Stuff You Should Know

Short Stuff: Great Britain

Clear up the confusion between Great Britain, England, and the United Kingdom once and for all.

Kola: The World’s Deepest Hole

The Soviet-era Kola Superdeep Borehole remains the deepest artificial point on Earth, reaching 7.6 miles underground.

Selects: Chopsticks > Forks

Chopsticks originated as simple kitchen tools for boiling food before evolving into essential Asian table utensils.

Alaska Earthquake of 1964

The 1964 Alaska earthquake was a massive megathrust event that fundamentally transformed our understanding of the earth.

Short Stuff: Toronto Clown Riot

A drunken brawl between circus performers and a local fire brigade sparked a city-wide riot in 1855 Toronto.

The Hillsborough Disaster

The 1989 Hillsborough disaster was a deadly stadium crush fueled by police incompetence and a massive cover-up.

Selects: How Enron Fooled the World

The rise and fall of Enron serves as a masterclass in corporate greed, systemic fraud, and massive market manipulation.

Freetown Christiania

Freetown Christiania is an enduring anarchist commune in Copenhagen founded on a defunct military base in 1971.

Short Stuff: Why does it feel good to be scared?

Discover why we voluntarily seek out fear to trigger a biological rush of dopamine and a sense of shared mastery.

Some Interesting Curses

Explore the history behind famous and obscure legends, from sacred spring curses to ill-fated Hollywood productions.

Selects: Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil

Explore the origins, types, and potential medical implications of birthmarks, from vascular stains to pigmented spots.

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

Chaos theory reveals that minute changes in initial conditions can lead to vastly different outcomes in complex systems.

The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How Global Warming Works

Global warming is a human-accelerated process where greenhouse gases trap heat, leading to profound climate instability.

The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Elastics: Where God and Science Smooch

Discover how the invention of vulcanized rubber transformed everything from pirate ships to the waistbands in your pants.

The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How the Scientific Method Works

Discover how early thinkers developed systems like the four humors to explain the world before the scientific method.

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

Explore the evidence-based science of the Big Bang, cosmic expansion, and the early universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

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

Occam's razor is a guide for choosing the simplest explanation, not a definitive tool for disproving complex theories.

The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: Can Nuclear Fusion Reactors Save The World?

Harnessing nuclear fusion promises near-limitless clean energy, but physicists must first solve the containment puzzle.

The Stuff You Should Know Doin’ Science Playlist: How X-Rays Work

X-rays work by using high-energy electromagnetic radiation that passes through soft tissue but is absorbed by bone.

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

Modern science relies on repeatable experimentation to turn hunches into proven facts rather than blind belief.