Chiggers: The Phantom Menace

You might be familiar with the outlaw Johnny Ringo from the movie Tombstone. He was indeed a real-life black hat gunslinger, and a tragic figure at that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

There was a time less than 100 years ago when you could exchange your paper currency at the bank for actual gold. Gave folks a sense of stability, it did. Depending on your view, we either ruined or built our economies when money became just paper.See omnystudio.com/listener for ... Show More

Dopamine is perhaps the most talked-about, most misunderstood biochemical in our bodies. It’s linked to not only addiction and depravity, but also focus, motivation, and living a productive life. How can one molecule be so many things to so many people? Find out all about it in t ... Show More

<p>Insect Love Song: The night is alive with insects. To our human ears their song is mere cacophony, but it's actually a vast web of communication signals. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie decode the Insect Internet for the meanings behind insect song ... Show More

How do insects factor into our traditions of death -- and how do insects handle their own burials? Find out in this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind as Robert and Joe discuss ants, termites, Virgil, ancient civilizations, bees and more. (originally published 1/21/2021) ... Show More

There are about 10 quintillion insects in the world. Yes, that's a real number. And it's a lot! They're very small and very different from us humans. We might not stop to think about it before we poison a cockroach, squish an ant with our shoe, or kill a mosquito, but is it ethic ... Show More

The trap is insidious. But of course it is. It was designed and executed… by ants? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the ant wars continue as Robert and Joe explore some of the possibility that a few formidable Formicidae species actually lay traps. Learn more about you ... Show More

<p>Bed bugs in Paris &amp; London, Mosquito hunting in the middle of the night, a home invasion by fleas and the terrors of cockroaches - listen to some anecdotes about encounters with insects with Zdenek who has recently relocated to Vietnam. Watch out for various insect idioms ... Show More

<p>This week, we're getting out our bug nets and talking about dragonflies and ladybugs! Why do ladybugs have spots? How many different types of ladybugs are there? How do they crawl on the ceiling without falling down? Where do dragonflies and ladybugs sleep? Why are dragonflies ... Show More

Our city boy/hot girl summers are coming to a close, and while we will miss summer, there’s one thing we won’t miss - mosquitoes. We all were bitten by mosquitoes…A LOT. But mosquitoes don’t just make us itchy - a recent New York Times article called them “the deadliest human pre ... Show More

<p>It's a Trap: Humans aren't alone in their ability to craft a clever trap out of their surroundings. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Julie look to the insect and arachnid world for deadly examples.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href=" ... Show More

<p>That’s a question a lot of people have, honestly. But a kid named Rosie was bold enough to ask us to investigate why. So, in the latest episode, we dig in on why cockroaches get such a bad rap and why you might want to reconsider if you’re not a fan.</p><p>Only two percent of ... Show More