Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Nature abhors a vacuum… and so do we? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the subject of horror vacui as it relates to philosophy, physics and the arts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the extragalactic threat of the alien Tyranids from the Warhammer 40K universe…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nature abhors a vacuum… and so do we? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the subject of horror vacui as it relates to philosophy, physics and the arts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the character in the film looking at? How does the object of their vision color how we interpret their countenance? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the Kuleshov effect from film theory and what studies in experimental psychology and neuroscience reveal. (01/27/2022)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special Friday the 13th episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe blast into the future of terror with 2001’s “Jason X.” That’s right, with their 100th film selection, they finally venture into a new decade, century and millennium of cinema. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Focusing on the human animal, Robert and Joe continue their discussion of throwing ability and ponder how throwing ability may have impacted everything from language to ancient warfare. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the four guards from the 1986 film ‘Labyrinth” and their paradoxical relationship to the truth…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever longed to play a game of catch with an octopus or a chimpanzee? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss animal throwing ability. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the character in the film looking at? How does the object of their vision color how we interpret their countenance? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the Kuleshov effect from film theory and what studies in experimental psychology and neuroscience reveal.(originally published 01/25/2022) 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the ultimate mind-blowing cinematic experience: David Cronenberg’s 1981 horror thriller “Scanners.”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever longed to play a game of catch with an octopus or a chimpanzee? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss animal throwing ability. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the icrotic slime of Warhammer 40K’s Necromunda underhive…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever longed to play a game of catch with an octopus or a chimpanzee? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss animal throwing ability. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If an advanced civilization existed on earth several million years ago, would we actually be able to detect that they were here? It may sound like conspiracy theorist bait, but a serious and balanced look at the question reveals a lot about geology, climate and the search for alien life. In this classic episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert and Joe discuss the silurian hypothesis. (originally published 01/18/2022)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss “Assignment Terror,” a 1970 Spanish-German-Italian production full of vampires, werewolves, the monster of Farancksalan, an undead mummy and a fiendish alien plot. It’s one of the many Paul Naschy werewolf movies and it also stars Michael Rennie in his final performance. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trap is insidious. But of course it is. It was designed and executed… by ants? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the ant wars continue as Robert and Joe explore some of the possibility that a few formidable Formicidae species actually lay traps. (originally published 1/20/2022)."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this classic episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the legendary Manticore… 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert chats with Sir Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and co-author of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series with Steve Jackson, about their new book ““Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop.”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special holiday edition of Listener Mail, Dr. Anton Jessup takes a break from his experiments to read some of the listener and viewer mail that has accumulated in the university basement over the last four years. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 1983 holiday film “A Christmas Story” warned us of the dangers associated with BB guns, bar soap and frozen flag poles – but it also introduced us to the Old Man’s prized leg lamp. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe dive into the deep, ancient and occult history of lamps and other objects shaped in the likeness of a human leg or foot. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the classic 1960s Russian fairy tale spectacular “Morozko,” better known to many fans as “Jack Frost.” It’s a tale of love, evil stepmothers, mushroom wizards, animal transformations, Baba Yaga and of course the Russian personification of winter, Morozko or Ded Moroz. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this classic episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe consider their first holiday horror film selection: 1983’s “Bloodbeat.” Filmed in Wisconsin, the film explores the complexity of holiday family time, while also wondering what might happen if mom had to battle a Samurai ghost with her psychic powers. Plus, Rob and Joe will discuss holiday horror films in general. (originally published 12/10/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses a holiday monster...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe welcome back Daniel Whiteson, particle physicist and co-host of Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. Tune in for a discussion of time travel, wormholes and more that will actually transport you roughly an hour into the future. Plus Daniel will discuss the new book "Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe." (Originally published 12/09/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're on holiday break this week! 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore the world of tumbleweeds. While it’s easy to dismiss these amazing plants as overused symbols of the American west, these detachable diaspores are more than meets the eyes. (originally published 01/13/2022)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this holiday edition of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss 1964’s Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Can Santa Claus teach the young of Mars how to be children again? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special holiday episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the history and invention of the eggnog, how it became such an iconic holiday beverage and some curious historic goblets associated with the consumption of this rich, milky draught. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special holiday episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the Hoden or Hooden Horse of British winter ritual… 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss some of the most famous reptilian residents of the Galapagos archipelago, including the world’s largest extant tortoise species and the world’s only marine iguana. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore the world of tumbleweeds. While it’s easy to dismiss these amazing plants as overused symbols of the American west, these detachable diaspores are more than meets the eyes. (originally published 01/11/2022)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss 1990’s “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.” 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss some of the most famous reptilian residents of the Galapagos archipelago, including the world’s largest extant tortoise species and the world’s only marine iguana. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses Mumm-Ra the Ever Living…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert chats with author Fred Hogge about his new book “Of Ice and Men: How We’ve Used Cold to Transform Humanity,” covering everything from cocktail ice to the ancient history of ice houses. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, time travel fiction is everywhere – and we understand the cosmos enough to even speculate what is and isn’t possible. But how old is the notion of travel through time? What sorts of attitudes and ideas concerning the nature of time were seemingly necessary before humans first imagined firing up a time machine? (originally published 12/16/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the 1954 robot movie “Tobor the Great,” in which a mechanical spaceman becomes a friend to children and an enemy of communism!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert is joined by Rusty Needle’s Record Club host Seth Nicholas Johnson for a discussion of various means of secreting information into audio, from backmasking and locked grooves to examples from the digital age of music.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Salesforce platform can empower businesspeople to create digital solutions without writing code. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Jacob Goldstein, host of What’s Your Problem?, and guest Phil Weinmeister, Head of Product, Salesforce Americas, at IBM. They discuss human-centric design, the low-code/no-code approach, and how IBM Consulting powers digital transformations with the Salesforce platform.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert is joined by Rusty Needle’s Record Club host Seth Nicholas Johnson for a discussion of various means of secreting information into audio, from backmasking and locked grooves to examples from the digital age of music.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once more, it's time for a weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, time travel fiction is everywhere – and we understand the cosmos enough to even speculate what is and isn’t possible. But how old is the notion of travel through time? What sorts of attitudes and ideas concerning the nature of time were seemingly necessary before humans first imagined firing up a time machine? (originally published 12/14/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s time to dive back into the Shaw Brothers cinematic treasure chest, this time for the sci-fi action film “The Super Inframan” starring Danny Lee and a whole bunch of monsters and stylish costumes. (originally published 12/03/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Robert and Joe in this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind in which they discuss even more crab science and mythology. (originally published 11/30/2021)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this classic episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses a most nautical form of exorcism...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.