Stuff You Should Know

4.7 (86K) · EDUCATION · UPDATED MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall riots, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

1D AGO

How Whaling Almost Killed the Earth

In the 19th century, humans hunted whales to the edge of extinction. Josh and Chuck trace the story from Nantucket to the global moratorium on commercial whaling — and ask what it means for the species that are being hunted to extinction today.

3D AGO

SYSK Short: The Brief, Weird History of Jai Alai

Jai alai was once the fastest sport on Earth and drew massive crowds to arenas across America. Then it disappeared almost overnight. Here's the bizarre story of its rise and fall.

5D AGO

The True Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518

In Strasbourg in 1518, hundreds of people danced uncontrollably for days on end — some until they died. Josh and Chuck dig into what historians now believe was behind one of history's strangest mass psychogenic illnesses.

7D AGO

How Lobotomies Worked (And Why They Stopped)

The lobotomy was once celebrated as a miracle cure for mental illness. Walter Freeman performed thousands of them with an ice pick. Josh and Chuck trace the procedure from Nobel Prize to medical disgrace.

10D AGO

SYSK Short: Why Do We Yawn?

You're yawning right now just reading this. But why? Josh and Chuck tackle the surprisingly difficult science behind one of humanity's most contagious behaviors.

12D AGO

How Tarrare, The Man Who Ate Everything, Really Worked

Tarrare was an 18th-century Frenchman who could eat an entire wheelbarrow of apples in a sitting, swallowed live cats and eels for entertainment, and may have eaten a toddler. We promise this episode is as strange as it sounds.

14D AGO

The Surprisingly Interesting History of Concrete

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in human history. Josh and Chuck trace it from Roman aqueducts to the Hoover Dam to the modern concrete that may outlast civilization itself.

17D AGO

How Prisons Work

The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country on Earth. Josh and Chuck break down the full spectrum of the American prison system — from county jails to supermax facilities — and ask whether any of it works.

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Hosts & Guests

Josh ClarkHost

Chuck BryantHost

4.7

out of 5

86K Ratings

18 years and still my favorite podcast

I've been listening to Josh and Chuck since 2008 and they have never gotten stale. The genuine friendship between them is the secret ingredient. You can tell they actually enjoy doing this together. And somehow they always make me feel like the topic I knew nothing about is the most fascinating thing on Earth.

OGListener2008 · Mar 4, 2026

Perfect podcast for curious people

There is no other show on Earth that covers such a wide range of topics at such consistent quality. From the physics of black holes to the history of hot dogs — Josh and Chuck make everything worth knowing about.

CuriousMindPodcast · Feb 18, 2026

Educational and entertaining

The show is great. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is the ads have gotten pretty heavy in the last year. But the content is always top notch and they clearly do real research for every episode.

ContentFirst · Jan 30, 2026

About

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall riots, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered. Stuff You Should Know has been going strong since 2008 and has released over 2,000 episodes on just about every topic imaginable. Hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant research each topic from scratch, explain it clearly, and make you feel smarter without making you feel talked down to. New episodes release on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with shorter 'shorts' episodes dropping on Saturdays.