Probably Science

Comedian/actor Matt Champagne (twitter.com/remainchampagne) and frequent ProbSci guest Auggie Smith (twitter.com/auggiesmith) join Jesse and Andy this week for a somewhat somber episode remembering the great Robin Williams before getting into discussions about: Jesse's tiki music obsession! Harry Potter corrections! Blair Witch Project disappointments! Kilobots! Vibrating football games! An imposs...

Up-and-coming comedians Brent Schmidt (twitter.com/IAmBrentSchmidt) and Zach Pugh (twitter.com/ZachPugh) join Jesse and Andy this week to talk about: The Pickathon music festival! More headboard talk! Growing up in Sturgis, South Dakota! Re-purposing coal mines for science! Teenage nervous breakdowns! Falling off the wagon for a podcast sponsor! Losing your religion via the Internet! When did Hogw...

Comedian Beth Stelling (twitter.com/BethStelling) joins Matt and Andy this week for a special late-night recording in Andy's bedroom, covering: Mirrored headboards! Google's mapping of the human body! Slim Goodbody! Bats navigating via polarized light! Real 3D vs. fake 3D! Stella Luna and megabats! Gecko orgies in space! The cancer-fighting effects of cat poop! The Nobel Peace & Quiet Prize!

Comedian/director Jordan Brady (iamroadcomic.com) and his rapping, backflipping son Ben join the festivities with Matt, Andy and Jesse this week to discuss: Gangta rap historians! Jordan's invention of "bow-chicka-wow-wow"! Filming I Am Comic at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival! Matt's Last Comic Standing experience! Living like a road comic! Lacerta lizard people! Pluto possibly getting reinstated...

Friend of the show and past guest TJ Chambers (twitter.com/tjchambersLA) rejoins the festivities this week to help Matt, Jesse and Andy get to the bottom of: Listener-made indie video games! Brooks news! Holland vs. The Netherlands! Delicious Lagunitas IPA! The TJs of porn! The origin of gangsta rap! Recording the podcast at the Gathering of the Juggalos! Chimpanzee fads! The short films of TJ Cha...

Probably History is back! This week Jesse, Richard and Andy welcome the very funny David Cope (davidcope.flavors.me) to take a stab at covering over 60 years of video game history. Enjoy!

Comedian Renee Gauthier (twitter.com/Nenegooter) and nuclear physicist/comedian Kevin Peter Hickerson (twitter.com/kphickerson) join Matt and Andy this week to talk about: Matt's inability to wink! The actual cost of going to the moon! Renee's dance lessons! Working near CERN! Studying neutrinos! Shielding your experiments with the lead from sunken Roman ships! The end of the latest season of Ridi...

Dr. Christopher Schmitt (evopropinquitous.net) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics at UCLA, and his research in primatology focuses on primate development and life history. He joins Jesse, Matt and Andy this week to talk about his high school experiences with field work in Argentina, primate infanticide, collecting howler monkey urine, capucin monkeys stick...

British comedian, actor, writer and radio personality Adam Buxton (twitter.com/AdamBuxton) joins the proceedings this week to chat about: Messing up comedians' introductions! Sci-fi coverage of the papal inauguration! The history of the Shriners! Deciding on a uniform for an evil empire! Jaundice Shitstone! The counting skills of black bears! Whittling your fingers to type on a Blackberry! A digre...

Comedian/podcaster/director/writer/producer/Viner Jason Nash (twitter.com/Jason23Nash) returns to the podcast this week just ahead of the release of his first feature film to talk with the gang about: Who gets credit for living at Bluebell? Jason’s Ron & Fez appearance! The upcoming movie JASON NASH IS MARRIED that Andy produced! Shooting scenes with Andy Richter and Jon Benjamin at Bluebell! Matt...

British comedy writer Sarah Morgan (twitter.com/sarahlmorgan) found herself stateside this week for MaxFunCon and was kind enough to join Matt, Andy and Jesse to talk about: What constitutes The Holidays! Teaching British comedy! Americans rooting for bro heroes! Jesse overhearing Andy's ukulele rendition of Tiny Dancer! The lyrical prowess of Boynie Toypin! Head trauma that created a math savant!...

Comedian and literal master of linguistics Myq Kaplan (twitter.com/myqkaplan) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy this week to discuss: Birthday shenanigans! Plug 'n' chug! John Lennon's true assassin Stephen King! A defense of puns! Competing against a computer in a joke-off! A smartphone app that detects bipolar mood swings by the sound of your voice! Paul Simon's recent arrest! The origin of the country...

Matt and Andy venture to Portland this week for a live Probably Science from the seventh annual Bridgetown Comedy Festival featuring comedian/director/actor Paul Provenza (twitter.com/PaulProvenza) and cyborg anthropologist Amber Case (twitter.com/caseorganic) who join together to discuss: Jesse's sitcom success! Confusing The Aristocrats with The Aristocats! Paul giving Dave Chappelle his first T...

Andy's in Portland, our planned guest is drunk, so Matt and Jesse fly alone on this one, as we talk about: Jesse's successes! Peeing outdoors! Hitler's disabilities! Stephen Hawking's worries! Building pyramids! Rock Paper Scissors! New elements! Nervous mice!

Comedian and past Probably Science guest host Auggie Smith (twitter.com/auggiesmith) returns to the show this week, joining Matt, Andy and Jesse to talk about: Craziness in Valley Village! Listening to police scanners! Reinventing the axe! A study that reveals the best way for men to dance! Being goofy-footed! A correction about Jesse's boneless, featherless chicken! A hacky plant that copies othe...

Radio personality, author, trivia whiz and cancer survivor Bryan Bishop (twitter.com/baldbryan) joins Matt, Andy and Jesse this week to talk about his experience battling an inoperable brain tumor en route to discussing: Bryan's upcoming book Shrinkage! Tumor tips! Changing doctors! Jumprope failures as cancer symptoms! Going through chemo and radiation therapy while planning your wedding! Getting...

Science communicator, teacher and podcaster Cara Santa Maria (twitter.com/CaraSantaMaria) lends her actual science pedigree to the proceedings this week, discussing: The Cosmos reboot! The unlikely funder of Karen Gillan's Oculus! Comparing goofy holidays! A listener's complaint about on-air eating that may relate to misophonia! Bath salts: They don't actually make you hungry for faces! Andy's fir...

Comedian Beth Donahue (twitter.com/bdonahueweedman) recently relocated from Nashville to Los Angeles, and she joins Jesse, Matt and Andy this week to get to talk about: Finding $600 and spending it on a shirt! Red flags in the form of KISS paraphernalia! Taking four-hour acid! Using 12-step meetings to work out comedy material! Former child sitcom stars who turn to standup! The truth about the ste...

Irish comedian, actress and voice artist Tara Flynn (twitter.com/TaraFlynn) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy this week to discuss: Fleet Week! Sex workers in the Pacific Northwest! Sharing a name with a porn star! Jesse spraying himself with urine before a callback! The Shewee! Saving the government $400 million by changing fonts! Ink cartels! Debunking St. Patrick! Carving off a sliver of Irish Spring...

To help us make sense of the biggest cosmology story of recent years, we invited three of our favorite physicists back to the show. Matt and Jesse are joined by an in-studio Dr. Larry Price, and, thanks to technical wizardry, NYC-dwelling Prof. Janna Levin and a Washington State-based Dr. Jamie Rollins, as they talk us through The Big Bang, what Inflation means, what this BICEP2 experiment did, wh...

We're going Dutch on this week's episode, as Netherlands-based comedian Stefan Pop (twitter.com/stefan_pop) joins American writer/comedian Rylee Newton (twitter.com/ryleenewton) to chat about: Dutch insults! Buying a goat for charity! Working at Microsoft! A Dutchman going to an American university in Spain! Stefan's cadaver dissections! HP Lovecraft movies! A more in-depth look at the drug Narcan...

Veterans of stage and screen Jimmy Shubert (twitter.com/JimmyShubert) and Matt Davis (twitter.com/mattdavis) join Jess, Matt and Andy this week to chat about: Performing for troops overseas! Rubbing strange lamps you find on the beach! Phillbillies! the Civil Rights Museum! Brooks Wheelan's 12 Years a Slave sketch on SNL! Baby tumors that have teeth! Unnecessary remakes! Dark matter that may have...

Comedian/writer James Bachman (twitter.com/MrJamesBachman, That Mitchell and Webb Look) and comedian/podcaster Danny Lobell (twitter.com/dannylobell) join Matt, Andy and Jesse to talk about: Almost failing physics and math at Cambridge! Nude women with flamethrowers at Burning Man! Sexy biology teachers! Having a Jewish-themed wedding! Jesse's high school friend dressing in blackface! Group theory...

Comedian and IT professional Andrew Solmssen (twitter.com/solmssen) joins the crew this week for a discussion of: Rating the podcast's hosts on Lulu! Getting matched with a comedian/prostitute on Tinder! Howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com! Gilbert chemistry sets! The Radioactive Boy Scout! Hacking the payphones in your dorm and the parking on your campus! Remembering 80MB hard drives that sold fo...

The hilarious and charming Wendy Wason (twitter.com/wendy_wason) makes her second appearance on the podcast to talk with Matt, Andy and Jesse about: Andy's swim meet! Jesse and Matt shaving their legs! Matt's serial killer neighbor! How John Wayne Gacy got caught! Beautiful equations that mathematicians appreciate as art! A computer-generated math proof that's bigger than all of Wikipedia! The sta...