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Episode 36An Astronaut, a Catalan, and Two Linguists Walk Into a Bar…

Astronaut Mike Massimino's spacewalks helped repair the Hubble Space Telescope. (Photo: NASA)

Why New York has skinny skyscrapers, how to weaponize water, and what astronauts talk about in space. John McWhorter is co-host; Bari Weiss is live fact-checker.

Episode 0Extra 7: Corrosive Energy Drinks and Peruvian Cat Stew

How did eating cats become the center of a cultural conflict in Peru? (Photo: Vancouver Film School/flickr)

In this special call-in episode: why some Peruvians eat cats; why operas need repetiteurs; and why we should get rid of prisons. Michael Smerconish (CNN) is co-host; AJ Jacobs (It’s All Relative) checks the facts.

Episode 35Farming Without Sun or Soil and Eating Manna From Heaven

Gold Cobblestone Lichen grows in an Arizona desert. Similar lichens could have been the Biblical "manna from heaven." (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

This week, we work on our survival skills: in the desert, on the tundra, and growing food in abandoned warehouses. Actress Sas Goldberg is co-host; AJ Jacobs (author of It’s All Relative) is live fact-checker.

Episode 34Mind Games

The Byrd Glacier in Antarctica creates a 100-mile-long, rock-floored ice stream. Pressure from glaciers and the ice shelf can force Antarctic water to flow uphill. (Photo: NASA)

How to make people like you, why you should lick rocks,* and what an awkward person is really thinking. Angela Duckworth (Grit author) is co-host; Mike Maughan (Qualtrics) is live fact-checker.

*Licking iron pyrite (fool’s gold), as discussed in the episode, produces a small amount of sulfuric acid. Lick at your own risk!

Angela Duckworth tastes iron pyrite — fool’s gold. (Photo: Mike Maughan)

Episode 33Jon Batiste, Gail Simmons, and Strange Smells

If humans were willing to get intimately close to luggage, we'd be as good at bomb sniffing as dogs are. (Photo: Pixabay)

Things we learn this week: dogs aren’t so great at sniffing, men aren’t so lazy, and New York doesn’t smell so bad (anymore). Gail Simmons (Top Chef) is co-host; Jon Batiste plays his melodica for us; the live fact-checker is Mike Maughan.

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Episode 32All About Bugs (of the Animal and Computer Varieties)

Tiny parasitic wasps are the USDA's warrior against aphids. (Photo: Katja Schulz/flickr)

Musical crickets, crop-saving wasps — and why you should pre-bug your software. John McWhorter is co-host; the live fact-checker is Bari Weiss.

Episode 31School Start Times, Brand Names, and Too Much Ground Beef

Starting all U.S. middle and high schools at 8:30 a.m. would add roughly $9 billion per year to GDP. (Photo: David Joyce/flickr)

Alex Wagner (CBS This Morning SaturdayThe Atlantic) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It’s All Relative) as real-time fact-checker. We filled this episode with insights about the true value of ground beef, sleeping in, company names, and more.

Episode 30How to Count to Infinity

Mary Roach joins TMSIDK for a "grab bag" episode with a lot of science. (Photo: Lucy Sutton)

Mary Roach (author of StiffSpookBonkGulp, and Grunt) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It’s All Relative) as real-time fact-checker. If the promise of tractor beams doesn’t pull you in, our guests also explore robotic fish, counting to infinity, and more.

Episode 29The Perfect Potato Chip, the Origin of Seltzer, and Why We Eat “Beef” and Not “Cow”

Alex Guarnaschelli (Iron Chef America and Chopped) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as real-time fact-checker. (Photo: Lucy Sutton)

Alex Guarnaschelli (Iron Chef America and Chopped) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK explores the origins of food words, children’s menus, and seltzer.

Episode 28You Say “eye-RACK,” I Say “ear-ROCK”

Special-guest co-host Hari Kodabolu's high school named their mascot for him. (Photo: Lucy Sutton)

Hari Kondabolu (comedian and host of Politically ReActive) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK reaches into our “grab bag” for fascinating facts on the downside of keeping secrets, the origin of fantasy sports, what pronunciations say about our politics, and more.