Episodes

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Episode 416 with Wayne Federman!

February 21, 2021

Comedian, podcaster and author of the upcoming book The History of Standup Wayne Federman (@Federman) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the original location of Stonehenge, why its construction might not have been that hard, transparent wood that's stronger than glass, whether glass is a liquid or not, training pigs to use joysticks and what the future holds for standup comedy.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 415 with Brandie Posey!

February 11, 2021

Comedian and podcaster Brandie Posey (@Brandazzle) returns to the show to talk about hosting celebrity karaoke and ending up on TMZ, more details on how wombat poop ends up cubed, a quick refresher on platonic solids, Brexit and bees, Wandavision, the insane amount of power consumed by Bitcoin and quantum encryption in space.

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Episode 414 with April Richardson!

February 6, 2021

Comedian April Richardson (@apey) of the podcast Why Do I Like This? returns to the show to chat about moving to England, the smallest reptile on Earth, hibernation in early humans, teaching spinach to send emails, Tiny Elvis and the Wilhelm Scream.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 413 with Eli Braden!

January 29, 2021

Comedian/musician Eli Braden (@EliBraden) returns to the show to discuss stonks, the Robinhood fiasco, PredictIt.org, The Hustler, Psycho Goreman, more dinosaur butthole developments, Colgate University, Perseverance's upcoming Mars landing and evidence of multiple Mars ice ages.

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Episode 412 with Marcus Brigstocke!

January 23, 2021

Comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke (@marcusbrig) joins Andy and Matt to discuss blowing things up in school, puckle guns, coordinated electric eel attacks, solving the mystery of butterfly flight, separating dire wolf fact from fiction and giving shrooms to pigs.

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Episode 411 with Frank Wilczek!

January 14, 2021

Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek (@FrankWilczek), author of the new book Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality, joins Matt and Andy to talk about the work that earned him a Nobel Prize, as well as his book, which delves into the essential concepts that form our understanding of how the universe works, digging into fundamental ideas like time, space, matter, energy, complexity and complementarity.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 410 with Ed Byrne!

January 7, 2021

Comedian Ed Byrne (@MrEdByrne) joins Matt and Andy to discuss spiteful octopuses punching fish, using AI to solve protein structures, why recycling doesn't happen as much anymore (and Taiwan's amazing waste turnaround), and Europe's plan for a space claw to capture orbiting junk.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 409 with Dr. Peter McGraw!

December 18, 2020

Author, podcaster and behavioral economist Dr. Peter McGraw (@PeterMcGraw) returns to the show to talk with Matt and Andy about behavioral economics, cognitive biases, hellish comedy gigs, the science of humor, The Philadelphia Incident, Peter's new book Schtick to Business, stigmas surrounding unmarried life, flaws in happiness studies, how to support an aging populace that isn't being replaced, the new social media platform Clubhouse, Andy's recent shingles bout and Peter's latest podcast project Solo: The Single Person's Guide to a Remarkable Life.

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Episode 408 with Alex Schmidt!

December 10, 2020

Returning guest Alex Schmidt (@AlexSchmidty) of the podcast Secretly Incredibly Fascinating joins Andy and Matt to swap Jeopardy stories and discuss Doug the cat ruining equipment, grapefruit facts, The Ray Cat Solution to use glowing cats to warn future humans about radioactive waste, the monolith in Utah, Europa's mysterious glow and a beetle you can run over with a car.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 407 with Megan Gailey!

December 5, 2020

Comedian Megan Gailey (@megangailey) joins Matt and Andy to talk about honeybees flying sideways, acoustic camouflage on earless moths, new moon rocks, meatless diets and brittle bones, the coolest dinosaur skeletons ever, fossil-hunting laws and Megan's podcast The Greatest.

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Episode 406 with Charlie Fonville!

November 21, 2020

Producer and current Jeopardy champion Charlie Fonville (@charliefonville) joins Matt and Andy, whose four-day Jeopardy streak Charlie put an end to just yesterday, to talk about sharing the stage with the legendary Alex Trebek, the game theory of Jeopardy, including Daily Double and Final Jeopardy betting strategies, the Two-Thirds Rule, and Andy's odd-seeming bet when facing Stratton's Dilemma, then diving into stories about the return of a rocket from 54 years ago, the launch of a doghouse-shaped satellite, mapping bees, more election fraud claims debunked with math, making diamonds at room temperature in minutes and Charlie's podcast Unremembered Hollywood.

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Episode 405 with Alex Falcone!

November 11, 2020

Comedian Alex Falcone (@alex_falcone) of the podcast Read It and Weep (and a great NASA rejection letter) joins Andy and Matt to talk about why Benford's Law doesn't apply to election data, Hamburglar voting irregularities, Andy's upcoming Jeopardy appearance (this Monday, November 16th), whether or not Alex Falcone was named after Alex Trebek, some good news on using psilocybin to treat depression, British soldiers on acid , a ridiculously named new Covid-19 drug and Canada's top science prize recognizing work on gels that mimic human tissues.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 404 with James Austin Johnson!

October 30, 2020

Comedian James Austin Johnson (@shrimpJAJ) returns to the podcast after a seven-year hiatus to talk about dinosaur butts, water on the moon, cell phone networks on the moon, shocking your tongue to cure tinnitus… and for some reason President Donald J. Trump happens to call in to give his take on Sega Genesis reboots and lame duck hunts.

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Episode 403 with Michael Marshall!

October 24, 2020

Author Michael Marshall (@m_c_marshall) joins Matt and Andy to talk about his new book The Genesis Quest, which explores the century-long effort to understand how life began on Earth and the many interesting characters who dedicated themselves to solving this massive scientific puzzle.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 402 with John Hastings!

October 17, 2020

Comedian John Hastings (@thejohnhastings) joins Andy and Matt to talk about the questionable comedy of Roy Chubby Brown, neanderthal genes and covid-19, water bodies under the surface of Mars, and using balanced rocks to increase nuclear safety.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 401 with Gene Pompa!

October 10, 2020

Comedian Gene Pompa (@genepompa) joins Matt and Andy to discuss methanol-fueled robot beetles, super long words, methylated alcohol, why the moon is rusting, smartphones knowing when you're drunk-walking and corn that makes its own mucus.

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Episode 400 with Brooks Wheelan and Jesse Case!

September 26, 2020

The gang's back together to celebrate 400 episodes of Probably Science! Erstwhile hosts Jesse Case (@jessecase) and Brooks Wheelan (@brookswheelan) join Matt and Andy to discuss counting magicians, Jesse's proximity to train tracks, Ig Nobel prizes for alligators on helium and narcissist eyebrows, detecting phosphine in the clouds of Venus, finding super old sperm in amber, an earthquake hack to measure ocean warming and podcast recommendations including Our Fake History, Entry Level and Jesse vs. Cancer.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 399 with Dr. Kat Arney!

September 17, 2020

Jesse Case rejoins the show for a cancer special with science writer Dr. Kat Arney (@Kat_Arney), author of Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal.

This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

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Episode 398 with Jen Burton!

September 1, 2020

Comedian Jen Burton (@jensburpin) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Africa getting rid of wild polio, painting turbine blades to save birds, a Jeopardy furry champ, an uncuttable material and Idyllwild's very good boy Mayor Max.