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PODCAST

Smartest Year Ever

The Smartest Year Ever began as a 365-day experiment in curiosity. In 2025, I dropped a new fact every single day. History, science, language, word origins, and strange true stories, all the stuff that somehow makes you sound smarter in conversation. The goal hasn’t changed: help you become the world’s greatest conversationalist.

education

All Episodes

00:05:36

Animal Xing Signs: When Do They Put Them Up? |...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/24

Why do some roads have deer crossing signs, while others get full-on wildlife bridges? In this episode, Gordy explores the strange, data-driven world of animal crossing signs—from the famous Christmas Island crab migration (where officials built actual crab bridges and underpasses) to moose crossings in North America, toad fences in Germany, and even squirrel skybridges in Washington State.Transportation departments don’t just guess where to put signs—they track wildlife-vehicle collisions,

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00:04:56

Pygmy Mammoths & Giant Mice: Island Syndrome |...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/23

On today’s Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the strange world of island evolution. Why do elephants become pygmy mammoths on the Channel Islands, while small creatures like rodents balloon into giants? Biologists call this phenomenon the island syndrome—also known as the island rule or Foster’s rule. It explains how insular dwarfism shrinks massive animals like mammoths and hippos, while insular gigantism super-sizes tortoises, Komodo dragons, and even pigeons into the now-extinct dodo.This

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00:04:47

The Longest Bird Flight Ever | Smartest Year Ever...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/22

How far can a bird really fly without stopping? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy explores one of the most extreme endurance records in the animal kingdom. It’s part of Animal Week, and today’s subject, the bar-tailed godwit looks ordinary on the beach—but in the air, it achieves something that pushes the limits of biology, navigation, and survival.From reconfiguring its body before migration, to navigating oceans with invisible cues, this is a story that blends evolutionary science,

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00:04:50

Who Really Invented the High Five? | Smartest Year...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/21

Who really invented the high five? Gordy takes us inside the surprising and surprisingly recent story of one of the world’s most universal gestures. From Dodger Stadium in 1977 to the University of Louisville basketball courts, this episode traces the origins of the high five, its ties to sports history, and its cultural journey from jazz slang to global celebration. Along the way, Gordy uncovers how the low five paved the way and why the high five spread faster than almost any other gesture in

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00:05:05

How Two Sisters Gave Us the World’s Most Famous Song...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/20

In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the surprising origin of Happy Birthday to You—a tune that began in a kindergarten classroom before becoming a global anthem sung billions of times a year. From the Hill sisters’ simple melody to a courtroom battle over copyright worth millions, this story traces how a cheerful school song turned into the world’s most recognized melody.Along the way, discover:The forgotten roots of “Good Morning to All”How the lyrics shifted into a universal

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00:04:08

The Strange Ways Museums Protected Art in WWII |...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/19

How do you protect priceless masterpieces when bombs are falling from the sky? During World War II, curators, historians, and ordinary citizens went to extraordinary lengths to shield art from destruction. From Michelangelo’s David bricked into a fortress in Florence, to the Mona Lisa’s secret escape from Paris, to the National Gallery’s underground vaults in Wales, the survival of Europe’s cultural treasures often came down to bold and unusual choices.In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy

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00:07:41

438 Days Adrift: The Longest Survival at Sea |...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/18

What does it take to survive over a year at sea with no engine, no oars, and almost no supplies?In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy unpacks the extraordinary true survival story of José Salvador Alvarenga, who drifted across the Pacific Ocean for 438 days—the longest recorded survival at sea. From brutal storms, starvation, and turtle blood, to unimaginable loneliness and resilience, this is a test of human endurance like no other.This incredible journey has been called one of the greatest

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00:05:44

The Science Behind the Worst Sound Ever | Smartest...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/17

Why does the sound of nails on a chalkboard make your skin crawl? Gordy digs into the science of sound aversion—from acoustic resonance in the 2,000–4,000 Hz frequency range to the way our amygdala and limbic system light up when we hear those unbearable screeches. Along the way, he explores possible evolutionary links to primate alarm calls, why screams cut through the noise, and why expectation and imagination can make the sound even worse.This episode blends psychoacoustics, neuroscience, and

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00:05:02

Who Were the Hasanlu Lovers? | Smartest Year Ever...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/16

Two skeletons found in a 2,800-year-old embrace have been called the Hasanlu Lovers—but what do we really know about them? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy explores the dramatic discovery at Teppe Hasanlu in northwestern Iran, where archaeologists uncovered a city frozen in time after its sudden destruction around 800 BCE.What makes these two skeletons so captivating? Why did the nickname “lovers” stick? And how much of their story is fact… and how much is just our imagination projected

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00:04:33

Why Tennis Balls Smell So Good | Smartest Year Ever...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/15

Why do tennis balls smell so good? Gordy dives into the surprising chemistry and psychology behind one of the most oddly satisfying scents in sports. From pressurized cans to vulcanized rubber, and from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the way smell ties into nostalgia and memory, this episode uncovers why cracking open a fresh can of tennis balls feels so addictive.If you’ve ever wondered why that first whiff is so distinctive—or why some perfumers even try to bottle the scent of new tennis

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00:06:33

Where Did Restaurants Really Begin? | Smartest Year...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/14

Where did restaurants really begin? Gordy dives into the surprising history of public dining, tracing the story from ancient Rome’s thermopolia to China’s Song Dynasty restaurant culture, and finally to 18th-century Paris, where a legal battle and a revolutionary shift in society reshaped how we eat today.Discover how early eateries weren’t just about food—they were about choice, menus, private tables, and freedom from guild monopolies. This Food Week finale reveals how the very idea of a

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00:06:17

The Human Bottomless Pit: The Tragic Story of Tarrare...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/13

In 18th-century France, a man named Tarrare became one of the most disturbing mysteries in medical history. Described by doctors as a “human anomaly”, Tarrare’s hunger was insatiable—his body seemingly a bottomless pit.He could devour live animals, garbage, raw meat, and even military secrets hidden inside wooden capsules. His strange condition baffled surgeons and generals alike, and his story continues to puzzle scientists and historians today.This episode dives into Tarrare’s bizarre life—from

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00:04:25

How Much Cocaine was in Coca-Cola? | Smartest Year...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/12

Did Coca-Cola really used to contain cocaine—and if so, how much was actually in every bottle? Gordy dives into the wild history of the world’s most iconic soft drink, tracing it back to its 19th-century origins as a coca-leaf tonic created by a morphine-addicted pharmacist. From Sigmund Freud’s praise of cocaine to the federal lawsuit United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola, this episode uncovers how the drink went from a controversial cocaine soda to a global brand that still

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00:05:25

The Strange Evolution of Ketchup | Smartest Year Ever...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/11

Ketchup has a surprising history that goes far beyond burgers and fries. In this episode, Gordy uncovers the strange global journey of this iconic condiment—one that started centuries before tomatoes ever entered the bottle.From its origins as a fermented fish sauce in Asia to the bizarre British experiments with mushroom ketchup and walnut ketchup, and finally to Henry J. Heinz transforming it into the sweet, shelf-stable tomato version we know today—this is a food story you’ll never look at the

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00:03:47

Do Dolphins Drink Water? | Smartest Year Ever (Sept...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/10

Do dolphins drink water—or do they get hydrated another way? Gordy dives into the fascinating world of dolphin biology, osmoregulation, and marine mammal physiology to answer a surprisingly tricky question: how do dolphins survive surrounded by salt water? This episode explores metabolic water, reniculate kidneys, and the unique strategies dolphins use to stay hydrated in the ocean. Along the way, you’ll learn why drinking seawater is deadly for humans, how dolphins process salt differently, and why

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00:04:43

Forks Were Once Considered Sinful | Smartest Year...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/09

How could a simple eating utensil be branded as effeminate, foreign, and Satanic? In this Food Week episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy explores the surprising history of the fork—from its scandalous debut in Byzantine courts to the fiery backlash of Italian clergy, who claimed God gave humans fingers for a reason.Discover why forks were linked to the Devil’s pitchfork, how a Venetian noblewoman’s utensil habits were blamed for divine punishment, and why early travelers mocked anyone who dared

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00:06:44

Still Edible After 3,000 Years? The Oldest Food Ever...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/08

It’s the first day of Food Week on Smartest Year Ever—and we’re starting with one question: what’s the oldest food in the world that’s still edible?Gordy explores the wild history of ancient food preservation: from a 3,000-year-old jar of Egyptian honey, to mysterious lumps of bog butter, to carbonized loaves of Pompeii bread and even Civil War hardtack that soldiers once chewed like stone.These foods reveal more than just survival—they show us the chemistry of preservation, the archaeology of food,

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00:04:38

Zipf’s Law: The Math Behind Every Sentence | Smartest...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/07

What if the words you speak every day were secretly following a mathematical law? In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy explores Zipf’s Law, a strange and consistent pattern that shows up not just in language, but in city populations, company sizes, website traffic, and even earthquakes.Discovered by linguist George Zipf in the mid-20th century, this power-law distribution reveals how some words (like the) dominate language while others appear rarely—yet the ratio follows a clear

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00:06:04

Able Archer 83: The 1983 NATO Drill That Almost...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/06

In November 1983, NATO staged a military exercise called Able Archer ’83—and the world came closer to nuclear war than almost anyone realized at the time. During this heightened moment of the Cold War, miscommunication, paranoia, and cutting-edge espionage collided in ways that could have ended life as we know it.From the KGB’s Operation RYaN, to the paranoia fueled by Reagan’s “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative, to the inside intelligence from double agent Oleg Gordievsky, this near-miss

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00:04:35

The World’s Tallest Unclimbed Mountains | Smartest...

Smartest Year Ever ·

2025/09/05

The World’s Tallest Unclimbed Mountains are some of the last great mysteries of exploration. While Everest is packed with climbers every season, a handful of towering Himalayan and Karakoram peaks remain completely untouched by human footsteps.In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the fascinating mix of reasons why these giants are still unclimbed—ranging from sacred bans in Bhutan, to political frontiers in Pakistan and China, to sheer technical impossibility. From Gangkhar

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368 results

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