Stuff To Blow Your Mind

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to Find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the most powerful artefact in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series and how it relates to real-life metallurgy. (Originally published 9/19/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Are more people identifying and even foraging wild mushrooms than in previous years? If so, why is this? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe talk about mushroom foraging, the importance of human foraging and even some studies that pit forager against forager. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Are more people identifying and even foraging wild mushrooms than in previous years? If so, why is this? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe talk about mushroom foraging, the importance of human foraging and even some studies that pit forager against forager. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Browse the libraries of the world and you’ll find nothing stranger and perplexing than the so-called Voynich Manuscript, a 15th century tome that has perplexed linguists and codebreakers for hundreds of years -- and remains a mystery. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss just why we can't stop looking to its weird pages. (Originally published 9/5/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Lichen are incredibly widespread and easy to take for granted, but these composite organisms are some of the most fascinating lifeforms on the planet. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore their remarkable qualities. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

It's time once more for Listener Mail, when Robert and Joe read YOUR letters regarding snake pits, tomatoes and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Browse the libraries of the world and you’ll find nothing stranger and perplexing than the so-called Voynich Manuscript, a 15th century tome that has perplexed linguists and codebreakers for hundreds of years -- and remains a mystery. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss just why we can't stop looking to its weird pages. (Originally published 9/3/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

In this companion podcast to HBO Max’s Raised By Wolves – the dystopian drama series from Executive Producers Ridley Scott and Aaron Guzikowski – the endlessly curious Holly Frey invites the show’s creators and innovators from science and technology to discuss the most fascinating questions raised by the series. Whether exploring A.I., religious wars, or space travel, each podcast episode springboards off scenes from the TV show to view the series through an eerily realistic prism. Not only...

How fast do human fingernails and toenails grow? Are they claws and, if not, what are they? In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert and Joe dive into the anatomy, evolution culture and mythology of the “nail as old as time.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

How fast do human fingernails and toenails grow? Are they claws and, if not, what are they? In this Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert and Joe dive into the anatomy, evolution culture and mythology of the “nail as old as time.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

What do recent studies about surfer’s ear and neanderthals reveal about their relationship with the ocean? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss the condition and some recent findings regarding the neanderthals. (Originally published 8/27/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

While the so-called “golden apple” has at times been viewed with suspicion, it has become a staple of summertime cuisine and may one day follow us to farms on other worlds. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe consider the tomato. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

While the so-called “golden apple” has at times been viewed with suspicion, it has become a staple of summertime cuisine and may one day follow us to farms on other worlds. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe consider the tomato. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Have you ever experienced dreams of forgotten classes, impossible exams and other examples of school-age anxiety? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the pervasive nature of the school dream. (Originally published 8/22/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

From the ice-based violence of Mortal Kombat’s Sub-Zero to the body-shattering kills in action films like “Time Cop” and “Demolition Man,” we seem to have this obsession with frozen human bodies exploding into a million shards of ice. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss just how feasible these scenes really are. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The Well of Souls sequence from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is a memorable slice of blockbuster history but a very dubious presentation of snake behavior -- but that doesn’t mean the snake pit is mere fantasy. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe grab a torch and descend into the pit of serpents. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

You’ve probably heard the Biblical tale of Lot’s wife, in which a trio of angels destroy a couple of ancient cities and the resulting blast turns a woman into a pillar of salt. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe set aside most of the theology to ponder if and how a human body could become a big old chunk of salt. (Originally published 8/20/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

You probably know the Demogorgon as the powerful demon lord from Dungeons and Dragons, or perhaps as the interdimensional monster from “Stranger Things.” But where does this curious name come from? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe pursue the origins of the Demogorgon through modern pop culture, romantic poetry, translated texts and Gnostic mystery. (Originally published 10/1/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Most of us have spent far more time at home this year, which raises the question: Just what sort of artificial interior environments have we created? What lives there besides our family and pets? And what are we missing out on? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Anticipating a fall from 10,000 feet or more? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss your chances of survival. (Originally published 8/15/2019) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers