Stuff You Should Know

The Ruby Ridge standoff still lingers after more than 30 years. But who was at fault for the lives lost? Listen in today to learn all about this dark spot in American history. See omnystudio.com/liste...

One of the world’s unsung heroes – at least outside of Italy – is a brave woman who stood up to an insidious and longstanding custom and made her country a better place for it.See omnystudio.com/liste...

As the philosophical holds, there’s a chance you don’t exist, that not only you, but this episode, the podcast, and the entire universe are only projections of Josh or Chuck’s mind. If so, then record...

Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best...

Please enjoy our 2024 live show about the wild tale of the Madd Gasser of Mattoon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

A terrible thing happened in Germany in the summer of 1184.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Tetris is an iconic game with a fascinating history. Dive in today to learn all about this classic puzzle game.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment wasn't really much of an experiment as it turns out. It was more like a poorly thought out exercise conducted by a professor who didn't dot the i's and cross th...

Tavern on the Green is a legendary NY eatery that has never rated particularly well with food critics. Despite that, it's been a NYC mainstay for decades. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Martha Mitchell, the wife of Nixon's Attorney General, was well-known to spread a juicy rumor. That's why when Watergate unfolded, she was held captive in a hotel room on her husband's orders and pain...

The US government took a thumb in the eye with the creation of the Silk Road website. Right there on the internet you could anonymously buy drugs and various other contraband, and for a couple years n...

During the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland’s most vulnerable and destitute residents were prey for one of history’s most horrific serial killers. The killer’s identity remains a mystery to t...

Dandelions are way more interesting than you think. Trust us and click play. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

It’s a thrill to stand and, raise your arms, maybe give a woo! then sit down again, especially if you’re in a sports stadium. And especially if you’re doing it as part of a Wave.See omnystudio.com/lis...

A surprising number of Nobel Prize winners credit their childhood chemistry set for sparking their interest in science. But most kids just used them to make stuff explode. Compared to the originals, t...

A quinceañera is the celebration of a girl of Hispanic heritage becoming a young woman on her 15th birthday. It involves family, friends, music and a lot of great food. Join Josh and Chuck in this cla...

Today, the conclusion of the two-part episode on ADHD.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

North America gets as many as 1400 tornadoes a year. The place with the next highest is the UK at 33. So the spot with the most tornadoes in the US is also the spot with the most tornadoes in the worl...

Today, Josh and Chuck dive into part one of their two-part suite on ADHD.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Anyone who ever picked up a comic book as a kid probably marveled at the ads for the mysterious Sea Monkeys. In reality, they are just brine shrimp, not fantastical beings with magical powers. But the...

Buckle up folks, it's time for another of our favorite traditions, the SYSK Halloween Spooktacular! So sit down, dim the lights and get ready for some spooky stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Josh and Chuck dive into two spooky true stories in today's Short Stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

One of the greatest unsolved historic mysteries is found in a lake atop a mountain glacier high up in the Indian Himalayas. The skeletons of as many as 800 people are inexplicably in and around the la...

One of the worst legacies of war are the millions of landmines left behind. They hide for decades after a conflict is over, exploding beneath unsuspecting civilians and children. To many, removing min...

Most people think of Tinkerbell when we think of fairies, but the Disney versions capture only the last century or so of what we’ve conceived fairies to be. Over millennia they’ve gone from ugly and s...

Every August, abandoned storefronts across America are filled with the spirit of Halloween, by way of the store, Spirit Halloween. Learn all about this wildly successful pop-up today.See omnystudio.co...

Q Anon believes many things, including that Tom Hanks is a Satan-worshipping, child-eating pedophile. Yeah. We'll just leave our "drop" right here for you to make up your own mind.See omnystudio.com/l...

We love animals. A lot. Especially underrated ones like the darling porcupine. Listen in to this classic episode to learn all about these stabby little boogers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...

If you're from the American South, then kudzu is something that cannot be avoided. But how did this invasive species get here and why does it love to consume everything in its path?See omnystudio.com/...

The process of redacting sensitive information is long and storied. But are there even any rules that apply to when and how it's done? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

You might have owned the Anarchist Cookbook once, but you probably didn’t use it to turn a shotgun into a grenade launcher or build a bomb. Unfortunately some people did and the author called for this...

Paramedics are not EMTs. Or fire fighters. Or cops. But they do ride around in ambulances (and drive) to help to save lives. It's a stressful job and in this classic episode we shine a light on this n...

The story of the Swatch is super cool and one of the great retail successes. Listen in today to find out just why a country known for the finest craftsmanship started making plastic watches for the ma...

In another chapter of our continuing mysteries of the sea theme, we deliver a truly baffling mystery involving a ship that was lost and found, which brought more questions than answers.See omnystudio....

Gobekli Tepe is a profoundly ancient spiritual site that shouldn’t exist, according to conventional wisdom. The massive site of columns and pictograms was built thousands of years before humans were t...

In 1962, three ordinary criminals transcended into folk heroes when they crawled out of their cells in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary took to the water in a homemade raft and were never heard from agai...

The Lysol we know now is sold as disinfectant only. But at one time it was also marketed as a means of birth control. Listen in today to the twisted history of this common household product. See omnys...

What we equate with acid, hippies, and garish polyester prints actually began as a theatrical way of protesting bans on free speech and the Vietnam War. When the hippies got hold of it, it definitely ...

As far as we know life evolved once in the universe – here on Earth in the form of life as we know it. Could life have originated in other conditions with different raw materials? If so, we may be sha...

Rosa Parks finishes out our Black History Month episodes in grand fashion. While most know her from that fateful day on the Montgomery city bus, she actually had a long life as an advocate, protestor ...

A greatest hit of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s came when the metal band Judas Priest was put on trial for the suicides of two teens. While the case was preposterous – based on alleged hidden satanic...

We love our ghost ships here at SYSK and this is one of the better ones. But did it really even exist? Not likely. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Glasses as we know them have only been around for a few hundred years. So what did people do before this? And how did things change once spectacles were on the scene? Listen in to find out.See omnystu...

Every year Congress decides how the federal government will spend money. Simple enough, but in practice politics tend to mess it up. Sometimes it gets so messy the budget doesn’t get passed and parts ...

There's a good chance that if you don't live in San Antonio, Texas, you may not know who scientist/adventurer Tom Slick is. Today we tackle the story of the most interesting man you've never heard of....

The Killing Stone looms large in Japanese folklore, so when it split in half in March 2022, people were worried it would bring devastating effects in its wake. Except... they really didn't.See omnystu...

What if science could create a drug that made you connect with people more deeply, let your emotions flow more openly, and sparked love and attachment in you for other people? Would you take it? Bette...

Listen in to this classic episode for the conclusion of the story of the Manson Family Murders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

The town of Celebration, Florida was supposed to be a utopia. What it ended up as is a mediocre neighborhood on the outskirts of Disney World. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Who is Uncle Sam anyway? Was it a real person or just a marketing exercise? And why does he refuse to go away? Listen in to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....