The BrainFood Show

Епизоде

• 
  You're Playing Monopoly Wrong and It's Making It Way Worse 18.09.2026 1ч 12мин

  ⁠In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the interesting story behind where the Monopoly pieces came from. Moving on to the meat of today’s episode, we jump into the truth about who actually invented Monopoly, which is not the person who has long been given credit for it. That guy, it turns out, flat out stole it from someone else and then proceeded to get rich off it while the original creator mostly got nothing. We then move into the many, many ways everyone plays Monopoly wrong which is largely why it takes so long to play and lends itself to why it has a reputation for being a game sure to make everyone angry who plays it. If people would just read the rule book, turns out it’s a lot more fun when played the way it’s supposed to be played. Finally we discuss Simon and Daven’s favorite movies, as well as get around to answering the question of whether horses actually sleep standing up, or just seem like they do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Top Secret Mission to Steal Hitler's Radar 17.09.2026 1ч 1мин

  In the summer and autumn of 1940, the skies above Southern England were filled with tangling white and black contrails, the roar of aero engines, and the rattle of machine guns as the island nation fought desperately for its very survival. Many factors contributed to the Royal Air Force’s legendary victory over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, from the brave pilots and ground crews of Fighter Command to the eagle-eyed spotters of the Royal Observer Corps and the fact that German escort fighters had only enough fuel to linger for thirty minutes over Britain. But one key factor stood out among all the others: radar. Known to the British as radio direction finding or RDF, radar allowed RAF Fighter Command to spot incoming German bombers the moment they left their bases in France and to direct fighter squadrons where they were most needed, making the most of scarce resources. But the British were not alone in the field of RDF, and soon German radar systems began inflicting atrocious losses on RAF bombers operating over the continent. If their strategic bombing offensive was to succeed, the British had to penetrate the secrets of German radar and develop effective countermeasures. So in early 1942, military leaders hatched a daring plan: a nighttime assault to snatch a German radar set and its operators from an isolated clifftop in Northern France. It was to be the baptism of fire for a fledgling unit that would soon go on to far greater glory - and infamy: the 1st Parachute Regiment AKA “The Paras”. This is the story of Operation Biting, the forgotten WWII raid to steal Hitler’s radar. Author: Gilles Messier Editor: Daven Hiskey Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  How Long Can You Live After Death? 16.09.2026 41мин

  Pushing daisies. Kicked the bucket. Bought the farm. Six feet under. Crossed over. Passed away. Shuffled off this mortal coil. It is said that the more important - or taboo - a concept is to a society, the more euphemisms that society will have for it, and death is no exception. Death is central to the human experience, with every culture on earth having developed elaborate rituals to mourn the deceased and help them go gentle into that good night. But…what is death, anyway? How is it actually defined? Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila 0:00 Intro 2:45 How the Ancients Determined Death and the Disturbing Frequency of Burying People Alive 6:21 Changing the Game WITH SCIENCE! 9:22 So Where Does That Leave Us with the "When are They Dead?" Question? 29:44 What Killed George Washington and the Last Minute Pitch to Re-Animate His Days Old Dead Body Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  What's the Difference Between Dynamite and TNT? 15.09.2026 29мин

  Ever wonder what the difference between dynamite and TNT is or how they were invented? Well, wonder no more! Despite what the likes of AC/DC and Wile E. Coyote might have you believe, dynamite and TNT are very different substances with distinct properties. So what’s the difference between TNT and Dynamite? And just who invented them? Well, let’s find out as we dive into the fascinating and destructive history of these high explosives, and along the way in the Bonus Facts we’re also going to look at the truth about why there is no Nobel Prize for mathematics, which is likely to be different from what seemingly every mathematics professor the world over will tell you because, well, they are mathematicians, not historians. But to begin with, for much of modern human history, the only practical explosive available was black gunpowder, a mixture of charcoal, sulphur, and potassium nitrate AKA saltpetre. As covered in our previous video Who Invented Gunpowder, this mixture was likely discovered in China around the 9th Century C.E, making its way west across the Middle East to Europe by the 13th. Initially used in fireworks, it did not take long for gunpowder to find military uses, leading to the development of artillery and handheld firearms. It was also packed into various closed casings to produce explosive charges such as hand grenades, buried mines for breaching the walls and doors of fortifications, ‘torpedoes’ for defending harbours against ships, and shells and bombs for cannons and mortars. But while gunpowder completely changed the face of warfare, quickly rendering - for example - castles and plate armour obsolete, it also suffered from several serious drawbacks. For example, burning gunpowder produced large quantities of thick, white smoke... Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  WTF is Up with Worcestershire Sauce? Is Honey Vegan? And Much More 14.09.2026 1ч 13мин

  In the episode today, we're looking at the rather disgusting ingredients of Worcestershire sauce and how it's made. Whether honey is vegan. How Cereal became part of a complete breakfast. What started the cops eating doughnuts stereotype. Who invented the Food Pyramid. How Napoleon helped invent margarine. Why Asian nations use chopsticks. The difference between brown and white eggs. How people used to use frogs to keep milk from spoiling. The corrupt individual that gave us Monterey jack cheese. And finally the Cornell professor who gave the world the chicken nugget. 00:00 What is in Worcestershire Sauce and Why is It Called That? 04:44 Is Honey Vegan? 09:45 How Did Cereal Become “Part of a Complete Breakfast”? 23:43 What Started the “Cops Eating Doughnuts” Stereotype 27:01 Who Invented the Food Pyramid? 36:20 Napoleon and the Invention of Margarine 42:30 Why Do Asian Nations Use Chopsticks? 45:50 The Difference Between Brown and White Eggs 51:07 Frogs and Milk- How to Keep Milk from Spoiling Without Refrigeration 53:50 The Corrupt and Ruthless Californian Who Gave us the Name for “Monterey Jack” Cheese 01:01:31 The Cornell Professor Who Gave Us the Chicken Nugget Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Incredible Ways Artists Made Color Throughout History 11.09.2026 19мин

  In this art documentary, we are diving into the fascinating, and often insanely expensive, ways artists made the colors they used in their paintings by going on site and discussing it with various experts in the field. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  WTF is Up with Nuclear Fission? 10.09.2026 29мин

  At 8:15 AM local time on August 6, 1945, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ 509th Composite Group dropped a single bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Nicknamed Little Boy, the bomb detonated at an altitude of 580 metres or 1,900 feet, unleashing the explosive equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. The immediate fireball and blast wave obliterated buildings out to a radius of 1.6 kilometres or one mile, while the resulting firestorm destroyed nearly 11 square kilometres or 4.4 square miles of the city. By the end of the year, around 150,000 civilians of all ages had been killed as a result of the blast, while thousands more succumbed to injuries and radiation poisoning over the following years. The atomic bomb had made its terrifying combat debut. But while Little Boy was fuelled by 64 kilograms or 141 pounds of highly-enriched Uranium, astoundingly only 1.5% of this material or 800 grams actually participated in the nuclear reaction, while a scant 0.7 grams was converted to pure energy. That’s right: a piece of Uranium lighter than a paperclip obliterated an entire city. Such is the astounding power of nuclear fission, which is so much more efficient than any chemical reaction that a single kilogram of Uranium burned in a nuclear reactor can produce as much energy as 3,000 tons of coal. But…how? What makes nuclear fission so extraordinarily powerful? How does it all work? Well, let’s dive into the fascinating process and science that allows us to unlock the incredible amount of energy that lies within all matter. Author: Gilles Messier Editor/Host: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila 0:00 Intro 1:41 What's Really Going on With the Fundamental Building Blocks of All Matter 10:26 Why is There So Much Energy in Matter? 12:02 Artificially Inducing Fission and Why They Choose What They Choose for This 18:08 Building an Atomic Bomb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Saga of the First Major Car Race 09.09.2026 15мин

  As the official name of Paris–Bordeaux–Paris Trail suggests, the idea of this particular event was to see who could drive from Paris to Bordeaux and back again in the quickest possible time. For reference, this was a distance of 1,178 km or 732 miles on the roads of the day. So what was so special about this particular race? Well, for the first time in history, a large group of automobiles would be pitted against one another in a first to finish-style event, with said race kicking off on June 11, 1895. The brainchild of a group of automobile enthusiasts and journalists keen to promote the then fledgling French automobile industry, the race was seen as a way to both test the limits of cars at the time as well as test the commercial viability of motor racing as a spectator sport. Although, as we’ve previously noted, this was only a couple decades after an era in which competitive walking was one of the world’s most popular spectator sports, so the competition was pretty light. And, to be perfectly clear- we’re not talking speed walking- just regular leisurely walking for hours and hours on end… In fact, certain walking matches were known to draw tens of thousands of spectators. Yes, before YouTube, our forebears found watching people casually walking in circles for sometimes days on end without stopping great entertainment, though to be fair this was... Author: Karl Smallwood Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila Editor: Daven Hiskey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Incredible Engineering- The Rise of the Ballpoint Pen 08.09.2026 28мин

  Ever wonder who invented the ballpoint pen? Well strap in, as we do a deep dive into the progression of writing, and the incredible engineering behind the surprisingly revolutionary ballpoint pen. Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Real Life Sea Monster That Has a Doughnut for a Brain 07.09.2026 52мин

  ⁠⁠In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the massive creature that has a doughnut shaped brain with its esophagus running right through the middle. Next up we begin by looking at the fascinating reason Dung Beetles do a little happy dance after they find and roll up some poop. We then move on to a myriad of fascinating facts about various ants, including their absolutely remarkable ability to find the most efficient route to something, which has in recent years been used by humans to come up with more efficient algorithms for a variety of applications. We follow all that up discussing a rather unique and hilarious way school swimming herring talk to each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  WTF is Up with Dr. Pepper? 04.09.2026 2ч 21мин

  In the epsidoe today, we're looking at the twisting, turning, tale of Dr. Pepper and the real story behind it and what's in it. Next up, who invented toast, whether sodium actually raises blood pressure, why cashews are not sold to consumers in their shells and a variety of other interesting food related facts and stories. For the full list, check out the chapter markers below: 0:00 Who Invented Dr. Pepper? 25:31 Who Invented Toast 33:16 Fact or Myth: Sodium Raises Blood Pressure 41:59 Why Cashews are Not Sold to Consumers in Their Shells and Why Pistachios Used to Be Dyed Red 43:13 The Accidental Discovery of Saccharin, and the Truth About Whether Saccharin is Bad for You 50:06 The Origin of Competitive Eating Contests 1:05:11 Why Teachers are Associated with and Traditionally Given Apples 1:10:07 What Makes Peanut Butter Sticky? 1:13:23 The Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables 1:17:13 Why Salt Preserves Meat 1:20:59 Why Buffalo Wings Are Called That 1:25:53 Ketchup or Catsup? 1:30:23 The Difference Between Green and Black Tea 1:32:32 Why is Cottage Cheese Called That? 1:37:37 The Original Uber Eats India’s Amazing Near Century and a Half Old Dabbawala 1:48:16 Why One Bad Apple Spoils a Bunch 1:51:17 Graham Crackers Were Originally Meant to Be Part of a Diet Thought to Curb Sexual Urges 1:56:59 Grape-Nuts Contain Neither Grapes Nor Nuts 2:01:36 Why Seaweed is Sometimes Used in the Making of Ice Cream 2:06:14 The Fruit That Tastes Like Chocolate Pudding 2:12:43 Why Does the Yolk of an Overcooked Hard-Boiled Egg Turn Green? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  A Tale of Two Brothers- The Devil and the Absolute Legend 03.09.2026 16мин

  Hermann Göring was second only to Hitler in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Commander of the Luftwaffe, acting Prime Minister of Prussia, President of the Reichstag, and Hitler’s designated successor – Göring’s Nazi resume was almost unparalleled, as were the atrocities he took part in. His brother, Albert, however, could not have been more the opposite- an unsung forgotten hero of the war, saving countless lives through his work to undermine his brother and Hitler. This is the story of Hermann and Albert Göring. Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila Editor: Daven Hiskey 0:00 The Devil- Hermann Goring 5:09 The Unsung Hero and Badass that was Albert Goring 9:18 "No" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Extremely Weird, Drug-Filled, Forgotten History of 7UP 02.09.2026 33мин

  Food in the past could be horrifying. Prior to the introduction of regulations like the United States Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, it was disturbingly common for manufacturers to add all sorts of inedible or even genuinely toxic substances to food to make it last longer, make it look more appetizing, or cut down on expensive ingredients and maximize profits. Boric acid and formaldehyde in milk. Brick dust in cinnamon. Bone meal or plaster of Paris in flour and bread. Lead-based dyes in jelly and jam. At one point, S.E. Massengill Company even added diethylene glycol to a common medicine to help make it taste sweeter and more easy to consume… For the uninitiated, diethylene glycol, commonly used today in antifreeze and as a solvent, is highly poisonous, and was known to be so at the time as well. Yet the substance was nonetheless added to the medicine targeted at children anyway, with about 100 deaths resulting before they recalled the medicine. Although noteworthy even with the recall, didn’t bother to tell the doctors prescribing it that there was any urgency in that, nor the danger their existing stocks of the medicine posed if they didn’t return them, and instead, continued to sell it. The owner of the company, Dr. Samuel Evans Massengill, responded to the outrage over the deaths by simply stating, “My chemists and I deeply regret the fatal results, but there was no error in the manufacture of the product. We have been supplying a legitimate professional demand… I do not feel that there was any responsibility on our part.” Much more on this story and how it finally got the government to step in and start regulating consumable products later in the Bonus Facts, and how this all led to Kinder Surprise Eggs being illegal in the United States. Which, yes, they still are. Watch to the end before commenting I’m wrong, and you’ll save yourself having to edit your comment. But for now, other questionable substances were part of the appeal of the product itself - most infamously the cocaine in Coca-Cola. Paired with caffeine from the Kola nut, this ingredient was originally chosen by the drink’s inventor, pharmacist John Pemberton, as a treatment for morphine addiction and a stimulating alternative to alcohol. Cocaine was not fully eliminated from the official formula until 1929, though the Coca-Cola company continues to use processed coca leaves in the drink’s manufacture, being the largest consumer of that plant outside of the illegal drug trade. But while it is the most famous example, Coca-Cola was not the only classic soft drink to contain psychoactive drugs, with another iconic brew originally including a mood-altering medication still taken by millions of people to this day. This is the weird forgotten history of 7UP. Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila 0:00 Intro 2:37 Why People Started Drinking Carbonated Water, and Discovering Lithium 4:55 The Origins of 7Up and Why the Drugs? 16:22 What Does Lithium Actually Do to You? 18:55 The Elixir Sulfanilamide Incident and Why Kinder Surprise Eggs are Still Illegal in the United States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Ad Campaign That Gave Us Breakfast as We Know It, How Baby Carrots are Made and Much More 28.08.2026 1ч 25мин

  In the video today, we're looking at a variety of food facts including- How Two Guys are the Reason We Eat What We Eat for Breakfast, How are Baby Carrots Made, Is Pet Food Safe for Humans to Eat, The Bizarre Story of the Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb Triangle, That Time Quaker Oats Fed Orphans Radioactive Oatmeal for Reasons…, How To Make a Proper Cup of Tea According to Famed English Author George Orwell, Why are Potatoes Called “Spuds”, Peeling Back the Foil: The Origin of the TV Dinner, The History of Spoons, Forks, and Knives, and the The Surprisingly Short History of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Caden Nielsen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Real Story of Jack the Ripper 27.08.2026 15мин

  He is one of the most famous serial killers of all time, but who actually was Jack the Ripper and what actually happened during his reign of terror. Just before 4 am on August 31, 1888, on London’s seedy Buck’s Row, a cart driver named Charles Cross saw the body of a woman lying on the ground. In the early morning gloom, it was initially impossible to tell if she was drunk or dead. Cross was soon joined by another carter, Robert Paul. The two men saw the woman’s skirts were pulled above her waist. They smoothed them back over her knees and went searching for a policeman. What the two carters didn’t notice in the shifting shadows was the woman’s throat had been cut so brutally that her head had almost been decapitated. Beat officer John Neil discovered that gruesome fact on closer inspection of the body. (He later testified at the inquest that when he had passed that way just 30 minutes earlier, “there was not a soul about.”) P.C. Neil sent another colleague to fetch a local medic and soon Dr. Rees Ralph Llewellyn arrived on the scene. He quickly examined the body and found that the arms and legs were still warm. Llewellyn believed the woman had been dead for less than 30 minutes. Her killer may have still been lurking nearby when Cross and Paul came upon the body.... Host: Simon Whistler Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Who ACTUALLY Invented the Telephone? 26.08.2026 1ч 2мин

  Did Alexander Graham Bell actually invent the telephone? How about Elisha Gray? Or what about Antonio Meucci who both Italy and even U.S. Congress at one point acknowledged as the true inventor of the telephone... But is there any actual truth to his story, or was it a major flub by Congress? And what about the oft' forgotten Johann Philip Reis who there was even a bonafide conspiracy to suppress his part. Well sit back and relax as we dive into sorting through this mess and determine who actually invented the telephone. “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Along with “What Hath God Wrought?”, the first U.S. telegraph message sent by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844; and the letter S, the first transatlantic radio signal sent by Guglielmo Marconi on December 12, 1901, these are perhaps the most consequential words in the history of modern communications. Spoken by Scottish-American inventor Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Thomas Watson on March 10, 1876, they are widely believed to constitute history’s first ever telephone call. Bell had patented his “speaking telegraph” just three days prior, and, following this historic demonstration, events moved quickly. On June 25 of that same year, Bell demonstrated the telephone before stunned crowds at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, while on October 9 he and Watson succeeded in holding a conversation over a two mile telephone line strung between Boston and Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. In 1877, Bell formed the Bell Telephone Company - today AT&T - while in 1878 the first commercial telephone exchange was installed in New Haven, Connecticut. The new technology quickly spread around the world, shrinking the globe, making Bell and Watson, very wealthy men, and cementing their place in history as the fathers of modern telecommunications. …at least, that’s the version of events we’re all taught in school. But like with basically every invention ever made by humans, Bell and Watson were far from alone in their pursuit of telephony, with many of their rivals being hot on their heels. So hot, in fact, that some have argued that the dynamic duo were not, in fact, the true inventors of the telephone, and that their place in history was the result not of superior brains and grit or even sheer dumb luck, but rather underhanded legal and political chicanery - a conspiracy that has lain forgotten in the annals of history for 150 years. But is any of it actually true? Here now is the true story of the invention of the telephone. Author: Gilles Messier Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Did John F Kennedy Really Say He was a Jelly Filled Doughnut in His Most Famous Speech? 25.08.2026 18мин

  On June 26, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy stood on the steps of the Rathaus Schöneburg in West Berlin and delivered one of the most famous - and infamous - speeches of his presidency. Before a gathered crowd of 450,000 people, Kennedy railed against East Germany’s construction of the Berlin Wall two months before, extolled the virtues of democracy and self-government, and pledged his unwavering support for the people of West Berlin: “I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin… Lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main…Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.” Then, in a final, powerful statement of solidarity, he closed his speech with the iconic words: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner”. If you have ever heard of this speech, then you probably know what happened next: instead of cheering, the crowd broke into mocking laughter. Thanks to an unfortunate combination of bad grammar and cultural ignorance, the President had just declared himself to be not a fellow resident of Berlin but rather a “Berliner”, a type of jelly-filled doughnut. Whoopsy doodle. …only no, he didn’t. While this story has been repeated countless times over the past six decades and become a popular and quirky bit of JFK lore, there is little evidence that any German listening to Kennedy’s speech that day would have understood his final words as meaning “I am a jelly doughnut.” So how, then, did this amusing - if ultimately false - urban legend get started? It all has to do with the intricacies of German grammar, lazy journalism, and our age-old tendency to not let the truth get in the way of a good story. This is the story of one of the most misunderstood speeches of the Cold War.... Author: Gilles Messier Host: Simon Whistler Editor: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Incredible Story Behind Iron Man 24.08.2026 44мин

  Ever Wonder How Iron Man of all Marvel characters was chosen to be the one to launch the Marvel universe? Well, wonder no more, as we do a deep dive into how the Iron Man Movies were made. At the time of writing this script the Marvel Cinematic Universe, henceforth shortened to the MCU, has made about $31 billion at the box office, the most of any film series in history. To put this amount into perspective, that's over 3 times more than Star Wars has made in almost half a century ($10.3 billion), over 4 times the total gross of the entire live-action output of their rival DC ($7.1 billion) and almost 8 times what the Shrek franchise has made since its inception ($4.1 billion)... Really? Shrek? Alrighty then… Going back to Marvel, just the Avengers series on its own, a collection of 4 movies, is considered the 6th most successful film series of all time in terms of box office, grossing in excess of $7 billion. Which eagle-eared fans listening along at home may notice is more than literally every recent DC live-action movie combined. As an aside, because this is really funny, if you go by the numbers, the DC extended universe’s closest box office rival isn’t Marvel, but the Fast & Furious franchise, with the 11 movies featuring Dominic Toretto and his super friends grossing about a $100 million more than the 15 made by DC at the time of writing this. That’s the power of Family. In any event, all of this success began with one movie- Iron Man, a film it can be argued is one of the most important made in recent history with its success and the glut of sequels released in the decades since having, for better or worse, quite literally changed the way movies are made and developed. And, just saying we get that it made Marvel a ton of money, but Hollywood, not every movie or series needs to be a cinematic universe. Sometimes a story can have a satisfying ending and you can then move on to brand new stories. Mmmmkay? However, the success of the initial live-action outing of the Iron Avenger belies how much of a huge pain in the butt this movie, and by extension the entire MCU, was to get off the ground. So let’s now dive into the fascinating story of how the Invincible Iron Man made his way to the big screen. To begin with, something... Author: Karl Smallwood Editor/Host: Daven Hiskey Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Why Don't Vultures Get Sick? 22.08.2026 54мин

  ⁠⁠In this episode of The Brain Food Show, we start by looking at the mind blowing things caterpillars get up to while in the chrysalis. Next up we begin by looking at the fascinating way in which honey bees, which are cold blooded, manage to keep their hives warm and the variety of fascinating things they do with their rather unique heating abilities. We then look at the rather amazing vulture and, among other things, why they don’t get sick when they eat dead things and what integral role this plays in keeping humans alive. Finally we look at the mysterious Kentucky meat shower, which unfortunately has nothing to do with KFC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  WTF is Up with the Tea Bag? 20.08.2026 12мин

  Legend says that brewing tea dates back to around 2737 BC, when tea leaves fell into water being boiled for Emperor Shennong of China. There does not appear to be any hard evidence of tea being discovered this way, but evidence we do have suggests that brewing tea did indeed likely start in China, first as part of a medicinal elixir. The first documented reference to this is found during the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC to 1046 BC). By the Qin Dynasty in the third century BC, it had become a relatively popular drink using just the tea (camellia sinensis), rather than mixed with other things as seems to have been common when used medicinally. From the beginning until the early 20th century, very little innovation came about in terms of the common method of brewing tea. This all changed in 1901. Contrary to popular belief (and what every single tea manufacturer I could find said on their websites, and many-a-tea history book and paper consulted also stated), it was not tea merchant Thomas Sullivan who invented the tea bag in 1908. While he did (probably independently, given his reported design was quite inferior to the original) invent a tea bag that year, he was beat out by about seven years by Roberta C. Lawson and Mary Molaren of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.... Author: Sarah Stone Editor: Daven Hiskey Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices