Stuff You Should Know

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Freetown Christiania Jun 25, 2026

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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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Short Stuff: Why does it feel good to be scared? Jun 24, 2026

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Fear is different than being scared, most notably because fear is generally a negative thing and being scared can cause an enjoyable thrill. We'll get into the difference in today's episode.

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Some Interesting Curses Jun 23, 2026

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Even though curses aren’t real – and we go to great pains to make that clear – they are pretty interesting, especially ones you haven’t heard of before. So we dug deep and found some of the curses that don’t always hog the spotlight for this fun episode.

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Selects: Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil Jun 20, 2026

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It’s a pretty safe assumption that people have been born with birthmarks since humanity began, and between then and now we’ve come up with some wacky, even dangerous, explanations for them – even a few that survive still today. Learn all about them in this classic episode.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Chaos Theory Changed the Universe Jun 19, 2026

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Since the age of Descartes, science has put all of its eggs in the basket of determinism, the idea that with accurate enough measurements any aspect of the universe could be predicted. But the universe, it turns out, is not so tidy.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Global Warming Works Jun 19, 2026

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It's a confusing part of climate change when it seems winter is as cold as ever, but as global temperatures creep ever so slightly higher, a cascade of catastrophic events will almost surely follow. The ball is in humanity's court.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Occam's Razor Works Jun 19, 2026

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You know the rule that says the simplest explanation is probably the correct one? That’s called a razor and it’s meant to guide logic. But over time it’s become a broadsword used to disprove opposing arguments. Learn how to spot a faux skeptic in this episode.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Things We Believed Before the Scientific Method Jun 19, 2026

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It’s easy to think of people in the distant past as kinda dumb for believing things like that mice could spontaneously generate from old grain. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll find there was a sensibility to the odd beliefs that came before science.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Big Bang Theory Works, with Neil deGrasse Tyson Jun 19, 2026

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There are a number of theories for how the universe evolved but none are more widely accepted than the Big Bang theory. Learn about the mind-boggling details of the early universe and hear Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about what it will take for us to know its origins.

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The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How the Scientific Method Works Jun 19, 2026

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It evolved over centuries to become the gold standard for conducting scientific inquiry. Yet many people - including some scientists - don't fully understand it. Learn about the basis of how we explore our world in this episode.

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