Stuff You Should Know

On the day after Thanksgiving, Americans go kind of crazy for the deep discount sales that kick off the holiday shopping season in stores. So crazy, in fact, at least four people have lost their lives and as many as 63 others have been injured during Black Friday sales. But as profitable as Black Friday is, some retailers are thinking about discontinuing the tradition to find ways to make even more money. Learn all about this bizarre, uniquely American holiday custom in this classic episode.

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Julia Child is one of the most recognizable names in the cooking world, but even still so many of her accomplishments aren’t widely known. And the impacts she had on American culture, whoa! Join Josh and Chuck as they savor the flavor of Julia Child!

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We’ve done episodes on cake, cookies and, at long last, pie. Belly up to your pod player and prepare to crave some pie!

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Rice may be the most eaten food on the planet, accounting for 50% of the caloric intake of Asian countries and 25% worldwide. Learn all about this edible cereal crop today.

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Tune in to this classic episode to learn all about the legendary NYC Rockettes, who actually got their start in Missouri.

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Graffiti – the good kind, done with lots of style and skill – developed when some kids in NYC took up cans of spray paint and started to figure out how to outdo one another. They laid down styles that are so fine they’re still being used by artists today.

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What do you do when you want to tell someone you’re smitten with them but you live in a society so repressive decorum prevents you from even speaking such things? Why, you can say it with flowers! And that’s just what people in the Victorian Era did.

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The era of AM radio isn't over, but it's well past its heyday. Dive in today for a trip down memory lane. 

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For millennia, we have tried to put human personalities into neat types, an effort psychology took up early in its history in an effort to legitimize itself. But is the idea of types – which all personality inventories are based on - flawed to begin with? Find out in this classic episode.

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Pop Tarts are a legendary breakfast treat in the United States. They're fruit-filled toaster pastries with very little fruit. But who cares right? It's all about that toasty goodness. 

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People who’ve found themselves in life-or-death situations with their endurance at its limit have reported sensing another presence with them, urging them to continue on and survive. No one knows what the heck is going on here but it sure is interesting.

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In 1905, an engineering mistake created a brand new 400-square-mile sea (lake?) in the California desert. People made the most of it at first, but it didn’t take long to become a toxic brew that now threatens the health of anyone in breathing distance.

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Conversion therapy is a misguided attempt by religious zealots to convert people from gay to straight. News flash - it doesn't work. Learn all about this abhorrent practice in this classic episode.

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In 1996, a small group of German tourists disappeared in Death Valley National Park without a trace. Fifteen years later, the tenacity of one man solved the case.

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Did Native Americans really smoke peace pipes? Well yes and no. They smoked pipes for many reasons, sometimes to commemorate peace. But they never called them peace pipes.

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You can make a case that it’s a little off-putting to learn the world doesn’t really have any idea what to do with the nuclear waste we’ve been generating for several decades. The best we’ve come up with so far is bury it real deep and forget about it.

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Scientists believe that 99% of the estimated 50 billion species that have ever lived on Earth have disappeared through extinction. This is a natural process typically, but it can also be cataclysmic and it's becoming clear we are amid a massive one. Find out more with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Co-producer Ben knocked it out of the park again, taking the two classic horror stories we read for our annual Spooktacular - Caterpillars and The Deep Drowse – and creating a moody Halloween masterpiece for your spooky listening enjoyment. So enjoy it!

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A legend in Tennessee tells of the real-life Bell family, who were haunted back in 1817 by a ghost witch - arguably the worst kind of either of those things.

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There aren’t too many independent horror movies that make the British Film Institute’s 250 Best Films Ever Made list – AND – make an appearance in the teen comedy Summer School. That makes sense because there’s no other movie quite like The TCSM.

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In 2005 a woman named Anna Alaya discovered a length of human finger – nail and all – in her Wendy’s chili. Her cries of disgust would set off a media firestorm, a criminal investigation and a prison sentence for her and her husband. Listen to Josh and Chuck go through the whole mess in this classic episode.

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Have you ever thought much about screaming? Well we have, and today you'll learn everything we learned. 

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It's seven years' bad luck for you if you break a mirror, buddy, sorry. But have you ever wondered why? People have come up with all sorts of great reasons since time immemorial.

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Quick, name your favorite geological mystery. You can’t do it! Well, don’t worry. In this episode we’re going to tell you all about what will surely be your favorite (albeit only) one when we get into one weird millennium that happened not that long ago.

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Even though almost half of Americans believe in it, ESP usually is treated as a load of bull by skeptics. But some respected researchers have dared to apply the scientific method to investigate ESP and a few have found some surprising results. Find out all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Today we complete our music video duology with a dive into the mellow pool of VH-1.

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If you died away from home but wanted to be buried there, don’t worry – Taoist priests had you covered. They’d just have your animated corpse walk itself back home.

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If you've ever wanted to hear a couple of Gen X'ers wax nostalgic about MTV, then you're in luck. 

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Schoolhouse Rock is possibly the best children's program of all time. Join Josh and Chuck in this classic episode as they tell the story of SR, featuring an interview with Pavement's Bob Nastanovich, contributor to the '90s Schoolhouse Rock tribute record.

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The concept of hospice was created as a way to help people with only a few weeks to live spend their last days comfortable an surrounded by friends and family in the hope they can pass away peacefully. It’s kind of crazy hospice was ever a radical idea.

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Did you know that the "the call is coming from inside the house" urban legend may be based on a very grisly murder case from the 1950s?

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The greatest period in the history of humankind took place in the short era between 1970 and 1995. During that time kids could tune in every Saturday morning between 8 and noon and find the most amazing cartoons ever created, plus tons and tons of ads.

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Everybody knows mail order marriages are at best a last resort for jerks looking to boss a foreign spouse around or, at worst, a front for human trafficking. Or are they? Yes and no. Mail order marriage comes with nuance and a surprisingly long history. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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Back in the early 1900s, a new pandemic happened out of nowhere with odd symptoms, that was never solved or cured. It just went away. Which means it's right up our alley. 

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Today we kick off the scariest month with the legend of La Lechuza - The Witch Owl.

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It seems ridiculously irresponsible with the benefit of hindsight, but the concept of giving Hitler everything he wanted was the policy among the UK and France as a way to keep the world from sliding into a second world war. Turns out it didn’t work.

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The secret military base Area 51 is inextricably linked to every secret, shady project the US government is rumored to be involved in – from reverse-engineering alien technology to coordinating a one-world government. The truth is much more mundane. Listen to this classic episode as Josh and Chuck break it down.

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In 1922, a little farm in the woods of Bavaria became the site of what would become Germany’s most famous unsolved murder, when six people were brutally killed with a pick axe. What led up to it and followed is nothing short of bizarre.

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Join Josh and Chuck live from Seattle as they (sky)dive into one of the most brazen robberies in the annals of crime and the only unsolved airline hijacking in American history.

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In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept. Local reputations were ruined when accusations flew, but could a drifting serial killer working across the Midwest have been behind it?

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On one terrible day in Chicago in 1982, seven people died suddenly and mysteriously. In just a matter of hours, it becomes clear, someone has poisoned bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol, one of the most trusted and widely-used products in America.

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The largest ever kidnapping case in the United States went down in the small town of Chowchilla, CA. Learn all about it today. 

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The panic that began in Chicago spreads and begins to change the world. The investigation into the murders turns up leads and suspects, but still no one has ever been charged with the murders. It remains unsolved to this day. Find out the extent of what we know in this classic episode.

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Long before we knew what serial killers were, a family in remote Kansas was disposing of victims at their family farm. Listen in to the Tale of the Bloody Benders if you dare!

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In August of 1980 a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite was quietly delivered to Harvey’s, a casino and resort at Lake Tahoe. This kicked off a whirlwind caper that lasted 30 hours and ended up nearly demolishing the 11-story resort.

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The murder of Ken McElroy comes off like a story from a cheap paperback book you’d get to read on a plane. But this is a true crime story, set in Missouri in the early 80s. And boy does it pack a punch.

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Tune in today to listen to the story of when North Hollywood became a war zone after a brazen bank robbery. 

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In July 1966, three women out for a day at the beach waded into the water of Lake Michigan, got onto a boat and were never heard from again. To this day, not a trace of them has ever turned up and theories of what became of them abound.

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In 1963, 15 men got together in England to pull off one of the most daring heists in history. The Great Train Robbery was the crime of the century, capturing the public's attention and leaving them torn on who to root for - the cops or the robbers. Learn all about England's greatest heist in today's episode.

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The Far Side is one of the greatest cartoons in history. Today we go to great lengths to convince you of that.

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