Strange by Nature Podcast

Victoria starts us off this week with barnacles! I know, they may not sound that interesting but it turns out they are being used by researchers to help narrow the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370. Kirk bring us the unbelievable tale of a wasp that uses pheromones to purposefully start massive ant brawls just so it can locate a butterfly. Yes, it is very weird. Rachel rounds ou...

Welcome to 2026! Rachel starts off the year with horrifying wasps that sting cockroaches, turn them into zombies and then lay their eggs in them so their young can devour them from the inside. You're welcome. Victoria takes on the fascinating topic of all the animals that beat us to the idea of farming by millions of years. They even do weeding and apply fungicides. It gets wild. Kirk heads to the...

The final episode of 2025. Here's what we have for you: Kirk kicks off the show by looking into the very strange world of insect hearing. Turns out some flies use a rotating nose to hear. Rachel is then up and she talks about the arms race between Bats and Moths. This conflict has lead to some amazing defenses on the part of the moths. Victoria is up third and she brings us the smallest animals on...

Look, we get it. This is a busy week with family for a lot of people. If you are one of those people, we sincerely hope this episode helps you hide from family and obligations and take a moment for your weird selves. We're all in this together. On this week's show, Victoria kicks things off with a deep dive on Bats. We often think of them as predators but they are prey animals as well. She talks a...

Rachel keeps things light as we start off the show with a discussion of Botulism toxin just in time for the holidays. Watch out for those bulging cans. Victoria is up next and she talks about how rare blue is in nature. She shares the very few examples of true blue pigments found in nature. Finally, Kirk talks about birds decorating their nests with predator scat to keep away predators. Join us we...

This week, Kirk starts us off with a strange story about mushrooms being used as computer parts. He sincerely hopes he never has to pronounce the word memristor again.  Rachel brings us the tale of a group of 100,000 cannibal ants living in a nuclear bunker.  Victoria rounds things out this week with research proving that at least one species of bat can catch and eat birds all while both are flyin...

Victoria starts us off this week with a bizarre story about how some animals can see without having eyes. Kirk is up next and he tells us about Fugu, a.k.a. the pufferfish and we learn about these highly toxic fish people like to eat. Their poison seems to come from a strange source. Rachel is up last this week and she tells us all why we should not stick our head into an active particle accelerat...

Welcome to our 250th episode! Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Carrion Beetles. Victoria then tells us about fish that can climb cliffs. Say what? Kirk finishes up with the story of how one predator uses static electricity to attract themselves to their prey like a homing missile.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us:...

What a wild show this week. Well, it finally happened. After approximately 700 topics, we finally had two hosts come with the same secret topic. Kirk and Victoria both brought the same story. Kirk kicks things off talking about researchers finding the largest spider web in the world in a sulfur cave. Victoria adds in some fun extra facts from her research on the topic. Rachel is up next and she di...

Victoria starts the show this week with a look at the cyclops (cyclopses?). From Greek legend to modern reality, Victoria traces a few of the possible origins of this legendary creature. As promised last week, Kirk brings us the mighty Cave Lion. It seems strange but humans of the past living in Europe lived alongside cave lions longer than they have lived without them. Rachel rounds out this week...

Rachel starts the show this week with a topic that almost made the Halloween show last week. She brings us the Vampire Squid from Hell. That's literally what the scientific name of this bizarre deep-sea creature means.  Victoria brings us the story of the most deadly body of water in the world. She's talking about none other than The Strid in England. It looks like an idyllic stretch of water but...

We've been building to it all month, it is time for Halloween and we have some great topics. Kirk kicks off the show with a topic that may have you think twice about the candy you pop in your mouth this year. He talks about all of the ways that insects end up in your candy. Red food coloring from ground up beetles, excretions from the Lac beetles in your hard candy coating and maybe some bee vomit...

Victoria kicks things off this week with the terrifying topic of Prion diseases. These bizarre infections can take years to manifest, are incurable, and can turn your brain into a sponge. Charming. Kirk is up next with a ghost story for this spooky season. Science wins out over superstition and in the end it ends up being a tale of how infrasound can affect human physiology and may be to blame for...

This week's show starts of with Rachel telling us about the Door to Hell. Seems like a fitting topic as we approach Halloween. But what is it? The Door to Hell is also known as the Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. It is a pit of fire that has burned for perhaps 50 years. It is the result of a drilling project gone horribly wrong. It reminds us a bit of the Burning Mountain in Australia from Epi...

Kirk keeps the Halloween month theme going by talking a bit about Black Cats big and small. What makes them strange? Why do they exist? Why were they the preferred color of cat to have on ships? All questions are answered. Rachel is up next and she brings us to...the ocean. I know, we're all shocked. This week it is to talk about Sea Urchins. They are truly some of the strangest creatures in the o...

Happy October!  We've got quite a show for you this week. Victoria kicks Spooky Month off with the Worm Pearlfish. At first they don't sound too bad but it turns out that they sneak though the anus of sea cucumbers and eat their gonads. Yikes. No thanks. Kirk keeps the ick going with an absolutely wild story about doctors restoring blind people's vision by putting their tooth in their eye. Say wha...

This week Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Cloud Forests. This rare habitat is found only in specific parts of the world and many unique plants and animals live there. Okay, so really Rachel is just setting the scene for where next week's strange topic lives. Victoria is up second and brings us fascinating research. Can plants hear? We've talked about this on the show when Kirk talked...

Kirk kicks off this week with predatory fungus that hunts for animals. Say what? Rachel tells us about the massive northern elephant seal. Victoria lets us know about the beautiful but incredibly powerfully poisonous rosary pea that is still used for jewelry to this day.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangeby...

This week, Victoria takes us to the ocean to learn about a truly bizarre creature, Sea spiders! Kirk then shares a story about the scientists giving robotic bodies to mushrooms so they can move around. Finally, Rachel takes us back to the ocean once again to share what makes Bonnethead sharks strange. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Sup...

This week, Rachel starts us off with an interesting question. Can bees play? A team of researchers thinks they can. Find out what happens when they gave them balls of wood. Kirk then makes us all thirsty with a dive into the roots of Root Beer. From medicinal medicine to soft drink, Kirk traces the history of this drink and the many natural ingredients that make it up. Join us weekly for more stra...

What a wild show this week. Kirk starts things off with a listener submitted story about how researchers created fake fiddler crabs to better understand sexual signaling. CRAB VIDEO: https://youtu.be/UOFtsJkiRmE?si=eWpbJzBPtIGCpb8I Our special guest Brett Sieberer then brings us the amazing story of a wasp that can consume enormous amounts of alcohol with seemingly no effects. Rachel then wraps up...

What a wild ride this week! Victoria is up first with a bizarre story about how researchers looked into frog glue. Kirk then builds off last week by talking about the origins of gold in the universe. Finally, Rachel tells us about the weird history of blood transfusions and how they were initially used to cure syphilis! They are older than you think! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our sup...

This week we explore the Pharaoh's tomb with Rachel and possibly discover the cause of the Curse of the Pharaoh. What's more, can it cure cancer? Rachel takes a look at Aspergillus fungus, how it causes disease but also has been used in experiments to cure Leukemia. Victoria is up next with a fascinating look at how spiders might be manipulating the flashing of fireflies in order to attract more p...

Kirk kicks off this week's show with the amazing migration skills of the Bogong Moth. They are the first ever recorded invertebrate that uses celestial navigation for long-distance migration wayfinding. Rachel then tells us all about the Bluntnose Six-gilled Shark. This amazing creature gives birth to an incredible number of pups. Victoria rounds out this week's show with the aptly named Sword-bil...

This week, Kirk is back and the crew pulled together another great show. Victoria kicks things off with a creature feature on an animal we can't believe it took this long to discuss, the Dodo! Kirk, fresh from vacation spins a tale taking us back thousands of years to the eruption of Thera/Santorini in 1618 BCE and how it may have lead to the collapse of a dynasty in China. Rachel rounds out this...