Best Trace Elements Media Podcasts (2025)

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Internally Screaming Until Leap Year 1:06:09

a day ago1:06:09

1:06:09

This episode Julian tries to think of an even better calendar (too bad "Julian Calendar" was already taken) and Trace thinks a thought so hard his head hurts. QUESTIONS Julian: "Is there a better calendar than the Gregorian? Would it solve any obscure problems?" from Daniel Trace: "Can you think something in your head so loud that it can physically…

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Belting Fly Brains and Melting Gold with Rain 1:14:16

8 days ago1:14:16

1:14:16

Let’s get ready to RUMMMMMMMBBBLLLEEE!! In this corner, we have a normal human who is definitely not a psychopath, and in the opposite corner we have… a fly. Just like, a fly. Also Julian is here and has an amazing story about melting gold with acid rain! QUESTIONS Julian: "Could we produce enough air pollution to make the sky rain aqua regia? At w…

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Going Full Goron on the Himalayas 1:11:29

15 days ago1:11:29

1:11:29

Tonight our chefs have prepared an all-natural pasture-raised and pristine ivory-hued plutonic entree, slow-cooked under rich, Indian-spiced tectonic compression for 50 million years, adorned with a constellation of tourmaline and garnet, presented alongside gossamer-thin schist ribbons. Then, for dessert, an insulative coating of CHOOH2 which shou…

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Forever and a Hair 1:21:37

22 days ago1:21:37

1:21:37

In this episode, we learn Julian used to wear fedoras. He says, it’s been forever and a day, but I’m going to wait a Planck beard-second to see if that bears out. Before that, Trace combs through the hairy subject of human fur — about which he’s an experienced expert. Plus, like a hair on the tongue of your mind we just can’t seem to stop screaming…

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Terminal Thoughts 1:11:44

29 days ago1:11:44

1:11:44

Ever get caught in a light drizzle and think, "Ah, this is nice"? WELL WHAT IF IT WAS ACTUALLY HORRIFYING??? Julian explores the several ways air resistance keeps rainstorms from becoming catastrophic bombardments from the sky. Then Trace tries to get inside the mind of Julian's chihuahua. Turns out most of her thoughts boil down to "shake" and "ba…

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Headaches Wheelie Hurt (I'm Sorry) 1:08:18

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about a year ago1:08:18

1:08:18

Wheel wheel wheel … this episode definitely gave us both a headache. I swear we’re not going to conquer every silly meme from your group text (or maybe we will?). QUESTIONS Julian: “Are there more windows or doors in the world?” from Liam Trace: "Headaches… Why???!” from Anna from Athens Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had…

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Gross and slimy: How salmon shark barf can teach us about their foraging ecology 1:01:29

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about a year ago1:01:29

1:01:29

If someone asked you to describe a shark, I imagine most folks would report a ten-foot long body, rows and rows of razor sharp teeth, and the ruthless nature of a (literal) cold-blooded killer. If you asked Master’s student Reilly Boyt to describe a shark, she would likely describe a salmon shark. Reilly is our guest on the show this week and she s…

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My Broccoli Dog Ate My English Homework | Feat. MJ Wu 1:48:48

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about a year ago1:48:48

1:48:48

This episode Trace tears into the age-old question, “What color should your English notebook be?” Special guest MJ Wu from the podcast Everything is Public Health looks at dogs and broccoli and somehow relates them to public health, and Julian attempts to find permanent sunscreen for his pale, pale, oh-so-pale skin. Is it gross? You betcha! QUESTIO…

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Honey, I shrunk the the… OjkdfiAGH!! 1:02:08

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about a year ago1:02:08

1:02:08

If you were shrunk REALLY ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᵣₑₐₗₗᵧ ₛₘₐₗₗ … would we be able to live? Did the documentary “Honey, I shrunk the kids” LIE to us?! Julian grabs his magnifying glass to learn Mor(anis). Meanwhile, Trace wants to know if … if the … uh, the … BLARG! IF SPEAKING A NONSENSE WORD can actually help! QUESTIONS Both questions this week are POLL WINNERS se…

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Carbon Dioxide Capture 45:22

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about a year ago45:22

45:22

As global temperatures rise, ocean levels and extreme weather occurrences rise with it. One of the leading causes of global warming are greenhouse gases like CO2. Emily Hiatt's research is tryign to develop a cheap, robust way to capture CO2. This topic is hot; even hotter than the rising global temps.…

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Red Sky at Night Batman’s Delight! | feat. Yasmin Khan 2:03:47

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about a year ago2:03:47

2:03:47

Easter is around the corner, but where does that weird Bunny get all the eggs? And why are there eggs in the first place? Guest Yasmin Khan (The Young Turks) has an answer. Meanwhile, Julian explores the word of bat-style crime fighting on a budget and Trace explores if living on Mars would make us super aggro! QUESTIONS Julian: "How can I be Batma…

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Diving into Underwater Robots 46:06

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about a year ago46:06

46:06

What's cooler than land robots? Underwater robots (ice cold!), which Akshaya Agrawal's PhD research in the Robotics Department focuses on. Her research is indeed cool; developing and testing motion-planning algorithms designed to help teams of robots coordinate movement and perform tasks underwater. But have you ever wondered what's involved in get…

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Outweigh. Outshine. Outlast. 1:08:29

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about a year ago1:08:29

1:08:29

Can the sun be beaten at its own game… OF BEING A SUN?! Julian shines some light on it. Meanwhile, as he spends time on the science of the extremely large, Trace gathers data concerning the massive impact of 0s and 1s. Note: they are very very very very smol. QUESTIONS Julian: "How many lions would beat the sun?" from Daniel Trace: "How much does d…

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The fourth of the Five Goliaths: Mercury poisoning 47:12

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about a year ago47:12

47:12

If you’re not a fan of ‘The Office’ then that title probably made no sense to you. But, if you are, then you’ll know that Michael Scott famously said that mercury poisoning is one of the five Goliaths that America faces (though we never actually find out what the fifth one is…). Regardless, on this week's episode you’ll be able to learn all about t…

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Rounding Up 1+1 1:04:42

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about a year ago1:04:42

1:04:42

Happy love celebration week!! In honor of how much we LOVE our patreon subscribers, Trace and Julian answer two winners of our Patreon polls! It takes two 🎶 to make a dream come true 🎶 It just takes two — or is it three? What if it was three? Julian checks the math. Meanwhile, Trace (wait doesn’t that mean three again?) gets around in the animal ki…

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Take a Deep Breath: Tracing the Carbon in our Air back to the Source 35:20

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about a year ago35:20

35:20

By KBVR-FM

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Where'd You Get the Coconut? The Replicator!? 1:07:46

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about a year ago1:07:46

1:07:46

Space, the final frontier — of cuisine. This week Trace unpacks the standard food replicator used by the United Federation of Planets. Meanwhile, in Scene 34, Julian ponders of coconuts could actually find their way to Arthurian England vis-a-vis Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. In both answers one COULD find yourself asking, “Where’d…

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The details are in the DNA 45:31

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about a year ago45:31

45:31

Emily Dziedzic, a PhD student in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Sciences, is a molecular ecologist who focuses on bioinformatics, which means that she uses computer-based methods to analyze genetic data. Her work spans a wide variety of taxa, from freshwater fish to scarlet macaws, from bats to Humboldt marten, and has implica…

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AI Chefs and Unqualified Sled Dogs 1:19:24

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about a year ago1:19:24

1:19:24

This episode Julian gears up for the last great race with an irresponsible amount of chihuahuas while Trace finds a use for AI that it might actually be suited for. QUESTIONS Julian: "How many chihuahuas would it take to complete the Iditarod?" from Loren Trace: "How many ChatGPT queries would I need to cook an egg?" from AJ Do you have an absurd q…

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Oops All the Drugs 1:18:29

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about a year ago1:18:29

1:18:29

Hey man, like, if you took all the drugs … like, all of them. What would happen? Would you die? I mean, like, that’s just your opinion, man. But aside from that, and we may be out of our element like Donny, but if you replaced as many body parts as possible with technological wizardry … how many parts would you have left? Would you die?! QUESTIONS …

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Inexplicable Spider-Man Episode 1:05:59

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about a year ago1:05:59

1:05:59

For some reason Julian and Trace both selected Spider-Man related questions. We felt like two Tobey Maguires dancing down the street in perfect sync. Julian critiques Spidey’s famous swingy transportation, and Trace learns a lot from New York City* train nerds. QUESTIONS Julian: "Does it actually make sense for Spider-Man to web swing? Shouldn’t he…

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2024's Stickiest Questions | feat. Producer Kyle 1:15:39

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about a year ago1:15:39

1:15:39

In this special end-of-year episode we pull Kyle out of his editing hole and the three of us talk through some of your best questions of the year! Thank you, thank you, thank you for submitting such incredible questions to us. We read every one of them, we see the new ones coming in every day and we want to answer as many as we can! We love you all…

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How do you like them NAPLs? 37:23

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about a year ago37:23

37:23

This week on ID we are interviewing Mireia Roig-Paul, a second year PhD student in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, to learn all about pollutants and the potential threats they pose to our environment and our health. She studies in the laboratories of both Jennifer Fields and Serhan Mermer, and her research focuses on the intersection of so-…

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Oh No. Our Chicken is Cooked 1:13:37

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about a year ago1:13:37

1:13:37

Happy holidays! This episode is… weird. Now, normally, we have systems in place to prevent this problem from happening. Somehow we failed. I swear this all happened exactly as you heard! We’re so cooked, y’all. Or at least… that chicken is. QUESTION "What is the worst way to perfectly cook a chicken? For example, could you place it a perfect distan…

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Hot Hot DNA 1:02:08

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about a year ago1:02:08

1:02:08

There's a quote attributed to Albert Einstein, "sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it feels like a minute; sit on a hot stove for a minute and it feels like many hours. That's relativity." There's no evidence he actually said this, but that didn't stop Julian from turning up the heat on his question. Meanwhile, Trace took the DNA from all his c…

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High-Level Poop Talk and Deadly Temporal Fantasies 1:02:06

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about a year ago1:02:06

1:02:06

This week, Trace delves into some temporal fantasies, like: why people think if they could travel into the past they’d become lords and queens, and not serfs or worse!? Meanwhile, Julian measures the terminal velocity of poo-poo and pee-pee in very tall buildings. Our show is so weird. QUESTIONS Julian: "If you use the bathroom at the top of a skys…

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For the union makes us strong 45:40

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about a year ago45:40

45:40

In the wake of the ongoing graduate employee strike at Oregon State University, Hannah and Mireia sit down to talk with the president and VP for Communications of the Coalition of Graduate Employees (the labor union that represents graduate employees at OSU). Austin Bosgraf and Erika Stewart explain the string of events that lead to this strike, wh…

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Poke the Moon and Land Amongst the Clocks 1:16:35

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about a year ago1:16:35

1:16:35

If you made a video call to someone on the other end of a very, very, very long stick would it be possible to poke them with the stick before the video showed them that you’d moved? Would this impossible, absurd invention move faster than the speed of light?!? Julian pokes around to see. Then, after a Spongebob-style “Meanwhile” title card… Trace g…

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Ali Mattu and the Missing Moon | Thanksgiving Rerun! 1:30:28

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about a year ago1:30:28

1:30:28

Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans! Super-belated one for those Canadians too, eh! And, for the rest-of-the-world… Happy Thursday! To give ourselves a little break to spend with our families on Trace’s favorite holiday we’re re-airing a very early episode of the show. Eat some food, tell your friends you love them, and we’ll be back with a new epi…

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Straying from the stream: investigating the impacts of spring Chinook salmon hatchery fish on wild, origin fish 44:39

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about a year ago44:39

44:39

Dams, climate change, habitat loss, predation, anglers. Wild salmon must contend with all of these challenges during some point in their lifetimes. But an additional challenge may be having a negative impact on wild salmon that we don’t yet quite understand: hatchery salmon. Investigating the impacts of hatchery salmon on wild salmon is no easy fea…

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Is Climate Change Making Gray Whales Picky Eaters? 59:12

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about a year ago59:12

59:12

Taylor Azizeh, a first-year Ph.D. student at OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, joins Matt to discuss how climate change might be driving gray whales to shift their feeding habits along the Pacific Northwest coast. Taylor's research explores the phenomenon of 'prey switching,' where these benthic specialists switch from seafloor to water-column feeding…

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Frictionless Ultrasonic Banger 1:14:42

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about a year ago1:14:42

1:14:42

Friction! It’s what makes the world go rou— No, wait. That’s not it. Friction. It’s what keeps the world from spinning off into spaa—- That’s not it either. Friction… It’s what keeps your shoes from being too slippy, but also, like, just slippy enough? *Sigh* Also, dog bark science. Enjoy! QUESTIONS Julian: "What would a perfectly frictionless surf…

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Surviving Urban Volcanoes Through Cuteness and Butt Hearing | Feat. Dr. Joe Hanson 1:46:22

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about a year ago1:46:22

1:46:22

This episode Julian attempts to make jokes but only hears crickets, Trace turns LA into a flaming dumpster fire and nobody notices, and special guest Dr. Joe Hanson of Be Smart explains how being "just a lil guy" is a superpower. QUESTIONS Julian: "How do crickets hear if they don't have ears?" from Joe Hanson Joe: "What if it was survival of the "…

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We Ship Acid-Spitting Humans 1:12:52

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about a year ago1:12:52

1:12:52

Fun fact: the dinosaur in Jurassic Park that spit acid on Nedry doesn’t exist! I mean, Dilophosaurus does, but it was probably a scavenger, not an evil piñata dinosaur. As long as we’re on the subject though, what if humans could shoot acid? What would that look like? And, as long as we’re talking about disemboweling humans … how many of their own …

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Snail-zillas Disrupting the Tooth Commodity Market | Halloween Spooktacular II 57:45

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about a year ago57:45

57:45

Happy Halloween, absurd friends! This time around Julian comes out of his shell to calculate the speed of a Kaiju snail (so much mucus 🤢). Meanwhile, Trace pulls out all the molars—uh, pulls out all the stops on his Fae business plan for TOUTHS Incorporated, The Uber for children’s teeth, and asks: Would That Solve Anything™?! QUESTIONS Trace: "Wha…

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Double Jump Over This Human Meatball 1:10:34

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about a year ago1:10:34

1:10:34

It's spoOOooOoky season! This week we're scaring you with a giant pasta topping! 👻 Not scared? What if I told you it's a meatball made of EVERY HUMAN? Oh, did I forget to mention that crucial detail? What's more terrifying than a GIANT MEATBALL OF ALL HUMANS?! MWAHAHAHA! (Just imagine the ODOR.) Would something that massive have its own gravity? Wh…

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Fear.exe: How horror video games hijack more than just your computer 52:39

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about a year ago52:39

52:39

Erika Stewart, a second year MA student in the School of Literature, Writing and Film, joins Matt to chat about how horror represents itself in video games. Erika's research focuses on an emerging subgenre of games which she coins 'Malewaric' games. These games are capable of hijacking your computer, inducing a deep sense of fear of which Erika con…

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Immortal Squirrels Slain By Salad 1:03:27

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about a year ago1:03:27

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In this wild episode, Julian infects your brain with the realization that plants can be VERY murdery, and Trace is driven NUTS looking for an elusive immortal animal. QUESTIONS Julian: "Why aren’t there plant-based diseases that affect animals?" from Isaiah Trace: "What food could you feed a squirrel to make it immortal?" from Trevor Do you have an…

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The Inescapable Sadness of the Kool-Aid Man | feat. Dr Rohin Francis of Medlife Crisis 1:12:28

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about a year ago1:12:28

1:12:28

This episode Trace tries to find the secret to happiness and special guest host Dr Rohin Francis swaps out blood for something with a tangy, fruity kick. Oh yeah! Oh no! QUESTIONS Trace: "Must we know a negative thing to understand the positive?" from Buena Rohin: "Could you replace all your blood with kool-aid?" from Allyson Do you have an absurd …

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A Ghostly Fireworky Glow Up | feat. Ceri Riley of SciShow Tangents 1:11:55

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about a year ago1:11:55

1:11:55

We haven’t seen this many fireworks since the Rockefeller Center did that spectacularly wild “Salute to Fireworks” back in 2007. This time around, guest-host Ceri Riley ponders what if fireworks were a normal part of the weather? And Trace ponders the spirits of the great beyond. He tries so, so hard not to bring up his time in the Victorian Era. S…

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The "Creative" Engineering of Star Wars Blasters 1:25:36

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about a year ago1:25:36

1:25:36

This is the episode you're looking for. This week Trace gets creative with an answer about unponderable ponderances, and Julian goes pew pew a lot with a poll-winning quesiton about Picard’s favorite weapon! We have a NEW HOPE that you’ll enjoy episode 52! QUESTIONS Julian: "What would a Star Wars blaster and/or ray gun be like if it could exist?" …

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Is Lava Wet?! | feat Dr Alex Dainis 46:08

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about a year ago46:08

46:08

Get your moisture sensors ready. In this episode Dr Alex Dainis slides into the scientific journals all about lubrication to understand the slip-factor of classic yellow bananas. Meanwhile, Julian argues with an actual, college educated PhD scientist about the wetness of molten lava. Is Julian actually… correct?! QUESTIONS Julian: "Is lava wet" fro…

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The Poor Goaile is… Everywhere | feat. Tom Scott 1:19:45

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about a year ago1:19:45

1:19:45

You’re at a hockey game. You grabbed nachos and your favorite sports beverage. The Mighty Ducks are playing their rivals, and you look away from the ice to take a selfie with a selfie stick so long you have to brace it against your hip to snap the pic. You’re smiling with your crew, when a flash of white light envelops the stadium as the air catche…

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Deep Conversations With Whales 1:16:21

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about a year ago1:16:21

1:16:21

A rogue viking pirate planet hurtles through space looking for plunder and booty. The human race has become a destitute vampiric race obsessed with ancient sea shanties and frequent meteor showers. A whale in the North Atlantic hears a distant whale song from an individual it doesn’t recognize. It’s repeating a warning to stay away from a large met…

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Freaky Mermaids, "REAL" Dragons, and Trace's Evil Twin| feat Ellen Weatherford (Just the Zoo of Us) 2:17:23

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about a year ago2:17:23

2:17:23

Description 🎶 Game of Thrones theme 🎶 DRA-GONS. WHAT ARE DRAG-ONS? LET US KNOWWWWWW OR MER-MAIDS. FRICKIN’ MER-MAIDS… HOW THEY GOOOOO? PLUS JUUUU-LIAN WANTS TO CHECK ON MIRROR TRAAAACE HE THINKS, THIS MIRROR TRACE MIGHT BE EVIL TRAAAAAACE! 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Today in Pod 48 Ellen Weatherford from “Just The Zoo of Us” (family friendly) and “Spellbound and Gagge…

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Exploding Three Ways (Yikes) 1:13:01

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about a year ago1:13:01

1:13:01

Welcome to episode 48. Are you allergic to cats? When you visit friends does their cat seem to know (somehow) and roll up on you even though you’re ignoring it?! “WTF CAT. YOU’RE LITERALLY MURDERING ME,” you think intensely while sipping your white wine. “Wait, does the cat… KnOW?!” Trace pours himself a glass of that crisp white, and digs into the…

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Volcanos. Tornadoes. Nuclear Waste… This is Fine. 1:24:05

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about a year ago1:24:05

1:24:05

For this episode Julian and Trace tackled the very uplifting and shiny topics of tornados and nuclear waste. No worries y’all! Everything here is so great! We’re not trying to lift giant building with natural disasters! No way! We’re not attempting to create a wild atomic disaster by throwing waste into an active volcano! HAHA Who would do that?! C…

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Two Butts. No Bones. Thriving. | Feat. Ben Bowlin 1:44:17

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about a year ago1:44:17

1:44:17

In episode 45 Julian deconstructs the human experience without our boney scaffold, Trace calculates the detriment (or delight?) of doubling the derriere, and our guest Ben Bowlin (from iHeart Radio’s Ridiculous History, Stuff they Don’t Want You to Know) sings the praises of the American accent. QUESTIONS Julian: "What if humans no bones?" from Fab…

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Photosynthetic Nudists and Solving Problems with Copious Amounts of Seawater 1:21:12

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about a year ago1:21:12

1:21:12

Trace returns to find out if humans could take the green stuff from plants and make enough energy to live. meanwhile, Julian tries to understand if a wild idea would solve anything… Anything at all? QUESTIONS Julian: “What if you filled the grand canyon with ocean water? Would that solve anything?” from Roman Trace combines two questions: “What if …

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Radioactive Bunnies & Infinite-Sided Dice | feat. Nora Bailey 1:11:02

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about a year ago1:11:02

1:11:02

This week astrophysicist Dr Nora Bailey joins Julian roll a set of huge, spherical dice on the future of irradiated bunnies in mech suits. Yes this is a real question. Does this sound like an episode of that Morty show to you? Me too. QUESTIONS Julian: "What is the maximum number faces you can fit on a die before it becomes a sphere?" from Aaron No…

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