Probably Science

Comedian/actors Asif Ali (@alicomedy) and Holly Burn (@hollyburncomedy) join Matt and Andy to talk about having a name that's offensive to fire victims, the new sketch special Goatface, the perils of shooting Wrecked in Fiji, the most populous cities, a lucky Mars landing spot, ants who collect the heads of their enemies, the reason behind spider silk strength, going without cell phones and why screen time disrupts sleep. This week's episode is brought to you by the new educational comedy podcast Creature Feature.

Writer/comedian Steve Brett Young (@stevebrettyoung) joins Andy and Matt to talk about his friend the Studio City Life Coach, Mary Mary quite contrary, unicorns, El Niño, salmon-tossing for plants, Robert De Niro surprises and birth canals around the world. This week's episode is brought to you by the new educational comedy podcast Creature Feature.

Writer Delaney Yeager (@delaney_yeager) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Mac and Me, Bill Gates pranks, Mars landers and Mars bars, The Seinfeld Podcast, ion drive planes, why wombats poop cubes and CRISPR-edited Chinese babies. This week's episode is brought to you by the new educational comedy podcast Creature Feature.

Comedian Myq Kaplan (@myqkaplan) returns to the show to talk about Ramin Nazer, non-flushable wipes, breathing Hitler, downwind ninjas, medical mushrooms, paradoxical drug reactions and paradoxical UK legal drug responses, big holes under Greenland, regrowing frog legs and Probably Science appearing live at SF Sketchfest.

Comedian Phil Nichol (@philnichol) joins Matt and Andy to talk about how to stand, the safety of dropping pennies, sniffer bees, devout parents, Matthew Herbert's One Pig, Podtune whale music, the first domestic dogs, the new kilogram, the new Probably Science Patreon, 3D-printed sound, Teslas vs. smoke, tuskless elephants, 99 Ice Cream, scientists on money, Phil's show Your Wrong and Everybody's Talking About Jamie.

Comedian Sarah Bennetto (@sarahbennetto) and Earwolf producer Josh Richmond (@radiotfb) join Matt and Andy to discuss 3D-printed audio jewelry that Andy definitely didn't invent, AI scares and deepfakes, Lyrebird software, Aussie synchrotrons, wine bottle particle accelerators, more Yahoo Serious talk, newly elected STEM politicians, scientists in Washington, whether Oumuamua is or isn't an alien spacecraft, whether the human life span is genetic, whether Parkinson's comes from the appendix and whether Alzheimer's comes from herpes.

Globetrotting comedian Marcus Ryan (@itsmarcusryan) joins Matt and Andy to discuss losing money internationally, optimistic condoms, Nobel Prize winners and Nobel limitations, exoplanets and moon moons, Superman films and piss-crazed goats.

Dunking vegan bassist (and Son of Schmilsson) Kiefo Nilsson (@kiefonilsson) joins Andy and Matt to discuss his upcoming live performance of Harry Nilsson's album/animated special The Point (Sunday, November 4th at Dynasty Typewriter), his collaboration on a Tim Heidecker song to raise money for HIAS, the science of microphone patterns, Kiefo's citizen science wildlife tracking (and others doing similar work), the Fermi Paradox, the Parker Solar Probe's recent milestones and the demise of the Kepler space telescope.

Comedians and co-hosts of the Jammerz podcast Wendi Starling (@wendistarling) and Megan Rice (@_meganrice_) join Matt and Andy to discuss robot microwaves, cat penises, the GATE program, Japanese asteroid rovers, mosquitos, BEES, deadliest animals, panda dating, weed making people shower and puke, sandalwood-induced hair growth and ironic purchases.

Fresh on the heels of the release of his two new Netflix specials, comedian Daniel Sloss (@Daniel_Sloss) returns to the show, joined by ProbSci regular and Twinsies co-host TJ Chambers (@tjchambersLA), to talk with Matt and Andy about Menudo, daddy taxonomy, druggy octopodes, fake early memories, Spicey and The Juice, overrated probiotics, alien conspiracy theories, and a tire reef that's poisoning the sea.

Comedian and host of the Here We Are science podcast Shane Mauss (@shanecomedy) returns to Probably Science to talk with Andy and Matt about psychedelics, his upcoming Stand-Up Science tour and being institutionalized when he nearly lost his mind. If you or a loved one are in distress, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's number is 1-800-273-8255.

Comedians Whitney Chitwood (@WhitneyChitwood) and Carly Ballerini (@ballca) join Matt and Andy to talk about Nazi boots, the ghost of Cole Porter, Carly's very interesting transplant, goats and happy people, this year's Ig Nobel Prize winners, billionaires in space, a Soyuz hole, lucid dreams through meds (and the old-fashioned way), have you ever had a dream like this?, man's egg mishap and Whitney and Carly's tour.

In addition to being a programmer and computational linguist, Ryan North (@ryanqnorth) is the writer behind Dinosaur Comics, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, the Adventure Time comic book series, and Romeo and/or Juliet, and he joins Andy and Matt to discuss his new book How To Invent Everything, a survival guide for stranded time travelers who need to figure out where they've landed in time, and how to get civilization back to the present by inventing everything from writing and farming to buttons and birth control.

Dipak Srinivasan of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory makes his third Probably Science appearance to give the inside scoop on a number of current and upcoming projects and missions including, but not limited to, the Parker Solar Probe, New Horizons checking out Ultima Thule, the Space Launch System, NASA's STEREO and the Dragonfly Titan rotorcraft lander.

Creator of the hit podcast Bubble Jordan Morris (@Jordan_Morris) returns to the show to talk with Andy and Matt about bad accents, why the earliest galaxies are local, Andy's tail, the big toe evolving last, The Lottery, the recipe for mummies revealed, The Core, dolphin hybrids, Patton Oswalt and David Byrne on the Wholphin DVD and the Bermuda Triangle mystery possibly being solved.

Comedian and co-host of the Lady to Lady podcast Brandie Posey (@Brandazzle) joins Andy and Matt to talk about her aphantasia, science museums, ska daddies, lazy homo erectus, phone-induced blindness, cheating bots, There's Waldo, the Arabian sand boa, yeast radiation alarms, an aphantasia support group on Facebook, a software engineer's aphantasia experience, and Brandie's album, podcast and tour.

Thomas Patterson (@thomasdynamic), music supervisor for the new AMC series Lodge 49 (@Lodge49), joins Andy and Matt to discuss the heat, will.i.am's Future, Lodge 49 and its soundtrack, Andy's initiation into the Fraternal Order of Eagles, why baby talk is good, plastic causing a greenhouse nightmare, how sleep clears the brain of toxins, a supercomputer modeling one second of brain function, how we forgot how to swim, The Dollop episode on swimming pools, modified mosquitoes and why Earth is definitely fucked.

Comedians Sarah Albritton (@SarahAlbritton) and Josh Cheney (@joshcheeeneee) join Matt and Andy to discuss Sleeping With Sarah, narcolepsy, narcoleptic dogs, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, the 100 prisoners problem, massive sloth tunnels, weight on various planets, drinking Mars and trippy cicadas.

Comedian Lisa Curry (@lisa_curry) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Olympiads, the other Lisa Curry, reservoir shade balls, Bruce Lee as Kato, secret snakes, skiffs, car vibrations, prison experiment problems and old bread.

Comedian, TV host and author of the upcoming memoir My Life as a Goddess Guy Branum (@guybranum) returns to the podcast to talk with Andy and Matt about shipping stories, his knowledge of international law, legal murders in Yellowstone, how dingos changed shrubs, shark pathogens, Nanaimo bars, dogs in fMRIs, Matt in an fMRI, 19th Century female mathematicians, senior wranglers and British TV shows you should be watching on YouTube.

The gang's all back together again to celebrate 300 episodes of Probably Science while discussing barely any science at all, instead reminiscing about the last six years, getting nostalgic for Country Summer and trying to figure out which actors have achieved the coveted SPATS (piloting a spacecraft, plane, automobile, train and sea ship on film).

Dean Burnett (@garwboy) is a neuroscientist, comedian, blogger and author of the new book Happy Brain: Where Happiness Comes From, and Why, and he Skyped in with Matt and Andy to talk about the book, delving into the complex relationship that happiness and human brains have with work, love, fame, home, humor, aging and much more.

Comedian, writer and host of The Cracked Podcast Alex Schmidt (@alexschmidty) joins Matt and Andy to talk about 3D printing, Gategate, phone facts, the English Larval Progression, Andy and Matt's recent Cracked appearance, eels on coke, black holes eating stars, cane toad sausages and lonely radiation bacteria.

Comedian Mitch Burrow (@MitchBurrow) joins Andy and Matt to talk about boot camp morning alarms, blueprint-building and 3D thought, deaf schizophrenia, Moshe Kasher's book, exploding head syndrome, cold water calorics test update, the unluckiest guy in Pompeii, why Guatemala's volcano is more dangerous than Hawaii's, all life on Earth by mass (and what we did to destroy it), The Cove documentary and Mitch's podcast "We're With Them."

Astrophysicist and professor at University of Rochester Adam Frank (@AdamFrank4) joins Matt and Andy to talk about his new book Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth, a look at the history of scientific discoveries on planetary environments and the prospect of alien life, what the very high likelihood that extraterrestrial civilizations have existed in our universe can teach us about the fate of human life on Earth, how an inevitable growing pain of any civilization is climate change and what to do with that information to ensure that our civilization survives its cosmic adolescence.

Comedians and hosts of the upcoming Good Job You Failed podcast Vana Dabney (@vanawrite) and Deborah Etta Robinson (@deborah_etta) join Andy and Matt to discuss human echolocation, marsupials fucking themselves to death, death by fart smell, nerve regeneration (or lack thereof), the longest paths on Earth, non-detectable neutrinos, Deborah and Vana's podcast and bodybuilding goals. Watch Matt's clip on The Jim Jefferies Show here or here.

Comedian and writer Jesse Joyce (@jessejoyce) joins Andy and Matt to talk about taxidermy, muskoxen, takins, red panda poop glitter, Qinling pandas, Gavin Webster's pandas, Bitcoin's energy usage, Jesse's dislike of live music, pouring warm and cold water in your ears, bad company names, patent trolls, discovering animals, Snoop's pinecone and the mysterious return of ozone.

Comedian Robyn Morrison (@RobynSomething) joins Andy and Matt to discuss concert height etiquette, the best sciences on drugs, more aphantasia, snail memory, science trivia questions, sitcom tropes, Korean nukes, thermal tasters, hippo shit and drowning wildebeest.

Neuroscientist/comedian Ori Amir (@OriAmir) joins Matt and Andy to talk about putting Matt in an fMRI, how your brain constructs jokes, prosopagnosia and aphantasia, politics and the brain, what computers find easy and hard, AI and game-solving, and more about Uber's bad driving. Plus, fill out this survey and we might go on a cruise together!

Comedian Brett Erickson (@iBrettmypants) joins Matt and Andy on location at the Jim Jefferies Show offices to talk about meeting Slayer's guitarist Kerry King, Oliver Sacks' book An Anthropologist on Mars, Temple Grandin and her hug machine, aphantasia, penis transplant updates, New York water updates, DNA findings leading to the Golden State Killer, caterpillar danger, Globetrotters facts, an instrument to help reveal faint exoplanets, the Retro Encabulator, The Freeze, and large spleens.

Comedian/actor/writer Emily Fleming (@FlemilyEming) joins Matt and Andy to discuss bad AI, gastro doctoring, constidar, Andy's phone getting stolen mid-show, the smell of Uranus, New York water, penis transplants, David Reimer, ravens ruining science, why privacy on the internet isn't privacy and kids bouncing back from bouncing.

Comedian/neuroscientist Dr. Jono Zalay (@JonoZalay) joins Matt and Andy to discuss coke rats, accidental rat ejaculation, ibogaine for opiates, ketamine for depression, rodent cocktail, animal popularity, a daring baboon escape, pronouncing science words, endangered charismatic animals, chili head, the Scoville scale and Jono's licenses.

Comedian and podcaster David Smalley (@davidcsmalley) joins Matt and Andy to talk about bullying bullies, different names, Texan science, why meth is bad, paints for self-driving cars, herpes, 3D printing with space poop, what we should have printed, and women who lost their hair after eating bitter squash.

Comedian and Guy Fieri apologist Shane Torres (@shanetorres) makes his first appearance on the show, joining Andy and Matt to talk about horse herpes and rodeo adaptation, the #DickTracyChallenge, super gonorrhea, acupuncture studies, cocaine and Parkinson's, spray-on skin update and HVAC and Legionnaires' disease.

Comedian Ian Abramson (@ianabramson) joins Andy and Matt to talk about the death of Jim Jefferies, the Inland Empire, Roger Bannister, how fast the average person can run, Dick Tracy, a rocket man and the flat earth conspiracy conspiracy, Andy's connection to a waterslide tragedy, Grantland's article about said waterslide, magic skin spray, dirty rubber duckies, the forensic mystery behind Legionnaires' disease, essential oils for boy boobs, California's silly Prop 65 cancer warning, Uber still sucking, Ian's Conan appearance and the #DickTracyChallenge.

Actor and TOFOP co-host Charlie Clausen (@CXClausen) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Aussie soaps, dental nightmares, Mask vs. The Mask, Eric Stoltz, Daylight Saving Time and koalas, smell-the-fart acting, political reasons for slow clocks, pizza innovation and The Noid, space twins and DNA, Dolph Lundgren gym run-ins and self-driving car risks.

Comedian/writer/producer/host of Adult Swim's Soft Focus Jena Friedman (@JenaFreidman) joins Matt and Andy for an on-location recording talking about Cannibal Cop, Jena's cold fusion-seeking grandfather, acupuncture and opioids, how the Sackler family are murderers, Hitler's art, new battery technology, Tesla's megabattery, Dinorwig, the political economy of Chicago's improv scene and Jena's thesis, the ethnographic method, the Comedy Cellar podcast and rape statistics, female emotional labor and millions of penguins. This episode is brought to you by Hello Fresh. For $30 off of your first week, visit hellofresh.com and use the code "probably30"

Comedian James Fritz (@fritzisdead) joins Andy and Matt to discuss Kentucky science, Oscars theories, magic mushrooms, neanderthal art, turkey history and Ben Franklin on birds, airplane air, soldier terminology, the early universe, scientists running for office and Matt's recent Star Talk appearance with Stephen Hawking, Janna Levin and Michio Kaku.

Writer and friend of the show Sarah Morgan (@sarahlmorgan) returns to talk with Matt and Andy about the prey defines the chase, vampire bats, memory wire, bismuth, robo-bees, playing HQ Trivia (and using the referral codes "andytwood" or "Mattbk"), Uber scams, plants and anesthesia, motherland vs. fatherland, curing Alzheimers in mice, pervy Koko the gorilla and reading too much into animal communication.

Actress Zabeth Russell (@zabsters) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Tom hanks killing a dog, placebo boobs, monkey sex workers, eye worms, fast and slow colors (and more color experiments), and dinosaurs overstretching. This episode is brought to you by Hello Fresh. For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit hellofresh.com and enter PROBABLY30.

Comedian/actor/voiceover artist Valerie Tosi (@valerie_tosi) joins Andy and Matt (and Roo) to discuss Andy's dogsitting business, whale dissection, Boston accents and pirate accents, Cheddar Man the early Brit, when humans first left Africa, potholing/spelunking, kids performing better when they're Batman, oil patterns on bowling lanes, SpaceX success, and blowing up their near misses, vaping risks and clove cigarettes.

Actor/improviser Lauren Flans (@laurenflans) of Another Period, Wild 'n Out and the new podcast Tell Us We're Funny and We'll Go Away joins Matt and Andy to discuss travel credit cards and Mexican drugs, Orphan Black, anti-abortion teachers, legislating numbers, different infinities, '70s poison toys, radioactive Fiestaware, Gerrymandering and its origins, a fake RHCP song, lasers that can rip apart empty space, whales that talk, elephant painting, Svengali and Machiavelli, poisonous toad-eating crows and quokka pics.

Comedian/actor/writer Kiran Deol (@shitfromkiran) joins Matt and Andy to help celebrate the six-year (iron) anniversary of the podcast and discuss crashing astronomy conferences, shooting Prince Rupert's drops, breathing oxygen at depth, predator/prey turning, chalk and cheese, monkey clones, celebrity pet adoption, crow hooks, space lungs and yucca injuries.

Comedian, star of Those Who Can't and frontman of the band SPELLS Ben Roy (@benroy00) joins Matt and Andy to talk about Andy's accessibility, Poison songs, evolutionary psychology, the books The Mating Mind and The Righteous Mind, space growth, living underwater, cell phone risk, bats melting in Australia, frozen alligators, gila monster saliva helping diabetes, and bonobos liking jerks.

Comedian Ricky Carmona (@RickyCarmona) of the podcast Who Shot Ya? joins Andy and Matt to talk about when to say Happy New Year, Weird Science vs. Real Genius, how to stop superbugs, raw water, the other John Snow, laser eagles, slowing down light, power plant mirrors that explode birds, things deadlier than sharks and parking mathematics.

Friends of the show TJ Chambers (@TJChambersLA) and Auggie Smith (@AuggieSmith) return to kick off 2018 with TJ and Andy's new podcast Twinsies (@twinsiespod), space beer, monkeys bonin' deer, the recent SpaceX launch, traveling salesbees, sleeping jellyfish, Matt Walker on sleep (and on Probably Science), how to keep your exercise resolution, and Tommy Wiseau's surprise tenant.

Matt's on the road in Colorado and meets up with his old university friend Dr. Pete Newton (@newton_pete) who's now an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder to talk about his TEDx Talk on why "food miles" are aren't all they're cracked up to be, his journey away from and back to academia, safari tours in Botswana, hunting pangolins, anaconda attacks in the field, the perils of ruminants, changing our behavior, changing a whole country's behavior, and whether you'd eat lab-grown meat.

Matt and Andy make a visit to the home of Jim Jefferies (@jimjefferies) to talk about a very British car accident, self-driving cars, Ted Danson's amazing face, feeding spiders graphene, a new space tire, Mars temperatures, cricket commentary, onion ubiquity, Dubai space agriculture, business class from the ground, and upsetting rock stars.

Host of the Rock Solid podcast Pat Francis (@pat_francis) joins Matt and Andy to talk about donating medals, miming phones, teen brains that can't tell what's important, homeless etiquette, Voyager I firing up again, coffee and health, grammar rules and beard posturing.

Comedian/musician Eli Braden (@EliBraden) joins Andy and Matt to discuss jazz addicts, the flat-earth rocket guy and his earlier flight, conspiracy theories, not a head transplant, prehistoric women's strength, why boning is heart-safe, mnemonics, grossing out chimps, health codes and California D.