Stuff To Blow Your Mind

It’s a standard tool of skeptical thinking: When presented with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well, choose the simpler of the two. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the history, nature and complexities of Occam’s Razor. (Originally published 2/13/2020)

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Yes, kiddies, in this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss Ernest Dickerson’s 1995 siege movie “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.” Strap in for grotesque monsters, a whole host of character actors and some Crypt Keeper puns.

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Few places in the Star Wars universe are regarded with as much horror as the Great Pit of Carkoon, within the Dune Sea of Tatooine. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe consider the mighty Sarlacc and compare what we know about this organism to denizens of the natural world. (Originally published 5/12/2020)

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses an ancient Chinese sword noted for its unusual sharpness and resistance to tarnish...

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In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the nature of gold, humanity’s history extracting it from the Earth and the amazing properties of gold nanoparticles.

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Here's your weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail!

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In the year 79 CE, the Italian volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted with with the thermal energy of 100,000 atomic bombs. Ashen destruction rained down on Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore this terrifying episode in history and what we can learn from it. (Originally published 2/11/2020)

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The bonejackers thought they could jack Alex Furlong, but now he's gone freejack in the future of 2009. Yep, in this installment of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe jack their way into the 1992 sci-fi thriller "Freejack," starring everyone and costing $30 million.

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In the previous episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discussed the Shān Hǎi Jīng or “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” an ancient Chinese text that compiles the mythic geography and fantastic creatures of the world. In this episode, the continue by discussing some of the fantastic creatures mentioned in the text.

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe talks about mind-boggling prehistoric mineral formations.

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In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the Shān Hǎi Jīng or “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” an ancient Chinese text that compiles the mythic geography and fantastic creatures of the world.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's your weekly dose of Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the year 79 CE, the Italian volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted with with the thermal energy of 100,000 atomic bombs. Ashen destruction rained down on Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe explore this terrifying episode in history and what we can learn from it. (Originally published 2/6/2020)

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In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe cap off Brain Week with the 1988 Canadian monster movie “The Brain.” It’s kind of bargain-bin Cronenberg in many ways, but that’s OK because there’s still a giant brain with eyes and teeth in it.

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First they came for their heads. Then they came for their brains. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe discuss the weird and fascinating history of head and brain preservation, veneration and theft.

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of the oldest, best-preserved human brains.

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First they came for their heads. Then they came for their brains. In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind two-parter, Robert and Joe discuss the weird and fascinating history of head and brain preservation, veneration and theft.

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It’s time for more listening mail! Robert and Joe use the Nightmare Key to unlock a boss battle with YOUR e-mails...

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There’s often a gap between feeling and understanding, but language and classification provide us with tremendous tools for self-reflection. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the concept of kama muta, a broad categorization of emotional states that include loved belonging, patriotism, cuteness, spiritual communion and the feels. (Originally published 1/21/2020)

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It’s Soviet work ethic versus the siren song of fun in 1975’s “Teens in the Universe,” a beautifully crafted and thoroughly weird space adventure. Join Rob and Joe for a Weirdhouse Cinema discussion of robots, space travel and more.

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During the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Ahmose I erected a stele detailing a great storm that destroyed tombs, temples and other structures. Does this artifact describe a real atmospheric disturbance? Or is it propaganda? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the mystery.

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe sees visions of orbits within orbits within orbits within orbits...

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Spanning centuries of human history, the iconic bonsai tree is a widely recognized example of Japanese mastery. Each miniature tree speaks to the beauty of cultivated nature and the immutability of all things. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the history of bonsai, its cultural meaning and the underlying science.

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Here comes the STBYM listener mail, once again.

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Their fossils date back 450 million years and their copper-rich blue blood continues to benefit various medical applications. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the science and history of horseshoe crabs. (Originally published 1/16/2020)

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Yes, it’s time to grease up Weirdhouse Cinema with a Shaw Brothers horror film from 1976. “The Oily Maniac” is a tale of sleaze, revenge and a rampaging black-magic oil monster.

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How do insects factor into our traditions of death -- and how do insects handle their own burials? Find out in this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind as Robert and Joe discuss ants, termites, Virgil, ancient civilizations, bees and more.

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses one of the oldest known human prosthetics.

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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?

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Join Robert and Joe for even more STBYM and Weirdhouse Cinema listener mail.

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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)

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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.

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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?

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe talks about a 2004 study of blindfolding and visual hallucinations.

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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.

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It's time for more listener mail! Let's dig in.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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It's listener mail time once more, so Robert and Joe catch up on some Stuff to Blow Your Mind holiday mail.

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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)

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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.”

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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)

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In this episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Joe discusses why people in ancient Egyptian paintings sometimes have little cones on their heads.

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“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)

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What's so great a bout a spin kick? Find out in this batch of Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mail.

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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.

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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)

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