The BrainFood Show

Latest Episodes:

Caesar Part 3: The Real Story of the Ides of March Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start out by discussing in more detail the events surrounding Caesar’s momentous decision to cross the Rubicon, then jump into the real story of what happened on the Ides of March which isn’t exactly the one popular history remembers largely thanks to the notable play by Shakespeare.

Over the course of the episode we also discuss why likely most every quote you’ve ever read from Socrates was not actually something Socrates said, among other tangents.

And just a small correction: “Sherlock” not “Shakespeare” (You’ll know when you get there.)

This is part 3 of our 4 part series on Julius Caesar. Stay tuned next time for when we look at a variety of interesting facts related to what we’ve discussed in parts 1-3.

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Caesar Part 2: Julius Caesar’s Pirate Adventure and the Long Lost Location of the Rubicon Jan 16, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start out by discussing how a teenage Julius Caesar became the head of his rather prominent family. We then move on to his little month-long or so pirate adventure and finally discuss where exactly the Rubicon was, which interestingly enough is only something that has been relatively recently discovered.

This is part 2 of what will be a 4 part series on Julius Caesar. Stay tuned next time for when we look more deeply into why Caesar chose to cross the Rubicon and his rather unorthodox and bold strategy in doing so, as well as look at the true story of the Ides of March.

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Who Started the Lizard People Conspiracy Theory? Jan 15, 2026

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People have been referencing sentient reptilian entities, sometimes humanoid, sometimes not, going back to some of the earliest written works and legends known to man. In more modern times, according to a survey done by the firm Public Policy Polling approximately 4% of Americans queried claimed they believe Lizard People are influencing world politics, with an additional 7% on the fence on this question. So how did the idea of Lizard People ruling the world start? To begin with, for those unfamiliar with our Lizard overlords, while there are a variety of versions of this conspiracy theory, the general notion is that a few different types of reptilian humanoids walk among us. Chief among these creatures are a type speculated to come from the Draco constellation, because apparently the Lizard People knew their little corner of the galaxy would look vaguely like a serpent from Earth when connecting the dots during a certain part of Earth's history, and so went ahead and spent millions of years evolving appropriately on their home planet to match. The Draconians are apparently tall, winged, reptilian humanoids who not only secretly rule over humans, but more overtly rule over other types of lizard people as well. As for those others, the second most prominent group widely held among adherents to this conspiracy are the shape shifting human/reptilian hybrids.

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Who Started the Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory, How Many Believe This, and What Do They Believe? Jan 14, 2026

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Contrary to popular belief, a decent percentage of the human population has known definitely the Earth was roughly spherical for over two thousand years. Hardly impressive, as noted in our BrainFood Show podcast, bees also use this fact in their own absurdly fascinating navigation and in communicating directions to other bees.

As for humans, we took a little longer to realize this, with Pythagoras (6th century B.C.) generally credited with being the first known person to have suggested a spherical Earth, though the idea didn’t exactly catch on at this point. Aristotle (4th century B.C.) agreed and supported the hypothesis with observations such as that the southern constellations rise higher in the sky when a person travels south. He also noted that during a lunar eclipse the Earth’s shadow is round. Much more definitively, the 3rd century BC head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes, built on their ideas and managed to calculate the circumference of the Earth with remarkable accuracy. How? ...

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How Did the Trump Family First Make Their Fortune? Jan 13, 2026

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Regardless of your politics, I think we can all agree that Donald Trump is by no means a humble man, and he’d be the first to admit that the Trump Family comprises something of a rich and powerful dynasty. As it turns out though, Trump’s wealth and influence can all be traced back to a bizarre confluence of good fortune that befell, ironically, an unemployed barber who immigrant to the United States to find work- his grandfather, Frederick Trump.

Born in 1869 in a small village located in what was then the Kingdom of Bavaria called, Kallstadt, Frederick (who went by the decidedly more German sounding “Friedrich” prior to moving to the states) had a fairly humble upbringing. One of 6 children, he was the son of not terribly well off grape growers in the region. Matters got worse for the family in 1877 when Fred’s father, Johannes, died at the age of 48, leaving a wife, 6 children, and quite a bit of debt.

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Caesar Part 1: Caesarean and the Fascinating Story of Dr. James Barry (a.k.a. Margaret Bulkley) Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start out by discussing the fact that, contrary to what we speculated in a previous episode, World’s Fairs are actually still a thing. We then jump into the meat of the show, discussing whether Julius Caesar was actually born via a Caesarean operation and then look at the remarkable story of Margaret Bulkley, who is better known in history as Dr. James Barry- one of the first people to perform a Caesarean operation in which both the woman and baby survived.

This is part 1 of what will be a 4 part series on Julius Caesar. Stay tuned next time for when we jump into his life more directly by discussing a rather hilarious pirate adventure he had as a young man.

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The Bull Moose (Part 2) Jan 09, 2026

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In this episode of The Brain Food Show podcast, we wrap up our discussion (for now) on one of the more remarkable individuals in modern history- Theodore Roosevelt. In particular we look at the truth about how and why the Teddy Bear was named after him and a boatload of fascinating Teddy Roosevelt facts conclusively demonstrating he was more awesome than we could ever hope to be. And as a little bonus to the Bonus Facts at the end, we discuss what the famous song The Rose has to do with the undisputed greatest show of all time- Star Trek the Next Generation.

(Also we very casually allude to the fact that Teddy Roosevelt probably helped delay WWI by several years, but then completely forget to mention HOW he did it later on. We’ll remedy this in an upcoming episode. And let’s be honest, there’s always more interesting stuff to talk about concerning Teddy Roosevelt, so I’m sure we’ll come back to him for more episodes at some point in the future as well.)

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Legendary Legends: The Greatest Adventurer and the Voyage of the Nautilus Jan 08, 2026

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At 11:15 PM on August 3, 1958, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower received a historic radio message: “Nautilus 90 North.” U.S.S. Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, had just reached the North Pole while sailing beneath the Arctic ice cap. Known as Project Sunshine, this submerged voyage to the top of the world was designed to show off the superiority of nuclear power for naval propulsion and salvage American pride following the Soviets’ launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, the year before. It was also the triumphant culmination of a decades-long dream. For while Nautilus’s atomic power plant ultimately allowed her to succeed in her mission, she was not the first submarine - or even the first vessel named Nautilus - to attempt an Arctic voyage. Nearly three decades earlier a maverick Australian explorer, sailing in a far cruder war-surplus submarine, also set out to conquer the Pole from beneath. But while this now-forgotten expedition was beset with misfortunes and ultimately met with failure, its mission was bold and visionary and set the stage for a century of Polar exploration. And the man behind it all? Few humans in history can match his exploits in adventure. This is the incredible story of a man whose life was like something out of a movie, Sir Hubert Wilkins, and the doomed voyage of the Nautilus. Though largely forgotten today, Sir George Hubert Wilkins was an extraordinary figure straight out of an adventure novel, packing several normal lifetimes of experiences and accomplishments into an eventful 70 years. Born on October 31, 1888 in Mount Bryan East, South Australia, the thirteenth child of sheep farmer Henry Wilkins and his wife Louise, young George lived and worked on his family’s sheep station until the age of 15, when he left home to study mechanical and electrical engineering at the Adelaide School of Mines. In his spare time, he immersed himself in the relatively young arts of photography and cinematography. In 1908 at the age of 20, Wilkins left Australia as a stowaway aboard a ship bound for Africa, kickstarting his life of adventure. Author: Gilles Messier Host: Daven Hiskey Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila

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The Bonkers Atomic Car with 5,000 Miles Range Jan 07, 2026

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In February of 1958, the Ford Motor Company unveiled an extraordinary concept for the automobile of the future. Dubbed the Nucleon, the vehicle was a showcase of mid-century styling and technology, featuring sleek, futuristic lines, optional tail fins, one-piece wrap-around front and rear windscreens, electric torque converters, proximity sensors, and automatic climate control for the cabin. Oh, and for those who care about such things was powered by a miniature nuclear reactor… As Ford’s ad copy breathlessly proclaimed: “A glimpse into an atomic powered future when car drivers might select their own horsepower is proceeded by the Nucleon…developed by advanced stylists in the Ford Motor Company Styling office to probe possible styling influences of atomic power in automobiles. The model features a power capsule, suspended between twin booms at the rear, which would contain a radioactive core providing motive power…. Power output of the car could be controlled at the driver’s option, much as the intensity of the reaction in a nuclear pile is controlled. Cars like the Nucleon might be able to travel 5,000 miles or more, depending on the size of the core, without recharging. At that time, they would be taken to a recharging station, which advanced stylists envision as largely replacing the present-day service station.” This is the story of the brief and bonkers rise and fall of the atomic car. Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila

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The Nukes of the North- Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

At 10 PM on New Year’s Eve, 1963, a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster transport aircraft touched down on a runway in North Bay, Ontario. Under the cover of darkness, seven large metal canisters were unloaded from the aircraft and placed aboard a truck marked EXPLOSIVES. This truck then spirited the canisters through the security gate to the nearby Royal Canadian Air Force Base, where they were securely locked away in a thick concrete bunker. Inside were W40 atomic warheads, each with a yield of 10 kilotons of TNT - the first nuclear weapons to be delivered to Canada. But wait, I hear you say: Canada? The land of hockey, maple syrup, and Mounties with their silly red uniforms? Surely they can’t have been a nuclear power? Well, yes they were…sort of. Between 1963 and 1984, the Canadian Armed Forces deployed an estimated 450 nuclear weapons of six different types as part of their commitment to NATO and NORAD. However, these weapons were neither owned nor fully controlled by the Canadian government, officially remaining in U.S. custody until needed in time of war. Nor was their presence particularly popular with the Canadian people, ultimately leading Canada to become the first nuclear-armed nation to voluntarily give up its weapons. This is the surprising and forgotten story of how Canada learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Author: Gilles Messier Host: Simon Whistler Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila

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