For thousands of years, people have looked into the night sky and seen something unusual.
It was fuzzy, sometimes bright, and it wasn’t there before. It appeared out of nowhere and, after a few days or weeks, disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.
When these events occurred, they were often interpreted as omens. Good or bad depending on who was do ... Show More
Jun 19
Juneteenth, Federal Holidays, And Writing History In Real Time
It's June 19th. Today is Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States marking the end of slavery. We're bringing you an episode from 2020 on the history of the date and the holiday -- but before that some thoughts from Jody about how this very recent holiday reflects the wa ... Show More
11m 38s
Oct 2019
The Fascinating Origins of Everyday Things (Part 2)
In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start off looking at that time the United States government banned pre-sliced bread… Really.
Next up, we have a brief message from a sponsor, Blinkist, which gives you the key ideas from more than 3,000 bestselling nonfiction books in ju ... Show More
51m 6s
Jul 2024
The Real Free State of Jones (1863) [Archive Favorite]
[[It's the heart of the summer, which means that our crew is taking some breaks here and there. In the meantime, we'll bring you some favorite episodes from the vaults -- and we'll be back with new episodes very soon!]]It’s October 12th. This day in 1863, fighting is breaking out ... Show More
14m 7s
Jul 2020
What We’ve Learned This Month
In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we are start out looking at the rather curious phenomenon of the average of your friends being happier, wealthier, and more successful than you.
Next up we have a brief message from our sponsor Backblaze and unlimited automatic backup servi ... Show More
1h 21m
Apr 2025
Price Wars: The Fall of Dollar Stores | Duped | 3
Not everything you buy from the dollar store is going to be a winner, and Wirecutter editor Annemarie Conte knows this firsthand. Today, Annemarie joins David to share tips for shopping smarter at these discounters, and which items you should probably leave on the shelf. Later, D ... Show More
42m 5s