Stuff You Should Know

You know the leisure suit, perhaps the tackiest suit to ever be invented. It was so huge in the 70s and spread as wide the lapels of the shirts worn with them. Then, as fast as they hit the scene they disappeared in shame.

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Are there benefits to boredom? Or is it all negative? Why do we get bored? What can we do to break free from boredom? The answers to those questions and more are coming your way today.

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Wasps have a bad rap. Because their sting really hurts and they don't make honey like their cousins. But they are super cool and you shouldn't kill them. Listen to this classic episode and learn!

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Why does the story of The Odyssey endure this many years after it was first spoken? Listen in to find out.

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In the 1920s, a certain set of women wanted to loosen up and have a good time. Today, we get into it with the flappers.

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Today we tell the story of the kids TV network that changed it all, Nickelodeon.

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Blacksmiths? You got that right. Learn all about this age old occupation in this classic episode.

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In the 80s, a pair of psychologists theorized why being part of a group can change people’s thoughts and feelings, both about themselves and other people. It sounds dry, but SIT explains everything from how people justify genocide to football rivalries.

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Japanese nuclear worker Hisashi Ouchi is often called on the internet “the world’s most radioactive man.” That’s not exactly true, but it gets the point across about how severe the fatal dose of radiation he received was.

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It is to the great nation of Canada’s lasting credit that it has prized Terry Fox as one of the most beloved and admired citizens for nearly 50 years now. It’s difficult to get across how much he means to Canada. Lucky for us, his story speaks for itself.

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The 1920s were just absolutely nuts. People got into weird fads really intensely and one of the strangest of all was flagpole sitting. It’s just what it sounds like – sitting on top of a flagpole for as long as you can. One man sat above them all. Learn all about him and many of these wild fads in this classic episode.

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The break-up of the USSR was a tough one for Russia, being the jilted republic. For the entire decade after, the country plunged into a type of controlled chaos, with a rampantly corrupt kleptocracy taking the place of the toppled socialist society.

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Today we dive in to celebrate the international treasure that is Dolly Parton. Why is she nearly universally loved? Listen in to find out.

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The US has an unusual number of outbreaks of food-borne illness going on in the summer of 2026, and the star of the show is cyclospora. How does this parasite make people sick, where does it come from? You may not want to know.

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It’s rare that the downfall of an empire can be chalked up to the decisions of just one person. It’s even rarer, when the empire falls over the course of a year. That’s pretty much what happened with the Soviet Union when Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved it.

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Narcolepsy is one of those amazing rare disorders that everyone thinks they understand – people just fall asleep at random times, even in the middle of doing something. But there’s a lot more to it and – even better – we actually may be able to explain it. Josh and Chuck run it down in this classic episode.

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Rope is one of the unsung heroes of the world of inventions. Think about it. Then let us tell you about it.

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Did a shipwreck double the size of the United States? Sort of. Listen in to find out what the heck that means.

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Irony is one of those things that you know when you see it, but it’s almost impossible to define. Well, that’s not quite right – there are a ton of definitions for irony but none of them quite capture it fully. Want to know what irony is? So do we!

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Ever wanted to know more about how the Manhattan grid was made? Well this is your chance. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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Robert Maxwell was a lot of things, publisher, mogul, spy, politician, crook. But was he murdered when he fell from his yacht?

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Did Nero play his fiddle while Rome burned during the Great Fire of 64 CE? Absolutely not. Find out how we know when Chuck and Josh bust a two thousand year-old myth. 

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You've probably seen the movie, but what else do you know about this legendary crime couple? Listen in to find out.

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As the operation expands it also begins to unravel. Word starts to leak out of the illegal stuff the Reagan administration was up to, Congress and the press investigate and people start to point fingers. Spoiler alert – they all got off scot free. Find out how it all wraps up in part 2 of this classic story.

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When Ronald Reagan was president, America got involved in some deeply shady stuff, not the least of which was the Iran-Contra scandal – a convoluted operation that managed to combine an illegal covert war in Nicaragua with secretly selling arms to Iran. Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Although it was built atop some musical styles that came before, reggae is mostly its own thing. It evolved as local music in the Trenchtown neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica but after Bob Marley and the Wailers came along, it became a global phenomenon.

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Once upon a time there were these things called phone books. Inside you could find the phone number and address of just about everyone in your town. Can you imagine?

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To call beans and rice a staple is to undersell the importance of beans and rice. Today we break down the ubiquity of this beloved food combo.

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No food is more all-American than peanut butter – 80 percent of homes in the country have a jar of it in the pantry right now. And while the rest of the world might find peanut butter peculiar, maybe even gross, the rest of the world is wrong. Enjoy a smooth ride through one of our top condiments in this classic episode.

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Operation Doppelganger was a Russian propaganda project discovered in 2022, a minor part of the enormous, ongoing disinformation and chaos-sewing campaign Russia spreads across the world through social media. And some of your views may have come from it.

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Get yer info on one of Australia’s great true crime cases he-re!  

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Judy Blume is more than an author. She's a legend in teen literature for her frank and honest portrayals of adolescence. Today we pay tribute to her.

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Climate change is having sweeping effects on our climate and this is changing the world, not just for humans and other animals, but plants too. Will the Earth’s flora manage to find safe refuge in time? Josh and Chuck run down the odds in this classic episode.

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We all know Switzerland is neutral. But why? Listen in and you might learn something.

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Josh implored Chuck to try sardines. Did he? Listen in to find out. 

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By the 1990s, cigarette makers had been hooking and killing off their customers for about a century. And they’d gotten good at both as well as covering up their harms. In 1994 they were still denying cigarettes were addictive. Then, the 50 Attorneys General of the US rode into town to take them on.

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In this classic episode, Chuck and Josh dive into the funky, cool world of the classic TV show, Sooooooooul Train.

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Would you believe that Detroit’s crack epidemic in the mid-80s was overseen by one 16 year-old white kid who supplied all the coke? No? Well, that’s not quite true, so okay. The actual story is even more nutso than that.

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Today we salute the great Don LaFontaine, aka The Voice of God in movie and TV trailers. 

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Most new moms get the baby blues soon after giving birth. Postpartum depression is something much different - the symptoms are similar, but their intensity can have sweeping effects on mom, baby, and the whole family. Fortunately, it’s highly treatable but the catch is moms usually have to ask for help.

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Back when cars were a brand new thing, before people even knew they'd stick around, two men and a dog drove from San Francisco to New York. This classic episode has their story.

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Eleanor Roosevelt was something else. We can't get into it here, but just wait until you listen to this episode.

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Now that it’s been 250 years since America split from England, we figure enough time has passed that we can finally learn the difference between the UK, Great Britain, and  the British Isles.

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During the Cold War all eyes were on the Space Race between the US and USSR. But there was another, overlooked race too and it went in the opposite direction. 

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In this classic episode, Chuck and Josh sit and converse on the simple, elegant chopstick.

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When a 9.2 quake shoook Alaska in 1964 it was the 2nd largest earthquake ever recorded. This is that story.

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Those are three words you probably never thought you’d see together. And the true story is just as interesting as it sounds.

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When a crush of football fans killed 97 people in England in 1989, police and officials engaged in a massive cover-up to blame it on drunken fans. Today we tell that story.

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Until 2007, the largest single corporate bankruptcy was Enron, a $67 billion energy trading company. Its decline was breathtaking, and while it’s a fascinating story of corporate malfeasance and greed, it’s also about the lives of ruined workers. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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The sort of commune of Freetown Christiania in Denmark may not be what it used to be, but it's still true to many of its original values. Learn all about this unique neighborhood today.

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