Facts Machine (Facts Machine)

🎶We don't think you're ready for these jellies🎶 We are joined by evolutionary biologist, venomologist, and jellyfish expert Anna Klompen for an episode all about venom! Listen for evolutionary arms races, snails that cure cancer, and jellyfish sneezes.

Don't you just hate it when people only want to talk about how you discovered universal gravitation, but not about your passion project, making proportionately-sized doors for cats? Or when the press loves how you revolutionized the automobile industry by mass producing affordable cars but not how you tried to make them out of soy beans? Or how no matter how many times you explain that you discovered what E equals, they don't want to use the special refrigerator you invented? Misery loves company, so listen along to our latest episode, all about the lesser known and lesser appreciated ideas of famous scientists and inventors!

For this show about urban animals, we were joined by guest scientists Dr. Casey Lardner, PhD & Dr. Valentina Alaasam, PhD (plus guest game-master Sam Corbin!) for deep dives on our nest-door neighbors, a habitat for hilarity, and trivia about why we can’t have niche things!

This is a podcast about Pythagoras and beans, Oklahoma and the truth, and Princess Alice and her pet Spinach. Everything you think is a vegetable is a fruit. Ben Franklin has a plan for your farts.

Paradigms, they are a-changin’ in this week’s episode of Facts Machine! We’re joined by friend of the pod and scicomedian extraordinaire Dr. André Pineda, PhD, a neuroscientist, science communicator, and show runner at our home venue Caveat who leverages laughs to share science. Join us as we talk Al-Haytham “going turbo” while Europe was in a dark age, evolution by “naturalist selection”, and rerouting priests to prevent disease.

UFOs…chem trails…lizard people…Facts Machine? You’re not crazy (maybe); all the aforementioned things are sources of conspiracy theories! Hold onto your tin foil hats as Noah, Rob, and Emily take you on a mild ride through the world of boring conspiracy theories in Episode 9 of Facts Machine. We’ll cover why Starbucks never gets your name right, why elevator close buttons exist to prevent your descent into existential despair, and how the Swiss government preyed upon a universal human desire for warm, gooey cheese to brainwash (brinewash?) the masses. Tune in for puns, trivia, and possible hidden messages with apocalyptic predictions if you play them backwards! (We didn’t add those. Or did we?!)

Abandon hope, all ye who *ento* here! It's a broadly entomological arthropod-cast about bugs! In this episode, which we live-streamed on Caveat's YouTube page, we welcome comedian, writer, and legendary pun queen Sam Corbin to discuss bees with "daddy tissues", artisanal stings, and the worst kind of jelly donut.

 Science comedian, neuroscience PhD, and “guardian of knowledge” Dr. André Pineda makes his second Facts Machine appearance on an episode in homage to organisms that live on the edge, thrive in the unsurvivable, and take that “grow where you are planted” proverb that gets embroidered on pillows as a personal challenge: extremophiles.

Some historical heroes are household names, whereas others fade into history, or worse, suffer the cruel fate of not even meriting a Wikipedia page. Ever wonder why unicorns are no longer the scourge of humanity, why badass women journalists no longer hold ransom the clothing of US Presidents to get interviews, and why we don’t operate bicycles like a Kangaroo probably would? Unsung heroes have shaped our society in many ways, and in this episode, Noah, Emily, and Rob tell their (often incredibly weird) stories and shed some light on the world they helped mold…whether we know about them or not. Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod Facebook: Facts Machine Podcast

Bottoms up! It's an episode of Facts Machine all about booze. Tune in to learn how John Chapman planted cider apple trees until he became known as Johnny Appleseed, how a ban on eggnog incited a violent riot among cadets at West Point, and how drunk birds are wreaking havoc in a small Minnesota town.

 

Podcast ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay! For Noah, Emily, and Rob have come to you to say: Remember facts like Ol’ Saint Nick was skinny in his day! Oh tidings of Facts Machine pod! Give us five stars! Ohhhh tidings of Facts Machine pod! It’s a holiday episode of Facts Machine! Come learn about how Martin Luther wanted to split from the Catholic Church but didn’t want to split from getting presents, why 17th century Christians banned people from saying Merry Christmas, and how mistletoe and vampires have a lot in common!

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Top of the morning to ya! In honor of St. Paddy’s day, we’re Dublin down on this week’s theme: Guinness! Listen to find out why nitrogen is “an obvious gas”, how the t-test was invented by a Guinness employee, and how “factual fisticuffs” inspired the Guinness Book of World Records!

In this episode, Facts Machine makes a PAWEDcast! Noah, Rob, and Emily learn all about dogs — the good boys and good girls who make life worth living. Listen to find out how good the first good boy was, how some good girls are helping reseed forests after fires, and how some good boys and good girls (and one especially good boy) braved wind and snow to save a bunch of kids from Diptheria!

We were joined by neuroscientists Dr. Chloe Lopez-Lee, PhD and Dr. Devon Collins, PhD for deep dives on the deepest recesses of our brains, comedy about consciousness, and trivia that blew our minds!

In this episode, we're joined by science journalist Marion Renault to swap facts on "uncharisma" in nature. Tune in for facts about the (wrongfully) over-looked and (superficially) unappealing organisms that keep our ecosystems and even our lives running smoothly. By the end, you'll be convinced these critters really *are* more than meets the eye--even the maggots! (Though in their case it may be for the best that this is an entirely audio medium.)

Tickets for our Friday, 3/17 show "Taking A Brain Check"

During NYC's Brain Awareness Week, Em and Noah (and Rob in spirit!) were joined live at Caveat by guest neuroscientists and science communicators Leslie Sibener and Dr. Devon Collins, PhD, as they endeavored to get tangled up in neural nets, celebrate Dendritic Arbor Day, and fight for neurite to party!

Piano accompaniment: Rose McCathran & Ryan Brechmacher

 Facts Machine returns with an episode all about etymologies. Join us as we dig deep to discover our favorite word origins, root and stem! #protologism

Live at Caveat in NYC, Noah, Emily, and Rob head back to class with their first ever guest host, chemistry teacher extraordinaire Rich Fisler! In this episode, the facts are elementary, the laughs are periodic, and discussion of fewer puns was tabled. 

 Our guest today is biology professor, science communicator, and co-owner of an animal sanctuary (!) Dr. Carly York, who joins us for a (lightly NSFW) episode about romantic relationships in the animal world. Tune in and keep an eye out for Carly’s upcoming book on romance in the wild!

At long last, the Facts Machine episode theme you've all been waiting for -- Donkeys! Our equine friends have an incredible history, from being worshipped by medieval Catholics, causing Stoic philosophers to die laughing in ancient Greece, and carrying the comedic weight for writers from antiquity to the present day. Also it's fun to say "ass".

 H2OMG! This episode’s all about the universal solvent, 60% of the human body, and (when it’s feelin’ fancy) dihydrogen monoxide. We’re joined by long time friend of the pod and first time guest of the pod Dr. Jessica Noviello, a planetary geologist, science communicator, and avowed dinosaur enthusiast currently studying the Kuiper Belt Object EL61 Haumea in her post-doctoral research. Tune in to learn how water makes its way around our universe, how a giant aquifer stayed hidden in plain sight, and why Niels Bohr was oddly possessive about a bottle of Carlsberg.

Would a podcast by any other name sound as sweet? That's what Facts Machine is here to find out. In this episode, Rob, Noah, and Emily dish on their historical namesakes. Listen to find out how Robert E. Lee is connected to the death of John F. Kennedy*, how Noah's Ark is related to the oldest alcoholic beverages ever discovered, and how a parasitic fungus called Devastating Emily is linked to a caffeine-addicted beetle. *not that one! Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod

Skype a Scientist founder, cephalopod expert, and all around kickass science communicator Dr. Sarah McAnulty joins the Facts Machinists for an episode all about “communication”. Turns out we had a lot to say! 

Come to our live show THURSDAY 1/25 7PM at Caveat in NYC or via livestream from wherever you are! Tickets & show info: ⁠https://www.caveat.nyc/events/facts-machine-1-25-2024⁠

Moiya's book The Milky Way

Moiya's new podcast Pale Blue Pod

Moiya's PBS show Fate & Fabeled

Moiya's first podcast ExoLore

Grab some peanuts and Cracker Jacks and get your glove out from under your mattress. The baseball season might be over, but it's opening day for America's *real* pastime: trivia! There will be more twists than one of those curvy, slidy pitches...what are they called again? Settle in for a long, boring episode about the long, boring game that we can't help but love. We'll discuss the story behind the song "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", possibly make a mortal enemy of the National Peanut Board, debate the beneficial effects of lightning strikes on ERA, learn all about "outlaw" baseball leagues, and, of course, touch on Merkel's Boner, probably the worst play in baseball history! Wait, why are you snickering?

When Facts Machine does an episode about sports, somehow you leave with more information about the mysteriously accurate predictions of 19th century authors, the ability to pinpoint the true origin of referred pain in the tip of your right shoulder blade, and possibly the first viral marketing campaign than you do about sports themselves. Play ball!

Science Friday engagement producer, comedian, and inclusive science communicator extraordinaire Kyle Marian joins us for a gastronomical live show at Caveat all about FOOD. In a variety show of storytelling, audience challenges, and unrepentant culinary goofiness, we chew the fat, spill the beans, go bananas, and satisfy even the most voracious of trivia appetites. Tune in, and eat your heart out 😋

Hail to the Chief! It's an episode of Facts Machine all about U.S. presidents. Listen to find out why it's not safe to run for president in 2020, how to win friends and influence people to crowdfund your mausoleum, and which president was arrested for speeding in a horse-drawn carriage.

Boo! Did we scare you? No? Well maybe our most recent episode will do the trick (or treat)! This week, Rob, Noah, and Emily explore the overuse of Franken as a prefix, the spooky physics (or lack thereof) of ghosts, and the sex politics of ancient Egyptian mummies.

They say that that in space, no one can hear you scream…but since we host a podcast, we’re used to screaming fruitlessly into the void, so it’s fine! In this episode, Emily, Rob, and Noah explore the vast reaches of space, as well as all the ways that space reaches into each and every one of our lives. Tune in to discover why scientists are taking pictures of penguin poop from orbit, whether “Icy Chaos” is more than just a good name for a band, and who was the first person to drink alcohol on a planetary body other than Earth.

Come see our show THIS THURSDAY (5/16) 7pm Eastern at Caveat in NYC or via livestream from wherever you are!

For this Earth-themed show, we were joined by stand-up comedian & science writer Kasha Patel as well as Earth scientist, performer & educator Kristina Gustovich for deep dives on the deep interior of our planet, comedy about the climate, and trivia that’ll was into this world!

Kristina Gustovich: @mucho_gustovich

Kasha Patel: @Kashablanca

We're taking a break for a few weeks while we work on some *big plans*! In the meantime enjoy this episode of our unaired failures and musical interludes.

 

Have your lassos, pistols, and...sarsaparilla (?) at the ready, because this week Facts Machine is comin' atcha with some Wild West facts! Tune in to learn about real life re-enactments of your favorite dysentry-ridden computer game, the dromedaries that were once at home on the range, and the most infamous stagecoach robber in frontier herstory. Yee-haw!

Emily, Rob, and Noah went to Science Friday’s science trivia night, and they won! They also learned some interesting facts that they have brought back to share with you in this episode. Listen to find out why you shouldn’t cast your margaritas before swine, how to distinguish between a blue whale and a Soviet submarine, and whether the aurora borealis thinks you are worthy of applause.

Facts Machine Trivia Podcast has returned for a *second* episode! Listen to find out how a one-eyed astronomer, anthropomorphic trains, and the country of Finland relate to this week's early bird-friendly theme: Rise and Shine. We'd love to hear your thoughts, and even more so any facts that YOU have to share (it's kind of our thing). Hit us up on Twitter/Instagram at @FactsMachinePod!

Accompanied by special guest Dr. Latasha Wright, chief scientific officer at BioBus and Rob’s bio-boss, we finally share all the facts we’ve been dyeing to tell you! Tune in to learn all about the art, science, and history behind pigments and dyes—we hope it all soaks in! 

  

"I was laughing for half of the episode, and thinking for the other half!", "As funny as 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!'", "I love Facts Machine, but please don't open any more cellophane packages on-air." The above are all real reviews that our podcast has received! In this episode, Emily, Rob, and Noah review the reviewers--the professional and amateur opinion-havers whose input we've learned is apparently essential (please give us five stars!!!). Listen to find out how a little premature slander resulted in the Nobel Prizes, how a stay-at-home dad inspired the world to throw rotten comedy tomatoes at classic films in 140 characters or fewer, and why Parisians initially gave the Eiffel Tower two thumbs down.

Hi everyone!! COMING SOON: new episodes, new guests, new facts, same old puns! For now, please enjoy this episode of all the stuff that was too weird to put in a normal episode.

This week, Facts Machine becomes FaXXX Machine as Emily, Rob, and Noah discuss facts of a more...intimate...nature. Get your mind in the gutter with our titillating (hehehe) tales about the Urban Dictionary of the Victorian era, that time when Hemingway and Fitzgerald compared their penises at the Louvre, and a divine foreskin of purportedly cosmic proportions.

In this episode, we were joined by two out-of-this-world science communicators, astrophysicist and folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier, PhD & astronomer Dr. Mark Popinchalk, PhD for a show full of deep dives on deep space, comet-y about astronomy, and trivia that made us see stars!

Moiya's socials:

Twitter/TikTok/Instagram: @GoAstroMo

Mark's socials:

Twitter/TikTok - @MarkPopinchalk

Instagram - @Mark.Popinchalk

This week we’re joined by data science professor, standup comedian, and circus performer, Dr. Andrea Jones-Rooy to articulate, communicate, enunciate, extrapolate, debate, formulate…where was I going with this? OH RIGHT we’re talking about language. Word. 

Food fight!!! Grab a gluten-free communion wafer, a rotten tomato, or a cookie that thinks it's a cake, and get ready to throw them at Noah, Emily and Rob as they set the table and dig in to find out the precise gluten content of Jesus of Nazareth, the best uses for tomatoes, and the legal definition of a cookie.

 

Want to learn lots of cool stuff about The World Cup, but don’t want to have to learn anything about soccer itself? Do we ever have a podcast for you! In this episode, Noah, Emily, and Rob explore the crazy world of The World Cup. Listen to find out whether the 1958 World Cup in Sweden was really a hoax orchestrated by the CIA and FIFA, how soccer has opera to thank for its continued popularity, and what exactly is going on in the interim between a World Cup victory and the inevitable baby boom roughly 9 months later. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of it, just as soon as we google where babies come from. Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod

What will you leave behind when you die? If you're lucky, you'll leave behind the Earth when your ashes are blasted into outer space! Alternatively, you might pass on your birth date to an unlucky child born too close to Christmas. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll start a race to see who can have the most babies during the Great Depression. In this episode, Emily, Rob and Noah, the executors of the Facts Machine estate, explore the wacky world of wills, the legal documents that dictate what happens to your stuff when you die, the crazy things some people have left in them, and the crazy people who have done the leaving. Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod

Tickets for our Friday, 3/17 show "Taking A Brain Check"

Welcome to Facts Marine! Noah was joined live at Caveat in NYC by guest marine biologists and science communicators Jaida Elcock and Dr. Diana Li, PhD, as well as scientist and comedian Kyle Marian! Listen as they make waves, do deep dives on the deep sea, and have a “littoral” whale of a time!

Dino 101 host, science communicator, and dinosaur whisperer Dustin Growick is our guest for an episode NOT about dinosaurs (but don’t tell them, we’re sworn to secrecy). Instead, we put favorite museums on display and exhibit our finest trivia that has nothing to do with dinosaurs. Who needs ‘em, anyway?*

*jk, dinosaurs. We love you, dinosaurs.

 In this episode, we talk male show-vinism, tell the incredible story of an Irish pirate queen, and find out what female mice really want.

Tickets for our Friday, 3/17 show "Taking A Brain Check"

Live at Caveat in NYC, just days before Halloween, we were joined by folklorist to the stars, and astrophysicist to the folks, Dr. Moiya McTier, PhD! Listen in to learn about a threatening arrangement of triangles, the ballad of the Space Bat, and an Ohio pig farmer who dreamed of two things: 1) seeing the stars and 2) smashing Confederates...AND HE WAS ALL OUT OF STARS... Listen to Moiya over at her science-based world-building podcast, ExoLore! Watch Moiya over at her show on PBS Digital Services Fate & Fabled! Read Moiya over at her new book The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy!

It's our third birthday and fiftieth episode! We're joined by some familiar voices for a special anniversary episode!

In this marine biology themed episode, we were joined by fish expert Joshua Barber and squid expert Dr. Diana Li, PhD for deep dives on the deep sea, the laugh aquatic, and trivia that will show you the error of your waves. Josh: @joshbarbershop @gettingfishypod Diana: @dianateuthis.bsky.social

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Facts Machine Trivia Podcast! Listen to find out how swimming hieroglyphics, hitchhiking, and the casting of Tarzan are somehow connected to this week's theme: The Olympics. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making it. Let us know what you think! Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod

 

It would be criminal to miss this episode of Facts Machine! Let us steal your attention with gritty tales of (surprisingly) true crime, featuring Ohio bank robberies, anti-Stratfordian conspiracy theories, and mysteriously damp socks. Do your ears some justice and tune in!

“More intellectual than I expected.” Our listeners should expect nothing less from an episode of Facts Machine all about poop! Would you believe that in this episode we discuss the natural philosophy of Aristotle, the finer points of long-term space exploration, AND cutting-edge (or should we say, “surface-level”) biomimicry in engineering? Just to be clear, though, this is definitely an episode about poop. There will be jokes.

Come see our show THIS THURSDAY (9/19 7pm Eastern) in person in NYC or livestream from wherever you are!

In this Symbiosis-themed episode, we were joined by Dr. Kate Bredbenner and Hampton Humber for stories about synergistic species, comedy about critters coexisting, and trivia that mite live on your head rent-free!

Kate: @simplebiologist

Hampton: @Hampdman

Have you ever wondered whether some animals, despite the best efforts of the powerful pro-animal lobby to convince us otherwise (we’re looking at you, David Attenborough), just really suck? Odds are some of them are just going to be real jerks with no redeeming qualities, right? In this episode, Rob, Noah, and Emily debate the merits of jellyfish, pigeons, and spiders, and (with the exception of Rob’s fear that jellyfish hijinks will trigger a nuclear meltdown) come to the conclusion that these animals and many more do not suck, and that instead they are super cool and interesting. Ye who enter here, abandon all hope of avoiding a lengthy series of jokes about Panda sex. Twitter/IG: @FactsMachinePod Facebook: Facts Machine Podcast

Tickets for our Friday, 3/17 show "Taking A Brain Check"

Joined by special guest Jaida Elcock, shark scientist and grad student at MIT-WHOI, co-founder of Minorities in Shark Science (MISS), organizer of #BlackinMarineScienceWeek, and TikTok-er extraordinaire, we take a bite out of TEETH facts! Open (your ears) wide for aquatic melon ballers, the under appreciated craft of dentist office blogging, and a Michael Phelps race that never was, but totally should have been. And for the love of enamel, make sure to floss!!

Make no bones about it, in this second of three special anatomical quiz episodes, Rob tests Emily's and Noah's knowledge of his favorite organ, bones! 

Noah, Emily and Rob are back with a BAN-tastic episode all about bans, censorship, and prohibitions! Listen to find out why Ray Bradbury should have gone with Fahrenheit 2577, why you should watch your back if you’re the king who banned coffee, and which beloved children’s book character is not allowed in a Polish playground because he doesn’t wear pants. But be quick, before you know it, we could be banned too!

In this love-themed episode, we were joined by two beloved science communicators, chemist Adam Rosenzweig & neuroscientist Dr. Paula Croxson for a show full of deep dives on the deepest recesses of our hearts, comedy about commitment, and trivia you'll love at first sight!

Dr. Paula Croxson

Insta/TikTok/Twitter: @PaulaCroxson

Adam Rosenzweig

Twitter: @AdamTheChemist

Insta: @Adam_The_Chemist

TikTok: @AtomsAndBonds

You can learn a lot in a New York minute, but you can learn even more in sixty! Facts Machine is back with an episode all about our hometown, the Big Apple. Listen to learn why The Strand bookstore is the last shop standing from New York's legendary Book Row, why electric cars caught on in the 19th century only to be undermined by fragile masculinity, and why a New York sculptor has been creating monuments to fictional disasters all over the city.

Everybody knows that old joke, "What did the astrophysicist say to the folklorist? We are the same person..." Maybe it's funnier in the original Icelandic? To find out, we sought the only person we know who fits that description, Moiya McTier! Join Noah, Em, Rob, and Moiya as we discuss Erik the Well-Read, why Lucifer is definitely not from Iceland, and the power of a new pair of skin-pants! Bonus: they come with a pocket!

*Editor’s note: We had some catastrophic audio failures in this one, especially during the quiz. We were remotely recording early in the pandemic, and just about everything went wrong. Nonetheless, we hope you’ll enjoy the episode despite the sounds of the birds and cars, the echoes we couldn’t eliminate, and the fact that Noah’s whole quiz had to be pieces together from super compressed zoom audio!* We wanted to give our listeners the world...'s fair! We are joined by museum curator Kristina Parsons to dive headlong in the wide world of World's Fairs.

Don't hate, ventilate! In this first of three special anatomical quiz episodes, Emily tests Noah's and Rob's knowledge of her favorite organ, the lungs! Somehow, they end up debating the merits of different kinds of turtle bums. How? Who knows.

 This week Noah spills his guts in the finale of our three part anatomy quiz series! Guess along as Rob and Em try to distinguish real and made-up medical terminology and encounter fruity maladies and ambiguous pouches along the way.