24. The Power of Poop

Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt explores what the past can teach us about a high-stakes future. (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, ... Show More

Gary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also get outside and play basketball, which is a big part of how Gary stays well. If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted b ... Show More

At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. infrastructure off the planet. Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, C.T.O. of technology and ... Show More

There is more waste in the world today than at any time in history, and the responsibility for keeping the environment clean too often falls on individuals instead of manufacturers. But, why us? And why this feeling of responsibility? This week, how one organization changed the A ... Show More

Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has been trying to figure out where to put all its poop. While it's easy to take your average flushing commode for granted, it turns out thousands of years of research went into creating the toilets we use today. Tune in as Ben, Noel, and ... Show More

Trash. Garbage. Refuse. Waste. Call it whatever you like, this is the stuff we deal with everyday that we no longer want in our lives. It’s not that it has no value; it actually has negative value. That’s why we’re getting rid of it! And apart from remembering when to drag out th ... Show More

Disgust is an odd thing. It makes sense that we would feel a sense of revulsion at the thought of putting rotten meat in our mouths – that’s pure evolution. But why would we feel the same emotion at the thought of weird sex or from hearing a racist rant? Find out more in this cla ... Show More

<p>From dumping raw sewage into rivers to littering the streets with our trash, humans don’t have a great track record when it comes to dealing with our waste. It’s something that CrowdScience listener and civil engineer Marc has noticed: he wonders if humans are particularly pro ... Show More

Most people associate think of bird poop as an annoyance -- it can gunk up sidewalks and windshields, and, occasionally, even splat on an unlucky person walking by. But in the late 1800s, guano was a hugely important resource. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max take a closer l ... Show More

<p>Flushing the toilet: an act that most of us carelessly perform several times a day, but that for 4.2 billion people in the world is still a luxury. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two pioneering engineers about the crucial role wastewater management plays in society, including how sew ... Show More

If you think about it, enemas are kind of gross. And if you don’t now you definitely will by the end of this wild ride of an episode. All who make it through the whole way earn SYSK bragging rights. We now wonder why we ever chose to record it.See omnystudio.com/listener for priv ... Show More

Rummage & waste: Laurie Taylor talks to Emily Cockayne, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of East Anglia, about the overlooked story of our throwaway past, from ladies of the First World War who turned dog hair into yarn to Girl Guides inspired to collect ... Show More

<p>We are going to get down and dirty with all things poop in this episode: What a healthy poop looks like, how to poop your best, the history of using poop to survive in the Canadian wild and lots more interesting stuff.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="h ... Show More