Stuff You Should Know

In the 87 years since they were invented aerosol cans have protected soldiers, temporarily fixed flat tires, killed a boy who used too much deodorant and had their contents banned by most countries for wrecking the ozone layer. Tune in to learn more.

With the exception of lobotomies, no other psychological treatment has a worse reputation. But thanks to some thoughtful tweaks, ECT has lately emerged from the dark ages and toward the respectable forefront of treatment for major depression.

Once in a while, all the necessary factors converge to produce a peculiar nationalized sexual fetish. In China, that fetish was foot binding and over a millennia three billion Chinese women’s feet were brutally disfigured for men’s pleasure.

The West has gotten rich off the backs of underpaid labor living elsewhere; people who are dedicated to Fair Trade feel it’s time people at a disadvantage should stop being exploited. The concept is simple – just pay workers fairly for their labor.

Despite what you’ve heard, Dungeons and Dragons isn’t just for geeks, it isn’t satanic and it’s actually a great way to exercise your imagination. Learn about the basics of D&D, its place in pop culture and the controversy the game has stirred.

Ever since people have had secrets, other people have been looking for ways to get it out of them. Law enforcement and chemistry alike have searched for a drug that can remove the ability to lie. Join Josh and Chuck as they check in to see how it’s going.

What is it that makes us suddenly draw in a deep breath through a wide-open mouth? researchers really don’t know. Whether the answer is physical, mental or even contagious there is pretty much no chance you won’t yawn during this episode.

Whether you're sticking them to the fridge or using them to transpose sound to tape, magnets are surprisingly interesting. And knowing just how and why magnets work will make you more interesting, which is why you should listen to this episode of SYSK.

The idea that a person who can’t understand the crime they’ve committed should be inculpable is a longstanding pillar of Western criminal law. Learn about some of the prominent and overlooked cases where the accused has plead insanity in this episode.

You can tell a lot about a culture through marriage statistics: what age people get married, how many divorce, who is excluded from legal marriage. It forms a picture of how a society interacts with itself. Learn more about marriage in this episode.