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Brain Junk

Trace Kerr and Amy Barton

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Brain Junk is an off-the-wall, totally unbelievable but true podcast where Amy Barton and Trace Kerr shake up science & history in the hunt for answers to questions you never knew you wanted to know. We bring you the inside scoop on things like: Can goldfish drive? How do whales not drown while eating? Who had the first prosthetic eye? We cannonball off the question high dive every Tuesday -- those of you in the front seats, bring your ponchos. We're out to flood your brain.
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Real People is a podcast hosted by Jason Dunstone, the founder and managing director of Square Holes. Jason builds on his 25 years of conducting human-centred research, interviewing average and not so average people (rich, poor, old, young, content and vulnerable) to understand what they believe and how they behave. On this podcast, Jason interviews academics, researchers, leading thinkers, and other interesting people. Jason also interviews “actual real people” about their passions, aspirat ...
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Have you ever wondered if a hit of helium would change the sound of an alligator's bellows? Lucky for us, there are scientists out there who wanted to know. Show Notes: BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54197198 Kyoto University Ig Nobel announcement: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/news/2020-09-29 YouTube resonance to vocalize: https:…
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Amy looks into how companies change over time. Start making glass jars, segue into making aerospace technology, and end up only doing metal fabrication. We look at a few other companies too! Show Notes: Ball historical timeline: https://www.ball.com/our-company/our-story/history-timeline Wikipedia on Ball Corp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_Co…
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Scientists wanted to know if plants scream and tortured tomatoes to find out the answer. Beckett (Trace's youngest spawn) wanted to know, if plants do scream, can our pets hear it and is this why cats knock plants off shelves? Show Notes: YouTube sound of Plants "screaming": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-_AGgoJ3VA Sci News, Plants Emit Ultrason…
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Amy laid the perfect web of "lies"; she lured Trace into an episode about shapeshifting women and then sprang the trap...this episode is about the Joro spider. We talk about the convergence of giant invasive spiders and Japanese mythology. Show Notes: Joro Spider (warning, there are spider photos): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/million…
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How do we define and study the little voice in your head? Is it something you HEAR, hear or is it something you think? For some of us, there's no inner monologue, for others, it's so loud in there, it's hard to participate in the outside world. Trace fell down the research stairs on this one! It's a double header of things we hear and see in our he…
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Who knew that a simple combination of oats, water and salt could make for a yearly competition that's lasted for 30 years? We dive into the history of oats in Scotland and the famous Golden Spurtle competition! Show Notes: Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship: https://www.goldenspurtle.com/ BBC: World Porridge winner crowned October 20…
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We're heading into the end of summer break so it's time for a mash up of wacky facts. Fake navels, cheetahs in heat, the weenus and MORE. Oh yes, we adore a good internet fact deep dive. Also, Trace does drop the 'shit' word once. Show Notes: Amazon fake navels: https://www.amazon.com/Belly-Button-Stickers-Fashion-Longer/dp/B0CC5TZ23P?th=1 SCMP Fak…
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It's tiny, inscrutable, made with spider silk, and we really don't know much about the mysteries of it's intricate construction. Show Notes: Nat Geo https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/silkhenge-spiders-ecuador-mystery Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkhenge Internet archive https://web.archive.org/web/20201108125631/https://blo…
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In the spring, fish like perch travel through the rivers in the Netherlands to find places to spawn. They used to get stuck behind Weerdsluis lock: waiting for it to open. But not anymore! A virtual doorbell was created to help let the lock keeper know they're there. Hot tip, starting March 3, 2025, you can go to their website to hit the doorbell!!…
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It's a super long length summertime episode with the sex lives of penguins, periods in space, Humpback whale sex, swearing parrots, terminal velocity poop, & penis size vs. nose size. Buckle up! Show Notes: Dr. George Murray Levick (1876–1956): unpublished notes on the sexual habits of the Adélie penguin The Guardian: 'Sexual depravity' of penguins…
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Smarter than the mafia, more cunning than a pickpocket in Paris, long-tailed macaques in Bali are all about snatching valuables from tourists and bargaining for tasty snacks. Show Notes: Long tailed macaques info from the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center Sir Attenborough and monkeys YouTube BBC Video of things getting stolen!! Scientific …
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Amy's bringing the BATS. We've got more cool facts about bat communication and how some of them compete for food (it's sonic warfare for sure). Show Notes: Episode 214 Sky Puppies Mama fruit bats and their kiddos Episode 242 Bat Chat 1 A smorgasbord of bat shenanigans University of Bristol: Bats avoiding collisions in the air YouTube Lens of Time R…
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Did Trace complain about clickbait titles in this episode? Yes. Did she ALSO use a clickbait title for this very episode? Absolutely. Sea scallops like light and it turns out that works in the favor of fisheries and the environment. Show Notes: Oceanconservancy.org: Scallops Fishtek Marine YouTube on the tech and study. Also their website Science D…
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While doing the show notes for this episode, Trace looked into tips and tricks for when you take a vacation and have to drive on the opposite side of the road. The advice? Don't panic and purchase travel insurance LOL. There are so many different historical reasons for how countries chose what side of the road to drive on. Show Notes: Lancaster-Phi…
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Nothing like rubbing yourself down with snakeskin jerky to keep yourself from getting eaten. Today we check out the parallel evolution of the California ground squirrel and rattlesnakes. It's an olfactory camouflage arms race that on a bad day, ends with someone getting eaten. Show Notes: UC Davis: Squirrels Use Snake Scent Royal Society B: Donning…
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Nighttime waking and scattered thoughts are problem solving's evil twin. If you find yourself awake at 3 am obsessing over your problems, remember that stress and hormonal imbalances can really damage the quality of your sleep. Show Notes: IFL Science: Why Do We Wake Around 3am And Dwell On Our Fears And Shortcomings? VeryWellmind.com: Military Sle…
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2024 is the 100th anniversary of Band-aids. But before they were the little strips in cool tins, they came in a roll you could cut to size. Show Notes: Johnson & Johnson history of Band-aids Wikipedia: Band-aid history Disposable America The Atlantic: The Story of the Black Band-aid TruColour Bandages Transcript: [00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to br…
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From poker to games played to pass the time, those 52 cards are so ubiquitous it's hard to figure just when we started using them. We go all the way back to ancient China for a possible origin of cards. images: Cloisters Deck from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and and example of cards from today from pixabay Show Notes: The strange coincidence of …
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Call them slippahs, flip flops, chanclas, slops, plakkies, slaps, pantofles, or thongs...whatever word you choose says a lot about your age and what part of the world you grew up in. We came up with this episode topic as kind of a joke. Turns out there's way more about to know about these summer shoes than we thought. Show Notes: Wikipedia on the h…
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It's easy to believe that a snake might be a deadly mimic. But butterflies that start life as carnivorous caterpillars? Oh heck yeah! Show Notes: YouTube BBC: Ants Adopt a Caterpillar YouTube Entomological Society of America: Ants and Blues The Pattern of Social Parasitism in Maculinea teleius Butterfly Is Driven by the Size and Spatial Distributio…
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If you haven't figured it out by now, Amy is not afraid to ask tough questions! Today she talks butt health, bidets, and the dangers of wet wipes. It's funnier than you'd think, we promise. Show Notes: Business Insider: interview with Dr. Goldstein Am I Doing it Wrong? Jan 2024 The Spruce: 7 Best Bidet Attachments Splinter free toilet paper History…
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Trace found some delightful random facts about birds! Today we're talking "anting", talons locked to the death, and musical cockatoos. Show Notes: Journal of Ornithology: Anting behavior in birds Video of crow anting: aka the spicy spa Bird Note: anting Facebook video of bald eagles cartwheeling Bird Note: Eagles cartwheeling Palm Cockatoos playing…
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We recorded IN PERSON! Trace brought back a whole bunch of fun flavored chips from Uwajimaya, a fantastic Asian grocery store in Seattle! Check out the show notes for our 5 other taste test episodes! Show Notes: P.S. If you like the Non Newtonian fluid cup, it's in our Merch store! P.S.S. in defense of the Pizza flavored chips, when Trace tried the…
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Today we are joined by Jamin Brazil, market research entrepreneur, and tech pioneer. Fresno, California-based Jamin is the super popular host of the Happy Market Research Podcast with more than 300 episodes in which he interviews consumer insight and research professionals and entrepreneurs from across the world. Jamin comes from a position of info…
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We are joined by Ebony Gaylor, Managing Partner of newly launched social cause agency Decade of Action, a partnership with Thinkerbell's Adam Ferrier and Margie Reid. Ebony has held key strategy and social change roles, most recently for the Australian Red Cross. We discuss Ebony's background and childhood, and the motivation behind Decade of Actio…
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Today we are joined by Dr Fiona Kerr, Founder and CEO of the Neurotech Institute, and leading futuristand author Steve Sammartino in our first double header with previous guests. Fiona was interviewed in episode 11 of Real People and Steve in episode 16. This most certainly was an explosion of thinking as Fiona and Steve shared their observations o…
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Today we are joined by Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell, Director of the 3A Institute at ANU in Canberra, a collaboration with CSIRO's Data61, with the mission of building a new applied science around the management of artificial intelligence, data, technology and their impact on humanity. Genevieve is also Senior Fellow, New Technology Group…
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Today we are joined by Dr Rebecca Huntley, one of Australia's foremost researchers on social trends. A regular media commentator and writer, including for the Quarterly Essay of March 2019, in which sheexplored how Australians are calling for change from our government in climate change and wider socialissues, and the corruption of democracy. Rebec…
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Today we are joined by JP, John-Paul Drake Director of Drakes Supermarkets. We go on a fabulous journey going back to JP's entrepreneurial childhood, hear about riding the retail rodeo of the past few months, and how a bit of right place right time luck is awesome. We try to make sense of all the crazy hoarding and hear about JP's global social med…
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Today we are joined by EB, Elaine Bensted, the Chief Executive of Zoos SA, including Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park. We hear about EB's childhood growing up loving animals, then having a successful corporate career and passion for education, with her role prior joining Zoos SA, the CEO of TAFE SA. EB discusses finding joy in the chaos, and ho…
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Today we are joined by Brent Hill, the Executive Director of Marketing at the South Australian Tourism Commission. The leader behind recent campaigns 'book them out' responding to the devastating bushfires, and SA TV sharing content from across South Australia, responding to the 'stay at home' COVID-19 pandemic. Brent could have never imagined bein…
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Adam Ferrier is the founder of Thinkerbell. He's a popular public speaker and author of recent release 'Stop Listening to the Customer' andprevious popular read The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour. He's a former Strategy Planner at Saatchi and Saatchi, Co-Founder and Global Head of Strategy at Naked Communications, current Board member …
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Today we are joined by Ben Page the Chief Executive of Ipsos MORI UK and Ireland, a role he has had since 2009. A frequent writer and speaker on trends, leadership and performance management, Ben has directed thousands of studies examining consumer trends and citizen behaviour. Since 1992 he has worked closely with both Conservative and Labour mini…
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Today we are joined by Richard Curtis, CEO of Future Brands Australia, with responsibility across Australia, New Zealand & South East Asia. Richard is a former Managing Director of Interbrand and Executive Director of Landor. Oxford Educated and recently launching social initiative Thirty:3 providing brand and marketing advice to people who need it…
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Today we are joined by Simon Kuestenmacher, Co-Founder and Director of Research at The Demographics Group. We have a fascinating chat trying to make sense of these chaotic times. And, how working to understand what is currently happening stimulates the passion. Simon has had a passion for history and geography since he was a boy growing up in Germa…
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Today we are joined by Siamack Salari. Belgium based ethnographer and lecturer in observational research at leading universities in the UK, France and India, and visiting fellow at King's College London. Ex head of foresight, tech co-founder, advertising strategist and ever observer of human and cultural behaviours. Siamack has also just launched a…
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Today we are joined by Stuart Austin, design thinker and advisor. Stu is also a lecturer in design thinking at Carnegie Mellon University in Australia, and runs a teaching business 'Austin Bloom' with his wife, which specialises in flowers and design for events and floral products. In this time of COVID-19 chaos it was fascinating to chat about the…
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Today we are joined by Olga Kudryashova. Olga started her career at Saatchi and Saatchi Hungary and since had an impressive brand and communications strategy career across the Middle East and North Africa, including time living and working from Dubai for leading agencies Y&R, Saatchi & Saatchi and ODG. A fascinating discussion starting back at Olga…
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Today we are joined by Driller Jet Armstrong. Ex-police officer, DJ, visual artist, founder of the Daubist art movement and co-owner of popular night club Sugar. A fun and fascinating chat! We caught up in Driller's Bridgewater home to discuss his life, art, music and perspectives on culture, government and conservatism. We discuss the critical rol…
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Today we are joined by artist Peter Drew. Peter was born in Adelaide in 1983. His artworks have been exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia and the National Gallery of Australia, though his most prominent work is installed on city streets. You can find Peter at peterdrewarts.com Peter has achieved notoriety for his street art across Austra…
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Today we are joined by Olivia Dryden, jeweller and taxidermy artist. Since graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts in 2014, Olivia's career has advanced significantly and she has receive acclaim and recognition for her work. You can find Olivia's website at oliviadrydenjewellery.com Olivia has travelled to India in 2015 for the Helpmann Academ…
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Today we are joined by Simon K Burt aka STĪLES.BE, a contemporary artist from Australia. Simon has previously worked under the name STORRE in the graffiti art movement since the 1990s, and has evolved his style to take the elements of his street art and reinterprets them in his own unique style balancing precision and imperfection. You can find mor…
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Today we are joined by James Fergusson, the CEO of MDI (https://www.mdi-global.com) a mobile focused research company launched in 2013. MDI is based in Melbourne, with offices in Cape Town, Miami, Utah, Washington DC and recently launching their European presence from London. MDI has developed and is continuously evolving its own proprietary mobile…
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Today we are joined by Ainslie Williams, the CEO and Co-Founder of Qualie, the Australian based qualitative research software platform launched in 2016. You can find Qualie at - www.qualie.com. We go way back to Ainslie's childhood as a young girl who loved to stare at other people and how this deep curiosity as to what makes others tick lead her t…
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Today we are joined by Dr Anantachai, or Orm, the Managing Director of INTAGE Thailand. INTAGE is a pioneer in marketing research ranking in the top 10 largest firms globally. Orm is an experienced marketing and research professional and leader with a focus on building strong and purposeful teams who love their job and seek social contribution. We …
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Today we are joined by former Netflix marketer Barry Enderwick for a fascinating discussion about growth in uncertainty. Including the role of evidence-based insight in guiding the best way forward. Barry and I sat down for coffee at the Hilton Sydney in a break in the annual Australian Market and Social Research Society Conference. Barry is a pass…
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Today we are joined by Alan Noble, Founder of AusOcean. Alan is a proud entrepreneur and technology engineer heading to Japan out of Uni then California, before heading home to Australia many years later with his family to work with a start-up, creating his own and then eventually giving in to the wooing of Google to take up the role of overseeing …
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Today we are joined by Bec and Simon Smallchua, recent founders of Harvey, you can find them at weareharvey.com. Bec is a former B&T 30 Under 30 finalist, and comes from marketing roles including 'for good' enterprise Thankyou and Posterscope a market leader in out of home communications. Simon is a former break-dancer who's digital and marketing r…
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Today we are joined by Elaine Stead from Blue Sky Alternative Investments. We go way back to Elaine's childhood as a young girl who loved homework, learning and ever eager to please. We talk about Elaine's academic pursuit of science, then pivoting into the world of venture capital, start up advisory and multiple board directorships. Elaine and I d…
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Today we are joined by Stephen Scheeler! Former Facebook and Instagram MD for Australia and New Zealand, Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Co and TEDx Speaker. Stephen and I sat down at the Sydney office of McKinsey and Co to have a fascinating discussion going back to Stephen's childhood in small town USA. And, how he longed to go to university in Euro…
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