

Probably Science
Andy Wood, Matt Kirshen
Professional comedians with so-so STEM pedigrees take you through this week in science. Incompetently. Featuring hosts Matt Kirshen, Andy Wood (and sometimes Jesse Case or Brooks Wheelan) along with a rotating cast of special guests from the worlds of comedy and science.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 29, 2021 • 1h 19min
Episode 413 - Eli Braden
Comedian/musician Eli Braden (@EliBraden) returns to the show to discuss stonks, the Robinhood fiasco, PredictIt.org, The Hustler, Psycho Goreman, more dinosaur butthole developments, Colgate University, Perseverance's upcoming Mars landing and evidence of multiple Mars ice ages.

Jan 23, 2021 • 1h 10min
Episode 412 - Marcus Brigstocke
Comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke (@marcusbrig) joins Andy and Matt to discuss blowing things up in school, puckle guns, coordinated electric eel attacks, solving the mystery of butterfly flight, separating dire wolf fact from fiction and giving shrooms to pigs.

Jan 15, 2021 • 1h 18min
Episode 411 - Frank Wilczek
Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek (@FrankWilczek), author of the new book Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality, joins Matt and Andy to talk about the work that earned him a Nobel Prize, as well as his book, which delves into the essential concepts that form our understanding of how the universe works, digging into fundamental ideas like time, space, matter, energy, complexity and complementarity. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

Jan 7, 2021 • 1h 26min
Episode 410 - Ed Byrne
Comedian Ed Byrne (@MrEdByrne) joins Matt and Andy to discuss spiteful octopuses punching fish, using AI to solve protein structures, why recycling doesn't happen as much anymore (and Taiwan's amazing waste turnaround), and Europe's plan for a space claw to capture orbiting junk. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

Dec 18, 2020 • 1h 27min
Episode 409 - Dr. Peter McGraw
Author, podcaster and behavioral economist Dr. Peter McGraw (@PeterMcGraw) returns to the show to talk with Matt and Andy about behavioral economics, cognitive biases, hellish comedy gigs, the science of humor, The Philadelphia Incident, Peter's new book Schtick to Business, stigmas surrounding unmarried life, flaws in happiness studies, how to support an aging populace that isn't being replaced, the new social media platform Clubhouse, Andy's recent shingles bout and Peter's latest podcast project Solo: The Single Person's Guide to a Remarkable Life.

Dec 10, 2020 • 1h 13min
Episode 408 - Alex Schmidt
Returning guest Alex Schmidt (@AlexSchmidty) of the podcast Secretly Incredibly Fascinating joins Andy and Matt to swap Jeopardy stories and discuss Doug the cat ruining equipment, grapefruit facts, The Ray Cat Solution to use glowing cats to warn future humans about radioactive waste, the monolith in Utah, Europa's mysterious glow and a beetle you can run over with a car. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

Dec 5, 2020 • 1h 10min
Episode 407 - Megan Gailey
Comedian Megan Gailey (@megangailey) joins Matt and Andy to talk about honeybees flying sideways, acoustic camouflage on earless moths, new moon rocks, meatless diets and brittle bones, the coolest dinosaur skeletons ever, fossil-hunting laws and Megan's podcast The Greatest.

Nov 21, 2020 • 1h 15min
Episode 406 - Charlie Fonville
Producer and current Jeopardy champion Charlie Fonville (@charliefonville) joins Matt and Andy, whose four-day Jeopardy streak Charlie put an end to just yesterday, to talk about sharing the stage with the legendary Alex Trebek, the game theory of Jeopardy, including Daily Double and Final Jeopardy betting strategies, the Two-Thirds Rule, and Andy's odd-seeming bet when facing Stratton's Dilemma, then diving into stories about the return of a rocket from 54 years ago, the launch of a doghouse-shaped satellite, mapping bees, more election fraud claims debunked with math, making diamonds at room temperature in minutes and Charlie's podcast Unremembered Hollywood.

Nov 11, 2020 • 1h 19min
Episode 405 - Alex Falcone
Comedian Alex Falcone (@alex_falcone) of the podcast Read It and Weep (and a great NASA rejection letter) joins Andy and Matt to talk about why Benford's Law doesn't apply to election data, Hamburglar voting irregularities, Andy's upcoming Jeopardy appearance (this Monday, November 16th), whether or not Alex Falcone was named after Alex Trebek, some good news on using psilocybin to treat depression, British soldiers on acid , a ridiculously named new Covid-19 drug and Canada's top science prize recognizing work on gels that mimic human tissues. This episode is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

Oct 29, 2020 • 1h 3min
Episode 404 - James Austin Johnson
Comedian James Austin Johnson (@shrimpJAJ) returns to the podcast after a seven-year hiatus to talk about dinosaur butts, water on the moon, cell phone networks on the moon, shocking your tongue to cure tinnitus... and for some reason President Donald J. Trump happens to call in to give his take on Sega Genesis reboots and lame duck hunts.