Probably Science

Comedian Shawn Pearlman (@shawnpearlman) joins Andy and Matt to talk about Shawn's early movie effects, budgie rules for not colliding, boning young spiders, amateur turtle surgery, getting intelligence from your mother, a baby with three parents and the most accurate (and adorable) dinosaur renderings yet.

Steele Saunders (@SteeleSaunders), host of I Love Green Guide Letters and Steele Wars, joins Matt and Andy to talk about mice and apologies, more body (not head) transplants. smoke bombs, weed vs. opioids in car crashes, bumper sticker flashing, Australians origins, and giraffes actually being many giraffes.

Matt sits down with returning guest comedian Shane Mauss (@shanecomedy) to talk about his podcast Here We Are, his new tour all about psychedelics called A Good Trip, his early days as a more straightforward standup, his dalliances into evolutionary biology, the state of scientific research into recreational drugs, simulated near-death experiences, and the differences between trying ayahuasca and DMT.

Comedians Christian Duguay (@christianduguay) and Emily Maya Mills (@emilymayamills) join Matt and Andy at Andy's new apartment to talk about screaming at roommates, burning ants, Hitler's disguises, bank robbery, infant simulators that actually increase teen pregnancy, Lucy's death, a miraculous new painkiller, ecstasy/MDMA, Tasmanian devils developing cancer resistance and the ban on antibacterial soap.

Comedians Ahmed Bharoocha (@ahmedbharoocha) and Auggie Smith (@auggiesmith) join Matt and Andy for the final recording from Bluebell Ranch, which happens to coincide with an apocalyptic forest fire in the area, and the crew discuss topics including bouncy castle economics, zorbs in Russia, a new hard material, the Mohs hardness scale, Pliny the Elder, the Randi paranormal challenge, new brain areas, listening to music while drinking, a new biohybrid creature, a Mars laser with free will, artwork damagers and what to call Ahmed's album.

Science teacher-turned-comedian Al Jackson (@aljackson) joins Matt and Andy for one of the final Bluebell recordings (also video streamed on Facebook here) to talk about ball-boiling as contraception, why flossing may not help you, steroids in sports, Al's research, stomach taps, old cars vs. new cars, firefighting equipment sharing and fire in space.

Dr. Farah Alibay, a systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, invited Matt and Andy to her home in Highland Park to talk about her work on a real-world Armageddon mission to redirect an asteroid, CubeSats, giant geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus, the importance of planetary protection and upcoming solar system exploration missions.

Pacific Northwest comics Derek Sheen (@dereksheen) and Sean Jordan (@SeanSJordan) join Andy and Matt back at Bluebell to talk about going to a Scientology boarding school, non-ice cream heir Tony Robbins, amateur Australian ball surgery, Juno's pics of Jupiter, AIDS ceasing to be an epidemic in Australia, good news on the ozone hole's healing, and even more good news about finding new reserves of helium.

Professor Sophie Scott (@sophiescott) of University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience welcomes Matt and past guest Nick Doody (@NickDoody) to her office to discuss her research on the neural basis of human speech processing, and specifically her study of laughter.

Podcaster, host and science communicator Alie Ward (@alieward) appears with Matt and Andy on Science Channel's upcoming How To Build Everything (premiering June 22nd at 10pm) and she makes her first appearance on the podcast to discuss supernumerary nipples, McNuggetinis, owl pellet mouse skeletons, a third lizard sex, an inflatable space station room, Alie's aeronautic training, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, MRSA, wrestling bugs and swimming pool pee.

Software engineer and Google employee John Eric Hoffman welcomes Matt and Andy to his house (next door to Todd Glass's, coincidentally) to talk about machine learning, neural networks, Maxwell's Demon, DeepDream, natural language processing and the recent short sci-fi film written by AI (and co-starring past guest Humphrey Ker).

This episode was taped live at the 2016 Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon, with Matt and Andy welcoming comedian/environmental engineer Ella Gale (@hellakale) and author/podcaster/@BitchMedia editor Sarah Mirk (@sarahmirk) to discuss gender biases in science reporting, women in science (and comedy) and why it's hard to make bagels when it's hot outside.

Popular science author Mary Roach's (@mary_roach) books have tackled a wide variety of topics including sex, the afterlife, digestion and space travel. In her soon-to-be-released book Grunt, she takes on the curious science of humans at war, delving into combat medic training, stink bombs, genital transplant surgery, the war on heat, shark repellant and diarrhea as a threat to national security. Pre-order your copy of Grunt now!

Comedian/rapper/writer Zach Sherwin (@ZachSherwin) can be seen on Epic Rap Battles of History, among many other places, and he joins Matt and Andy to talk about writing a JAP battle rap battle on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, p-branes, playing Einstein, the new Ghostbusters script, Andy's bidet, magician hacks and Joel Hodgson's ventriloquism mask invention, Shy Tony, silver underwear, John Oliver's science story, a teen's Mayan discovery that may not be what it seems, everyone yells air ball at the same pitch, diving robots, being bepenised, and long-lasting batteries.

Fahim Anwar (@fahimanwar) recently made his first appearance on Conan as well as the Tina Fey movie Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and he joins Matt and Andy to discuss birthday escape rooms, engineering degrees to subsidize comedy, bringing people back from the dead, more head transplant news, archaeology vs. paleontology, another EM Drive debunking from Sean Carroll, tons of oral spider sex, enzyme corrections, 3D-printed fake rhino horns, breast cancer gene mapping and where to find Fahim Anwar performances.

Comedy's Andrew Michaan (@AndrewMichaan) joins Matt and Andy to talk about Andy's Lemonade ignorance, celebrity deaths, Catholic aliens, black holes, the Large Hadron Collider, bed bugs, a penis spider bite, IUDs in space and jellyfish stings.

April Richardson (@apey) of Almost Genius, Go Bayside and @midnight joins Matt and Andy to talk about living next door to The Flash, Johnny Depp's Aussie apology, Orson Welles' Paul Masson ad, Dyson face, Andy’s possible bidet purchase, a dung-based clue to Hannibal’s crossing route, a paralyzed man (sort of) playing guitar, dinosaurs and their eggs and a real-time re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic.

Comedian/actors Jon Huck (@jonhuck) and Sunah Bilsted (@thesunah) join Matt and Andy to talk about showering techniques, new pets, that Warner Bros. frog, chemistry on acid, a Carl Sagan tribute act, the historic SpaceX landing, hyperhidrosis, antiperspirant conspiracies, a too-stealthy sea vessel, the upcoming book Grunt, Hawking and the Russians sending a tiny craft to Alpha Centauri, a bullshit paper on creepiness, and antimemories.

Jason Belleville (@bigbelleville) has written for Ground Floor and Angie Tribeca, among many other shows, and he joins Matt and Andy to discuss mustaches and tattoos, academic papers, encyclopedias, Stan and Donavan Freberg, using giant lasers to hide from aliens, grammar correction and being an asshole, Andy getting a thing wrong, growing skin and nude mice, a battery-operated salty fork, flavors on planes and the greatest number of digits of pi we'll ever really need.

Comedians Jessica Michelle Singleton (@JMScomedy) and Christina Walkinshaw (@walkinsauce) join Matt and Andy to discuss bachelor parties, dating, Alaska, super coffee, Google’s April Fools, Microsoft AI, a scientifically impossible Indiegogo, Edx.org's free learning, Vasalgel in rabbits, butt stuff, bunnies in wine glasses, rabbit kidneys, long term good drug effects and fracking-induced earthquakes.

Tom Bell (@tombellforever) of The Leisure Class/Project Greenlight and comedy duo Tommy and the Weeks joins Matt and Andy for a bedroom recording involving a call from a private investigator, Boaty McBoatface, Diana and Mother Teresa, Bob the Robot and Horrible Science, following our robot overlords to disaster, unscrambling eggs to cure cancer, an academic paper that cites The Creator, a video game ProbSci shoutout, eagles vs. drones, Janna Levin's new book and spider boners in amber.

Original Probably Science co-hosts Jesse Case (@jessecase) and Brooks Wheelan (@brookswheelan) return to the show to celebrate Episode 200!

Rick Rosner (@dumbassgenius) has the second-highest IQ score in the world, and his resume includes stints as a bouncer, a stripper, a nude art model and a writer on numerous TV shows. Rick joins Matt, Andy and returning guest Dax Jordan (@daxjordan) to discuss What3Words, xkcd's take on passwords, IQ tests, Rick's Errol Morris interview, spending ten years in high school, stupid California tax rules, Rick's informational theory of the universe, Olbers’ Paradox, The Singularity, Ray Kurzweil, being Borg-ed up, Alcor freezing heads, taking 70 vitamins per day, Rick's gym obsession, writing for MTV's Remote Control, doing nude art modeling with shingles, Rick's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire controversy and his books on Amazon.

Alice Wetterlund (@alicewetterlund) of Silicon Valley and Girl Code joins Matt and Andy to discuss Equinox, aliens, Star Trek, why humans have chins, navigating in Ghana, space lasers and exploding e-cigarettes.

Dr. Chiara Mingarelli (@gravitate_to_me), a Marie Curie Fellow in gravitational wave astrophysics at Caltech, joins the proceedings to talk about low-frequency gravitational waves, pulsar timings arrays and black hole binary systems with masses that are billions of times that of the Sun. This episode was recorded before LIGO's recent announcements confirming the detection of gravitational waves.

One of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of our time calls for an emergency special episode featuring returning guests Dr. Jamie Rollins and Dr. Larry Price, both of whom worked on LIGO, the device that for the first time in history confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, along with theoretical astrophysicist and black hole expert Dr. Janna Levin. Topics discussed include Matt's surprising illness, science fluff, Marco Drago's discovery?, How LIGO works, 30 solar mass black holes, test signals, the actual paper explaining the recent gravitational wave findings, Janna's new book, Relativity 101, BICEP's failure, new black holes, Scorpion!, our T-shirts, Apple vs. the FBI and what the point of all this is. Visit LIGO.org or LIGO.caltech.edu for all your gravitational wave needs!

Ingrid Oliver (@ingridoliver100) of Watson & Oliver and Doctor Who joins Matt and Andy to discuss pengwings, Germans who can't pronounce squirrel, umlaut words, plastination, bees and weather, sniffer bees, a stupid new drug law, first class flight, anti-aging, the Zika virus, how we’ll all die, and ball-packing and avalanches.

Maude Garrett (@maudegarrett) of SourceFedNERD and Geek Bomb joins Andy (@andytwood) and Matt (@mattkirshen) to discuss the weather, Marge, the rains are here, Foley artists, weird childhood memorization, geek vs. nerd diagrams, the ending of Grease and Jurassic Park, a computer that beat a Go champion, E-sports, a new planet, a new HIV treatment, how quickly conspiracies would reveal themselves, and a monkey head transplant. Also, we realize sound cuts out intermittently in the last half of the episode and for that we apologize!

Matt and Andy welcome comedy's Maria Shehata (@MariaShehata) and Nick Dixon (@nickdixxon) to the show to talk about the discovery of penicillin, vaginal steaming, poop transplant pills, autism and gut flora, standing on escalators, man/woman flu, why hangovers get worse as you age, and bringing a tortoise species back to life.

MythBusters' Adam Savage (@donttrythis) and musical comedy duo extraordinaire Paul and Storm (@paulandstorm) join Matt (@mattkirshen) and Andy (@andytwood) for a live performance at the California Academy of Sciences (@calacademy) as part of SF Sketchfest (@SFSketchfest), discussing science myths that won't die, Billy Joel videos, our overeducated audience, soaking kiwis and the wet strength of Charmin. This episode is brought to you by 1Password. Simplify your online life and stop worrying about remembering dozens of passwords by visiting https://agilebits.com/store?d=science for 25% off of your 1Password purchase.

Matt and Andy are back from a holiday hiatus to welcome Last Comic Standing alum Ryan Conner (@rccomedy) to the podcast, delving into topics including the passing of David Bowie, Alvin Stardust, British pantomimes, American and British Gladiators, computer programming, Andy Sidaris movies, a mountain lion with horrifying teeth growing out of its head, praying mantises in 3D glasses, wine story corrections, types of drunks, sperm switches, bone foam, Ryan's family and adult industry namesake and Ryan's podcast Caligula's Grotto.

With Jesse and Matt still out of town, Andy invited friends of the show TJ Chambers, Rylee Newton, Travis Clark, Karl Hess, Laura House, Jackie Kashian and Mitch Burrow to give recommendations on things from 2015 that are worth checking out. Enjoy this attempt at positivity and please forgive the poor sound quality and near-constant crosstalk. We'll be back with new episodes soon! Happy 2016!

SF Sketchfest co-founder and Pop My Culture co-host Cole Stratton (@colestratton) joins Andy and Matt to discuss the upcoming Probably Science SF Sketchfest show on January 14th with Adam Savage, academic decathlons, bringing spoiled wine back to life, Phineas Gage, Strange Bedfellows and Chuck and Larry, Hogan vs. Sandler, the Amber neighbor mystery, an old satellite that came back to life, red mercury, letterboxing and summer births.

Daniel Van Kirk (@danielvankirk) of The Wahlberg Solution, Hindsight, Sklarbro Country and much more joins Matt and Andy to talk about Wahlberg and sleeping, cow insemination, memory games, who can’t be president, Cruz behind the scenes, the Trump petition, outrage culture, the climate and smoking, Merchants of Doubt, profound bullshit, David Avocado Wolfe, the surprising appearance of the far side of the Moon, TV quality, Bubbli, blindness and multiple personalities, movies based on the 10% of the brain idea and a Venus probe hack.

Technology fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Yan Zhu (@bcrypt) joins Matt and Andy to dig deep into online security, privacy, encryption, HTTPS Everywhere, podcast patent trolls, Privacy Badger, the Tor browser, the future of online ads, Edward Snowden, the Silk Road, the upcoming Probably Science live show at SF Sketchfest on January 14th and a bonus audio snippet about Yan's legendary landlord.

The hilarious Travis Clark (@thatguytravis) joins returning guests Dax Jordan (@daxjordan) and TJ Chambers (@tjchambersLA) to form the first episode with a Space Camp alumni majority and talk about Andy’s UFO sighting that *may* have been a Trident missile test, breaking the blood brain barrier, 24 as a 90s show, GPS versus sextants, DARYL and what it stands for, jet packs, rocket belts, wing things and personal helicopters, Norm at brunch, Dr. Dick’s blood, dementia and Dr. Demento and Margaret Thatcher on Yes Minister.

Danes and Brits come together this week in the form of Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) and Sarah Morgan (@sarahlmorgan), both lending their expertise to discussions on the Hollywood sign, Halloween, the emergency wizard costume, Danish science, rice pudding traditions, useful German words, being thrown free, a chimera twin baby, new ghosts, a new bat, spider bites, China’s space plans, eyesight, face blindness, the bacon cancer scare, Andy’s comedy doppelgänger, Danish TV, the hilarious Klown, WKD and crocodile eyes.

Hilarious actor/comedian Kerry Godliman (@KerryAGodliman) is stateside to film a new Christopher Guest film, and she chatted with Matt and Andy about science vs. art, cadaver fists, the persistence of the plague, embarrassing bodies, a clickbait generator, Doug Stanhope's feud with Matt and bee farmers.

Kelly Carlin wears a lot of hats as a monologist, actress, radio host, producer and author of her new memoir A Carlin Home Companion, and she invited Matt and Andy over to her place to talk about calculus, mind-body connections, right answers in math, whether snake fear is hard-wired, monkeys balls, Hurricane Patricia that may or may not be climate change-related, science and the Canadian election, the editor of the BMJ slamming David Hunt, magnetic brain control, the Gripsholm Lion, Ken M, the world's greatest troll, orange peels to clean up mercury, Marie Curie and Mabel Normand. This episode is sponsored by Harrys.com - use the code PSP at checkout for $5 off your first order.

Author Johann Hari (@johannhari101) was stateside recently to return as a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he invited Matt and Andy over to his hotel room to talk about the emotional deafness of the rich, his book Chasing The Scream and the failed 100-year war on drugs, the government's persecution of Billie Holliday, new theories of addiction, Rat Park, Portugal's radical policy changes and the way to sell America on drug decriminalization.

Comedy's Jacob Sirof (@jacobsirof) joins Matt and Andy to talk about new jobs, orgasm fungi, Star Wars science, Andy's nephews singing Weird Al, Wales and fake waves, a Chinese telescope on the moon, cheating Jews, converting vaccine skeptics and pig genes.

Dave Anthony (@daveanthony) of The Dollop, Walking The Room and Maron fame joins Matt and Andy to talk about navigating LA by satellite dishes, penis-at-twelve children in the Dominican Republic, mothers of boys gaining Y chromosomes, why we want to squeeze cute stuff, Rodney Stanger, the apparently kid, look at that horse, the mountain lion on a pole, the epidemic of Netflix documentaries like Cowspiracy, anti-burp compounds, fixing brain cancer with antidepressants and blood thinners, cannabis not causing schizophrenia, the hotel of the future, a double comet situation, 3D-printed hearts and dicks.

New Zealand's Tim Batt (@Tim_Batt) and Guy Montgomery (@guy_mont), hosts of The Worst Idea of All Time Podcast, join Matt and Andy to discuss Grown Ups 2, T-shirt cannon injuries, monkey selfies, urinal science and the best toilets in NZ, AIDS news, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the climate change “lawsuit”, a 1000-year-old treatment for styes that may generate new drugs, a new target for New Horizons, new Pluto pics, and the Apollo 13 stage show. To watch video of Probably Science, The Worst Idea of All Time and the other 30+ shows recorded live from LA PodFest, click here and use the code "science" to get $5 off of the video archive.

This week's episode was recorded live from the Audible Los Angeles Podcast Festival, with Andy Wood (@andytwood) and Matt Kirshen (@mattkirshen) welcoming original third host Brooks Wheelan (@brookswheelan), along with comedy legend Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) and Caltech theoretical physicist/cosmologist Dr. Sean Carroll (@seanmcarroll). To support Probably Science and LA PodFest while getting a free 30-day trial and a free audiobook download, visit audible.com/lapodfest.

British comedy phenoms Josie Long (@JosieLong) and Stuart Goldsmith (@ComComPod) join Matt and Andy to discuss how condensation works, what voltage is, Josie’s foray into community college, magnetic wormholes, debunking spinach debunking, psych experiments that can't be reproduced and a brand new hominid. Catch Probably Science this Saturday at noon PDT at the Los Angeles Podcast Festival (@lapodfest) with special guests Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) and Dr. Sean Carroll (@seanmcarroll). Use the code "science" to get $5 off of the live video stream at lapodfest.com.

Pride of Fargo Amber Preston (@PrestonParty) joins Matt and Andy to talk about midwest accents, farmers and fake interview pick-up techniques, whether video games produce violent people or not, smoking birds, violent ancient farmers, books that purify water, the most electric place on earth, and whether swimming in lightning dangerous.

Comedian/actor extraordinaire Matt Knudsen (@mattknudsen) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Home Alone sequels, Ghostbuster, pseudoscience and snake oil, Coca Cola skeptics, merchant marines, Brian and Dolph, space elevators, LED light pollution, why global warming is good for the rich and the incredible octopus.

Past guest and current host of Syfy's Reactor David Huntsberger (@huntsbergerjunk) joins the proceedings to welcome a Skyped-in Jesse Case and talk about rodeo facts, the awakeness drug Provigil, buff babies, cheating in war, Chinese fire drills, Korean pears for hangovers, neanderthals' massive eyes that may or may not have caused extinction, tiny new unafraid dwarf lemurs and official Probably Science T-shirts.

Friends of the show and past guests Matt Braunger (@braunger) and Auggie Smith (@auggiesmith) return to the show to talk with Matt and Andy about Toblerone sizes, early detection cancer urine tests, shirtcocking, the EPA’s river fuck-up, arsenic and widows, why women are always cold, dumb kids and money-raising, using shade balls to protect reservoirs, the web’s too-weak random numbers, Benford’s Law, beauty myths and contagious hotness and tiger calls.

The hilarious Jesse Popp (@JessePopp) joins Matt and Andy to talk about his former life as a blackjack card-counter, a newly discovered tessellating pentagon, Penrose tiling, Fermat's Last Theorem, space lettuce, giant marrows, angry people in local newspapers, pumpkins smashing cars, a goat-throwing festival, dreamy eye movements, brain-scanning software, Hannibal's mask prototypes, brain dipsticks and trepanning. Don't forget to visit LAPodFest.com to get tickets to watch Probably Science in person in Los Angeles on September 19th, or buy access to the festival's live video stream and save $5 with the code SCIENCE.