Probably Science

Visit lapodfest.com/live to watch the video archive of this episode and dozens of other podcasts and panels recorded live at LA PodFest and use the offer code "science" for $5 off. You can also visit probablyscience.com for more background on the show and email questions, corrections and story suggestions to probablyscience@gmail.com. This week's episode was recorded live from the third annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival, where Matt, Jesse and Andy welcomed musician/comedian/actor/skeptic Tim Minchin and bonobo expert/Darwinian feminist Dr. Amy Parish to the program to talk about: Probably Science T-Shirts! Mini Queen! Fixed-gear microphones! Honorary degrees! Dr. Bill Cosby! Embarrassingly valeting your Saturn at Sofitel Beverly Hills! Bonobos as a model for human feminism! DIY OB/GYNs! Soap opera-obsessed apes! Primates who get mad at unfairness! Swollen bonobo genitals! Matriarchies in nature! Social constructs of gender! Not telling your friends your baby's gender! Darwin's interesting views of females! Female bonobos ganging up on males! The female orgasm! Disregarding data that doesn't match your view of the world! Hiding ovulation! Animals who mate face-to-face! World Vasectomy Day!

Returning guest Jordan Morris (twitter.com/Jordan_Morris) of Jordan, Jesse, Go! and @midnight fame joins Matt, Jesse and Andy this week to share stories about Burning Man and to pick the brain of Caltech computer scientist Dr. Matt Faulkner, who built an insanely awesome musically controlled Tesla Coil at this year's burn. Topics discussed include: Deciduous breasts! Googling with Bing! Lying about your Burning Man car rental! Refilling your pudding phallus! Dollywood! Eighty-dollar car washes! Camp HeartNSoul! Safety third! Naked people everywhere! Unbearable levels of EDM! The sweet release of Thunderdome heavy metal! Showing your cock to get a snowcone! Tesla coil hobbyists! How to create duophonic music with lightning! Angering the gods with technology! Electrical storms in the desert! Machine learning and distributive systems! The Phage camp in The Institute village! Picking up your transformer at the railyard! Two-Bit Circus and the Steam Carnival! Dr. Brainlove! Welding while listening to Rush! Algebraic properties!

British comedy phenom Roisin Conaty (twitter.com/roisinconaty) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy this week to talk about: The oppressive Los Angeles heatwave! Bits and bobs! The vastly underrated music of Cheap Trick! An amazing listener-created theme song! Send us your space questions for an upcoming guest! Growing up believing eyelashes were autonomous organisms! The Forer Effect explaining how psychics and astrology dupe people! Using psychedelic mushrooms to quit smoking! A woman with no cerebellum! Scorpions that live in your books and have weird sex! A decades-old fetus found inside a woman's abdomen! Jurassic squirrels! Andy's high school water polo teammate Andrew WK! The benefits of having your baby sleep on a sexy animal fur! Skipping breakfast might be correlated with diabetes! Off-brand Halloween costumes! Superfluid helium vortices! What's the greatest invention of all time? The LA Podcast Festival!

Rising comedy star and pride of Scotland Daniel Sloss (twitter.com/Daniel_Sloss) returns to the show to chat with Andy, Jesse and Matt about: Bill Nye's comedy roots! Daniel's mother's Twitter activity (twitter.com/drles)! Semen's state of matter! The Jack The Ripper story everyone's talking about! Extreme haunted houses! Brain-to-brain communication! A testicular meeting of the minds! The purpose of monocles! The surprisingly early invention of telegraphy! Fake Victorian robot Boilerplate! A newly discovered dinosaur that's heavier than a 747! Buzz Lightyear's Flying Tossers! Pedo-tumors! Deep-sea mushrooms that defy classification! Andy and Jesse's roommate wants the new, hip psychedelic drug! The ash that'll cover us all when Yellowstone blows! An amazing new video of a volcanic shockwave!

Comedian/writer/producer Bethany Dwyer (twitter.com/BethanyDwyer) joins Matt, Andy and Jesse this week to talk about: Internet indignation over leaked celeb nudes! Burning Man stories! A moment of silence for the dead space geckos! Self-love in space! The effects of breastfeeding on depression! Dead stars reigniting! Solving the paradoxes caused by traveling back in time! Getting angry at time-travel movies! Happy beginnings on massages! Nurses who care get burned out faster! Peeing in the yard! The language of deceit that tips you off to scientific fraud!

Matt is back from his travels abroad, and he welcomes British writer/actor/producer Adrian Poynton (twitter.com/AdrianPoynton) to the podcast to talk about: The listener-made country/western re-imagining of the ProbSci theme! Getting kicked out of chemistry class! A pseudo-scientific look at the history of shoe sizes! Secret codes for elevators! Salmon cannons! Right-wing Internet comments! Getting your body freeze-dried! Jesse's naked haircut! The effect of exercise on pain tolerance! A study of British bum sex! Capturing audio from silent videos of bags of chips! Luring audience members to your hotel room!

Actress, Who Charted? host and documentary director Kulap Vilaysack (twitter.com/kulap) joins returning guest Mark Agee (twitter.com/markagee) to talk with Andy and Jesse about: Andy's Burning Man address (it's 5:30 and A)! The fact that no one knows about this podcast! Comic book jocks! Discovering your parents aren't who you thought they were! Kulap's upcoming documentary Origin Story (originstorydoc.com)! The Laotian Civil War! Bo penh nyang! Dealing with gambling addiction in your family! Bacteria that survive on electricity! Repeating previous stories on the podcast! Female snakes that save sperm for later! Jesse and Andy's awful attempts at Australian accents! Hack comedians doing Robin Leach impressions! How many dogs could you defeat? Removing 232 teeth from an Indian boy's head! Kulap's DC Comics alter-ego Katharsis! Studying the best way to avoid urine splashback! Jesse's ball problems! Squatting toilets! Letting your kids eat things off the floor! No one lets their kids walk home from school anymore! 11-year-old Kulap working as a waitress!

Comedian/actor Matt Champagne (twitter.com/remainchampagne) and frequent ProbSci guest Auggie Smith (twitter.com/auggiesmith) join Jesse and Andy this week for a somewhat somber episode remembering the great Robin Williams before getting into discussions about: Jesse's tiki music obsession! Harry Potter corrections! Blair Witch Project disappointments! Kilobots! Vibrating football games! An impossible space engine! The magic of Guido Fetta! The solar storm that almost rocked our world two years ago! A tick bite that makes you allergic to meat! Jesse and Auggie's groin issues!

Up-and-coming comedians Brent Schmidt (twitter.com/IAmBrentSchmidt) and Zach Pugh (twitter.com/ZachPugh) join Jesse and Andy this week to talk about: The Pickathon music festival! More headboard talk! Growing up in Sturgis, South Dakota! Re-purposing coal mines for science! Teenage nervous breakdowns! Falling off the wagon for a podcast sponsor! Losing your religion via the Internet! When did Hogwarts abandon muggle technology? The majesty of the apparently kid! Jesse's creepy nipple text from the sleep-eating roommate! Feathered dinosaurs! Forgetting about Hiroshima! The theory of humors! Tyrannosaurs hunted in packs! Growing up in a Chik-Fil-A family! Pizza Hut grease! Thinspiration! Making your body's organs transparent! Hidden biker girly magazines!

Comedian Beth Stelling (twitter.com/BethStelling) joins Matt and Andy this week for a special late-night recording in Andy's bedroom, covering: Mirrored headboards! Google's mapping of the human body! Slim Goodbody! Bats navigating via polarized light! Real 3D vs. fake 3D! Stella Luna and megabats! Gecko orgies in space! The cancer-fighting effects of cat poop! The Nobel Peace & Quiet Prize!