A Problem Squared

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Comedy
**A Problem Squared**

Matt Parker and Bec Hill present: A Problem Squared.

A podcast dedicated to solving problems of all kinds, such as, “What should I listen to right now?”. A Podcast Squared. First one’s free. You’re welcome.

Episodes released twokly on Mondays.

Latest Episodes:

124 = Dangerous Angling and Harmonious Wrangling Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

👼 What is the Angle of Death?

🎼 What is the best filing system for sheet music?

🎄And there’ll be some A-ho-ho-ho-B

If you have any maths-studio-based-names for the Newdio, go to the Problem Posing Page at aproblemsquared.com and select ‘Solution’ and be as funny and punny as possible!

If you’d like to ask Matt and Bec anything for our special 2^7 episode in February go to the Problem Posing Page at aproblemsquared.com - select ‘Problem’ and start your message with AMA!

See Matt on tour in 2026! http://standupmaths.com/shows

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

Join us on Patreon for early releases and our monthly bonus podcast I’m A Wizard - and a special APS Christmas Card!

If you’re already on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

123 = The Science of Fries and Mounting Sea Level Rise Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

🍟 Why does the nutritional value of frozen chips change depending on whether they are cooked in an air fryer or in an oven?

⛰️ How large a mountain could we make from 2.2 meters of dredged sea bed (combatting sea level rise in the process)?

🃏And there’ll be some AOB, as easy as 123.

Head to our socials for pics of LIVE MATHS, chip nutritional values, post-Totoro Bec, ESA Souvenirs.

If you’d like to ask Matt and Bec anything for our special 2^7 episode in February go to the Problem Posing Page at aproblemsquared.com - select ‘Problem’ and start your message with AMA!

See Matt on tour in 2026! http://standupmaths.com/shows

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

Join us on Patreon for early releases and our monthly bonus podcast I’m A Wizard. If you’re already on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

122 = Shocking Theories with Quickfire Queries Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

🔥 How many quickfire problems is it possible to solve in a single episode of A Problem Squared?

🧑‍💼 Why is Matt dressed like a maths teacher?

🃏And we will deal out some Any Other Business

If you’d like to ask Matt and Bec anything for our special 2^7 episode go to the Problem Posing Page at aproblemsquared.com - select ‘Problem’ and start your message with AMA!

A chicken slapping machine - click to view at your own risk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68L6JA_CnmU

Here’s where you’ll find the video of Matt in 374 different outfits (and the 375th outfit is on our socials)

https://www.youtube.com/@standupmaths/videos

From AOB here’s Chris’ working…

https://chrisboettner.github.io/blog/posts/2025-10-28-card_game_blog.html

…and here’s Dede’s working…

https://github.com/dedebenui/cardgame

See Matt on tour!

http://standupmaths.com/shows

Specifically, see Matt in London on Monday 1st December!

https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/matt-parker/

Or if you would like to see Bec in Brighton on Monday 1st December, tickets are here:

https://www.komedia.co.uk/shows/john-luke-roberts-geoffrey-chaucers-mediaeval-christmas-festivitye/

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

121 = Bi-annuals and Diagonals Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

🗓️ Does bi-weekly mean every two weeks or twice a week?

🧊 What is the name of the line between two opposing corners of a cube?

🕑 And daylight will be saved with some Any Other Brightness.

For more on Rupert and Nopert Shapes:

Euler Brick: https://mathworld.wolfram.com/EulerBrick.html

Tom7 - Rupert's Snub Cube and other Math Holes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4MviUE0_s

Tom7’s Print files for Platonic, Archimedean and Catalan Solids: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1617011-platonic-archimedean-and-catalan-solids#profileId-1706419

Follow Dr Ben Whittle, The Excellent Etymologist, on Instagram! @schnebwhittle

Joey Parrish and his Sega Slides https://github.com/joeyparrish/sega-slides

See Matt on tour! http://standupmaths.com/shows

Specifically, see Matt in London on Monday 1st December! https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/matt-parker/

Or if you would like to see Bec in Brighton on Monday 1st December, tickets are here: https://www.komedia.co.uk/shows/john-luke-roberts-geoffrey-chaucers-mediaeval-christmas-festivitye/

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

120 = Dealing Probability and Healing Gullibility Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

🃏 What are the odds of actually winning Morgan’s very specific, very fun card game?

🤯 Are people more gullible now? And what are the best ways to persuade someone they are wrong?

👻 And, appropriate to the season, there will be some Any Other Boooooooooooooosness

If you have some ingenious suggestions of what Matt can do in lunar gravity, head to www.aproblemsquared.com and submit your idea as a ‘Solution’

Head to our socials to see Matt’s graph plot and stats on the odds of winning the card game, as well as Bec’s beautifully laid out existence proof of the 52 Card Game!

Some further reading on The Gullibility Problem:

Why are people so gullible? https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20160323-why-are-people-so-incredibly-gullible

Research paper on political extremism: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612464058

Nobel Disease: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Nobel_disease

And some tetrahedron-shaped packaging - or TetraPaks, if you will:

TetraPak: https://www.tetrapak.com/solutions/packaging/packages

SunnyBoys: https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/2016-goodbye-sunnyboy/

See Matt on tour! http://standupmaths.com/shows

And if you want to see Matt in London on Monday 1st December, tickets are here: https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/matt-parker/

Or if you want to see Bec in Brighton on Monday 1st December, tickets are here: https://www.komedia.co.uk/shows/john-luke-roberts-geoffrey-chaucers-mediaeval-christmas-festivitye/

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you’re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

119 = Proportions by Bananas and Polygons from Lava Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

🍌 Is there a more consistent system of measuring things (and is it ‘Banana For Scale’)?

🌋 Why and how do hexagons occur in nature?

🔔 And there will be a whole Bec of Any Other Becness

Head to our socials to see Matt and Bec playing The Metre Game, lots of bananas for scale, and Matt sporting some very fetching headwear.

Some further reading on the origins of ‘Banana For Scale’:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/banana-for-scale

Some further reading on hexagons in basalt:

European Geoscience Union article:

https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2023/05/26/features-from-the-field-columnar-basalts-and-why-hexagons-are-natures-favourite-shape/

Physical Review Letters:

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.154301

See Matt on tour!

http://standupmaths.com/shows

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt:

https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you’re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

118 = Rolling Eyes and Juggling Highs Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

🎲 What are the odds of rolling snake eyes? (And does it make for good TV?)

🤹How long does it take to learn to juggle with seven balls?

🛌 And there’s some Any Other Bed’n’Boardness

Head to our socials to see Matt and Bec in action, rolling dice and juggling balls!

To find out more about our juggling expert Darryl J Carrington, head to his insta: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPTqhTwDEeb/?igsh=MXdyMDJvNGhma2ZtNg==

And here’s Colin Wright’s video about Sideswap: “Juggling by Numbers - Numberphile” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dwgusHjA0Y

Here are Jasper’s links (in Dutch and in English) about the Belgian family and their children’s themed names

https://vrtnws.be/p.NvjDVZw5w (Dutch)

https://www.reddit.com/r/tragedeigh/comments/17h7ka6/gwenny_32_is_pregnant_of_a_twelfth_child_a/ (English)

And here are the visualised shuffles of the card question in Episode 113

Tom - https://tehtommeh.github.io/riffle-me-this/

Bernhard - https://www.bernhard-werner.de/assets/cindy/applets/card_weave.html

Shaun - https://svermaak.github.io/VisualiseCardShuffle/

See Matt on tour!

http://standupmaths.com/shows

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you’re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

A Problem Squared - Emergency Episode! Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Unfortunately, Matt has been ill and lost his voice so we were unable to record the episode that should be coming out this week.

To make up for it, we are releasing an episode of the usually-Patreon-only I Am A Wizard for you to listen to. It's the one from April this year and features a magical offer from our listener who is, apparently, a wizard - USBinPRL. But we begin with a message from Bec, who can still speak.

If you want more wizarding silliness then join our Patreon at patreon.com/aproblemsquared - you'll get access to all the past episodes of I Am A Wizard, a new wizard episode every month, and early access to all episodes of A Problem Squared!

Normal Service will be resumed in Two Weeks!

117 = Visualising Hacks and Unusual Icy Snacks Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

👁️ How do you remember things if you can’t visualisethem in your mind’s eye?

🍭 What’s the best shape for a freeze pop?

🪣 And there’s some Any Other Beachness

Head to our socials to see freeze pop pics, Matt(not that one)’s tooth and the AOB gifts!

Here’s a link to the University of Exeter’s The Eye’s Mind project: https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/eyesmind/

And here’s a selection of freeze pops and anti-prisms…

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/del-monte-quality-pineapple-freeze-pop-8-x-62ml

https://www.vimto.co.uk/vimto-range/product/vimto-pyramids/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_antiprism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disphenoid

See Matt on tour! http://standupmaths.com/shows/

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt: https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you’re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

116 = Guess The Right Price and Why Teeth Might Splice Aug 18, 2025

Show notes

￡ What’s the optimum strategy to win The Price Is Right?

🦷 Why have Tim’s baby teeth fallen apart?

🛠️ And there’s some Any Other Billy Bookcase Business

Head to our socials to play along with The Price Is Right and to see a video of Ikea Wars!

Here are the GIANT LETTERS sent in by Phillip:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/yZaofcfNPaF5HyX17

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillside_letters

If you’re in Edinburgh for the Fringe, get tickets to see Bec here:

https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5884/

And get tickets see to Matt here:

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/getting-triggy-it-matt-parker-does-maths

Here’s how to get involved with Matt’s Moon Pi Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/standupmaths

And here’s how to volunteer for Calculate Pi By Hand with Matt:

https://forms.gle/w44THpNJ3jWUPqHy6

If you’re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on our pinned post!

If you want to (we’re not forcing anyone) please do leave us a review, share the podcast with a friend, or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.

Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

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