Stuff To Blow Your Mind

Chances are you didn't pack mud pies or clay bricks for lunch, but humans - like many animals - are not above pica in their diet. In this episode, Robert and Julie discuss the practice of dirt and mineral consumption and just what impulses are at work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like most ubiquitous technology, elevators are often ignored. But there would be no skyscrapers without them. There would be no tightly-packed awkwardness, no dusting of claustrophobic fear. Tune in to learn about the psychology and science of elevators. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While humans generally try to avoid puking, an upchuck is just another biological function for other creatures. In this episode, Robert and Julie present a vomitory smorgasbord of cud-chewing monkeys, acid-puking spiders, corpse-hurling vultures and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To what extent are we shackled to genes? How does our upbringing, environment and our grandfather's life choices affect the expression of our genome? Join Julie and Robert as they discuss epigenetic research and ponder underlying questions of free will. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between the code and the creature lies the epigenome, where environmental impulses alter genetic expression. Join Robert and Julie as they introduce epigenetics and gene memory. Join them as they discuss Lamarckian Evolution, mice, rats and flat worms. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So you're telling me slime molds can solve mazes and recreate trade routes? Yes, indeed we are. In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the "intelligence" of slime molds and why they force us to re-think the evolution of intelligence. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Slimey Valentine: Whether you're a hopeless romantic or a Valentine's hater, Robert and Julie have quite the episode for you. Prepare to have your mind blown as they expose the daring, disgusting, weaponized, cannibalistic and marathon lovemaking ways of slugs and snails. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all love slime, but do we really respect it in all its glory? Join Julie and Robert for a mucus-coated journey through the slime of slugs, sea hags and fish. Learn how it provides locomotion, protection, communication and food. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is multitasking a female super power, a learnable skill or pure myth? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and Robert consider our multitasking world, our unitasking minds and the rare "super taskers" capable of doing it all. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All joking aside, the Interrupting Cow takes a real toll on your brain and your work life. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie examine just how interruptions and distractions impact our cognitive functions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.