Jen M. asks: What did they do with all the dead bodies after huge battles in history? Given we know that even Neanderthals would bury their dead (even including objects with the bodies) and various human hunter-gatherer groups likewise used to bury or cremate people at specifics sites that functioned as sort of pilgrimage locations for these nomads, it should […]
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Mark B. asks: How do artists making paintings with people that have eyes that follow you around the room? Art as they say, is subjective, what one person considers a priceless masterpiece others might see as nothing more than a giant black square… But there’s one very specific kind of painting that most everyone sees the same way- the kind […]
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Pitched as the “ultimate sport”, chess boxing is – depending on who you ask – either a seamless blend of the cerebral and the physical or a joke that got kinda out of hand… Formally invented in the early 2000s, chess boxing is the brainchild of a Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh who has since recognised the appeal of chess boxing […]
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Long considered the greatest of the so-called “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”, the Temple of Artemis located in modern-day Turkey consists of nothing more than a single column of marble surrounded by random pieces of debris. Famously destroyed and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries, the temple is most notable for being burned down by a guy who wanted […]
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For many beer aficionados “tastes like warm piss” is perhaps the most withering insult one can hurl in the general direction of a given beer. While you wouldn’t begrudge a member of the public making such a claim about a particular beer, you’d think brewers themselves would have a little more decorum. Something nobody apparently told a certain Heineken distributor […]
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During the never ceasing rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, each company has made some spectacularly bad marketing decisions to try and one up each other- from Coke’s baffling decision to spend $100 million to fill cans of their soda with water that smelled like farts to Pepsi somehow accidentally promising customers who bought enough of their soda a harrier jet. […]
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*Apologies for the audio quality on this one, simultaneously our audio editor / producer was on vacation and a certain host was also a great distance away from his acoustically treated studio. 😉 In any event, in this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at what exactly grog is, where it came from, and the origin […]
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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at a Christmas gift that resulted in one of the more celebrated books of all time. Next up we briefly mention our sponsor- go to https://wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your Wix website today! And check out our new website for the Brainfood Podcast at https://www.brainfood.fm/ Moving on to the main […]
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In 1968, an expert on animal behaviour and population control called John B. Calhoun built what was essentially a utopia for mice that was purpose built to satisfy their every need. Despite going out of his way to ensure the inhabitants of his perfect mouse society never wanted for anything, within 2 years virtually the entire population was dead. So […]
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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at a couple rather bizarre Spanish Christmas traditions involving holiday defecating… Next up we briefly mention our sponsor- go to https://wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your Wix website today! And check out our new website for the Brainfood Podcast at https://www.brainfood.fm/ Moving on to the main content today we’re looking at […]
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Few feats of engineering are as impressive as a military-grade helicopter. Today worth millions of dollars each, these high-tech birds are a formidable military asset, including, among many other uses, for rescue operations- all a fact US military personnel helpfully chose to ignore during Operation Frequent Wind when they pushed several dozen of them into the sea, in one case […]
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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the rather humorous original name for the song Silver Bells. Moving on to the main content today we’re looking at the truth about the origin of the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” and what’s the deal with the weird lyrics. After that, we look at the […]
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Dan P asks: Did mobsters ever really use cement galoshes on the feet of people they sent to sleep with the fishes like in the movies? If there’s one thing everyone knows about the mob it’s that they had an astonishing number of ways to off the various wiseguys, shysters and snitches who got in the way of their business. […]
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Wayne T. asks: What’s the deal with movies showing sea captains performing marriages? They can’t actually do this, right According to countless movies and TV shows, sea captains, in addition to getting to wear dapper uniforms and snazzy hats, have the ability to marry couples aboard their ships thanks to the power bestowed upon them by… the sea we guess? […]
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Michael S. asks: Do people get anything when they’re knighted by the Queen? As we’ve discussed before and will no doubt talk more about in the future, as a direct result of her position as sovereign of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, the Queen has a large array of powers at her disposal entirely unique to her. Of these […]
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Sawmillturtle asks: Would you be willing to look into the origins of “one for me and one for my homies” while pouring some drink on the ground? To most people the idea of “pouring one out” in regards to the act of pouring a small amount of some manner of alcoholic beverage onto the ground in remembrance of one’s dead […]
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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at whether poinsettias are actually poisonous or not. Next we discuss today’s sponsor. If you’re interested, go to https://wix.com/go/brainfood to get started on your Wix website today! And check out our new website for the Brainfood Podcast at https://www.brainfood.fm/. Moving on to the main content today we’re looking […]
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In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we look at one of my favorite stories I’ve ever researched. But before that, we begin by looking at what could have been wrong with Tiny Tim that simply throwing money at the problem could have fixed given 19th century medicine. Next we discuss today’s sponsor. If you’re interested, go to https://wix.com/go/brainfood […]
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