Stuff To Blow Your Mind

In the book “Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto,” authors Dr. Alan Stern and Dr. David Grinspoon recount the riveting history of the quest to send a spacecraft to the planet Pluto. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Grinspoon chats about the book, the planet and the nature of space exploration. (Originally published 12/31/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at...

It’s time to lace up for a boxing movie -- but not just any boxing movie. In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the 1989 sci-fi movie “Arena,” in which a lone human fighter puts up his dukes against an entire galaxy of bizarre, alien combatants. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the science and history of sinkholes. How have these impressive geographic features impacted our world, and what can they reveal about the past? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe talks about a 2004 study of blindfolding and visual hallucinations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The lock and key are such a central part of modern life, both technologically and metaphorically, but when and how did this technological advancement take place? In this Invention-themed episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe dive into the ancient history of security technology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

It's time for more listener mail! Let's dig in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The natural world evokes various feelings in the mind, but humans spend a great deal of their time within spaces that they themselves designed and built out of the environment. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe consider the ways that architecture impacts our thoughts and feelings. (Originally published 12/12/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodca...

Welcome to the medical academy where EVERYONE is a suspect in the cannibalistic “Moon Killer” slayings. Yes, from the director of “Casablanca” comes 1932’s “Doctor X.” Join Rob and Joe for a deep gaze into the technicolor abyss in this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From its literary origins in the mirror realm of Lewis Carroll to its terrifying appearance in Charlie Brooker's “Black Mirror,” the frumious Bandersnatch is a monster from which it is useless to flee. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe follow its trail through a maze of choice, freewill, advertising and streaming media. (originally published 1/9/2020) Learn more about your...

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses the mirrors of English occultist Dr. Dee, including the so-called Devil’s Looking Glass. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Theoretical Physicist Brian Greene’s new book “Until the End of Time” contemplates the entirety of human history and the known universe in a single volume. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe chat with the author about the cosmos, the human experience and science communication during a global pandemic. (Originally published 4/16/2020) Learn more about your ad-choices at http...

It's listener mail time once more, so Robert and Joe catch up on some Stuff to Blow Your Mind holiday mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The natural world evokes various feelings in the mind, but humans spend a great deal of their time within spaces that they themselves designed and built out of the environment. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe consider the ways that architecture impacts our thoughts and feelings. (Originally published 12/10/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodca...

Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades -- because that guy might be a psychic alien sent to 1950s Earth to harvest its precious blood. In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe dive into Roger Corman’s 1957 low-budget thriller “Not of This Earth.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s easy to think of electricity as the domain of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Street Fighter’s Blanka. But as Robert and Joe explore in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, it’s also the domain of microbes -- and it will change the shape of future technology. (Originally published 7/25/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listen...

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe discusses why people in ancient Egyptian paintings sometimes have little cones on their heads. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“My name is Legion.” In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe consider the Biblical tale of exorcism and swine. What did the story mean? How was it used to enforce our relationship with animals and just how intelligent are pigs? (Originally published 10/17/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

What's so great a bout a spin kick? Find out in this batch of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can prodigies be created with early specialization? Laszlo Polgar was an educational psychologist who believed they could. He experimented with his own children and the results were fascinating. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did 20-foot-tall giant fungi rule the earth 400 million years ago? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the puzzling prototaxites fossils from the Devonian period. (Originally published 12/17/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the nations of the Earth solved all their problems with giant robot gladiatorial battles? That’s the concept behind 1990’s “Robot Jox,” directed by horror wizard Stuart Gordon and written by military sci-fi author Joe Haldeman. Join Rob and Joe for a discussion of mech politics in this Christmas Day episode of Weirdhouse Cinema. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcast...

It’s obvious that our preferences guide our choices, but do our choices also determine our preferences? Join Robert and Joe as they explore this question with the help of a half-century of psychological research and reminiscences concerning Sonic the Hedgehog and Metallica. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of humanity's oldest maps -- from a coffin text detailing paths through the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For many of us, toy guns were part of our childhood, but how are we to think about them today? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe look at some of the current thinking on the use of toy weapons in childhood play. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this batch of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail, Robert and Joe catch up on Jim e-mails, Krampus talk and Leshy feedback. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.