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Fun Fact

Fun Fact

Two people talk about topics they find interesting.

Arik Devens and Allen Pike · Fun Fact

82 episodesEN

Show overview

Fun Fact has been publishing since 2018, and across the 6 years since has built a catalogue of 82 episodes. That works out to roughly 70 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence.

Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 41 min and 57 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. It is catalogued as a EN-language Society & Culture show.

The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 1.6 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2019, with 25 episodes published.

Episodes
82
Running
2018–2024 · 6y
Median length
51 min
Cadence
Monthly

From the publisher

Once a month, Arik Devens and Allen Pike take turns sharing fun facts. Practical, historical, technical, and trivial facts all deserve their fair shake.

Latest Episodes

View all 82 episodes

Ep 82Final Fact

Arik shares buttloads, Allen has too many facts, oxygen is heavy, strangeness is strange, moons cause issues, and we hit max fact capacity. This show has gone as all good things do. Thank you so much to all the Factors, we love you! You can follow Allen’s work and Arik’s. ❤️

Oct 12, 202441 min

Ep 81Dinosaur In a Wingsuit

Arik uncovers what things are really named after, Allen goes subatomic, Arik marvels at astronomical coincidence, and Allen considers extraterrestrial flight. Titan Do subatomic particles have a colour?

May 26, 202435 min

Ep 80Solar Stands for Solar

Allen dives in to diodes, Arik explores the origin of taxis, and Allen reveals an unsavoury fact about zygotes. Steve Mould on LEDs and solar panels Why blue LEDs were almost impossible Thornton Blackburn

Apr 22, 202439 min

Ep 79Back Door Fact

Arik throws peanuts, Allen tries to cook vegetables, photographers try to prompt a good pose, and the earth’s magnetic field threatens to cause trouble. High-altitude cooking Say cheese Geomagnetic reversal

Mar 25, 202436 min

Ep 78Suffered for Science

Scientists discover where birds go, the trouble with coin flips, the limits of the human body, and what exactly you can find in the Perseus Molecular Cloud. The majestic Pfeilstorch XCKD’s What If: What if Nascar had no rules? The Perseus Molecular Cloud

Feb 29, 202438 min

Ep 77Raspberry Dust

Science discovers our galaxy’s flavor, machinists discover precision measurements, and Arik discovers why you shouldn’t rent a car in Germany. Galaxy’s centre tastes of raspberries and smells of rum, say astronomers What Does Space Taste Like and Why Does It Matter? Thousandth of an inch

Jan 22, 202437 min

Ep 76That Doesn’t Seem True

We check in on platypi and Polaris, consider zero’s parity, and make a decision about booby traps. Polaris Parity of zero Legality of booby traps

Dec 18, 202333 min

Ep 75Gelatinous, Delicious, Terrible

Allen thinks about cans, Arik thinks about governance, and everybody thinks about the Roman Empire. Why are cranberry sauce cans upside down? Roman Dictator Why do bees make honey?

Nov 20, 202343 min

Ep 74You're Cursed Anyway

Allen considers ancient honey, Arik considers ancient surgeries, and some jobs may or may not get automated. Honey’s Eternal Life, Explained Caesarean section ATMs and tellers

Oct 30, 202338 min

Ep 73All You Need Is a Cartel

Allen showcases a very surprising study, Arik recounts a very Canadian heist, and somebody loses a finger. Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial Inside Quebec’s Great, Multi-Million-Dollar Maple-Syrup Heist The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist Sugar Shack Dr Sam Moghtaderi’s finger-loss quiz

Sep 27, 202332 min

Ep 72The Bone of Theseus

Arik improves an idiom, Allen shares a good news fact, Arik shares a grammar fact, and Allen locates your bones. You can’t have your cake and eat it too in other languages Status update on pandas Pisiform bone Sesamoid bones

Aug 29, 202332 min

Ep 71Cool Fact

Arik and Allen attempt a live episode, Allen attempts to store dry ice, Arik attempts to use the word “relative”, and Allen attempts to explain what salt does. Carbon capture and storage Permanent storage of carbon dioxide in the marine environment: The solid CO2 penetrator Starboard and larboard - NOAA Do fish drink?

Jul 23, 202332 min

Ep 70Both Jaunty and Cool

Allen explains why summer exists, Arik outlines a trademark scheme, and Allen betrays Arik with a fishy biology fact. Seasonal lag List of genericized trademarks Cladistics, the effort to recategorize living things into clades

Jun 28, 202339 min

Ep 69This Would Be Unsurvivable

Allen goes deep on whale ingestion, and Arik explains what’s really going on with dinosaurs. National Geographic on the plausibility of whales swallowing humans Dinosaur Evolution of birds Ornithischia Saurischia Scott_D._Sampson ‘Dinosaurs Among Us’ Retraces an Evolutionary Path

May 30, 202335 min

Ep 68Ridiculously Ridonkulously Large

Our sun proves a nuisance, the former Soviet Union makes a trade, we consider pepper seeds, Isaac Newton considers an apple, mice consider some cheese, rats get exonerated, and we share a superior alternative to implausible. What would the sun sound like? List of common misconceptions It Shipped That Way #6, where Arik and Allen talk about engineering leadership, software architecture, and Netflix’s culture

Apr 29, 202336 min

Ep 67Astronomically Unlikely

Women handle backward buttons, Allen handles a lot of feedback about very improbable things, and Arik handles digested asparagus. Why Zippers Are On Different Sides For Men And Women’s Clothing Sumptuary law Understanding the Birthday Paradox Universally unique identifiers (UUID) Why Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell?

Mar 23, 202345 min

Ep 66We Gotta Blow It Up

Allen saves us from asteroids, Jack Black’s mom saves some astronauts, Allen offends Arik’s sense of probability, and Arik sets the record straight on streetcar conspiracies. Asteroid impact avoidance The Truth About Jack Black’s Mother’s Historic Past Ep. 63, A Heaving Mass of People In Memory of Judith Love Cohen The math behind how unlikely it is that two well shuffled decks have the same order An attempt to convey how long it would take to shuffle 52! times Did a conspiracy really destroy Los Angeles’s huge streetcar system? Kennedy, 60 Minutes, and Roger Rabbit General Motors streetcar conspiracy

Feb 21, 202349 min

Ep 65Let's All Do Crime

A Portuguese scheme attempts to make counterfeit money real, an American scheme attempts to make walking illegal, and we set the record straight on Australian toilets. Alves dos Reis on Wikipedia Rose Bailey’s Mastodon thread on the scheme The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of “jaywalking” - Vox The Modern Moloch - 99% Invisible Motor vehicle fatality rate in U.S. by year - Wikipedia Not Just Bikes on YouTube Pringles’ Sweet Potato Cinnamon Crisps

Jan 27, 202346 min

Ep 64Don't Eat This

Ancient cultures name colours, algae goes wild, toilets inspire poetry, and we attempt to correct the internet. What Is Blue and How Do We See Color? Did Ancient People Really Not See The Color Blue? Himba people - Wikipedia Himba people color chart on Wikipedia Giant kelp Why is a Toilet Called a “John”? Why the Toilet is Sometimes Called a “John”

Dec 21, 202236 min

Ep 63A Heaving Mass of People

Arik makes an important call, Allen explains flavour, Arik invents football, Allen counts smiths, and we discover Ethiopian Time. Bon Appetite on blue raspberry Serious Eats on banana flavour History of American football William Webb Ellis Association football Blacksmith, whitesmith, greensmith, and brownsmith Fun Fact 36 – Joey Two-Lies Travel Tips for Ethiopia If you have a meeting in Ethiopia, you’d better double check the time

Nov 28, 202242 min
© Arik Devens and Allen Pike