons — those everyday controls that look functional but don’t actually do anything . From elevator “Close Door” buttons that don’t close doors, to crosswalk signals that don’t change lights, to office thermostats that don’t control temperature — these fake controls are everyw...

Before modern genetic engineering , humans were already changing the DNA of plants — just one harvest at a time. Every apple , banana , peach , and carrot on your plate is the result of thousands of years of selective breeding — evolution powered by appetite. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy explores what fruits and vegetables looked like before humans domesticated them — from the scr...

In 1942, as World War II raged overseas, America launched one of the most unusual recruitment drives in history — a nationwide call for family pets. Citizens were asked to “lend” their dogs to the military to help the war effort. The campaign, called Dogs for Defense , turned ordinary pets into trained soldiers: bomb sniffers, messengers, sled dogs, and sentries. Gordy dives into the fascinating,...

When did people start calling it World War I —and who decided to start numbering the wars in the first place? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy traces the fascinating evolution of how humanity labeled its greatest conflicts. From the “Great War” and President Woodrow Wilson’s call to name it “The World War,” to early 1930s editorials predicting a “World War No. 2,” this episode explore...

On November 11, 1918 , the First World War officially ended. But one soldier— Henry Nicholas John Gunther —was killed just one minute before peace began. In this episode of Smartest Year Ever , Gordy unravels one of the most haunting and symbolic stories in military history: the last soldier to die in World War I . Discover how an American bank clerk from Baltimore , demoted for a misunderstood le...