PODCAST

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate

Trace Elements Media

Seriously researched answers to absolutely ridiculous questions. New episodes every week.

science

All Episodes

01:15:45

Soaring to the Sweater-Powered Ozone Layer With Our...

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/06/26

A dry evening, the sunlight is waning behind the mountain as Detective Kyle and his plucky comic relief Julian find a sweatshirt strewn on the ground near the body…

01:05:24

How a Color Could Make You Faster and a Humidifier...

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/06/19

Trace WOOD really like you to know that Dr Sam Zelinka from the Forest Products Lab is really SWELL, and he is KNOT KIDDING (I’m out of puns). Also, Julian talks about airplanes (again).

01:01:52

Kiss a Boo-Boo and Drug a Dog

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/06/12

When I was a kid, I ran around a corner and a tree branch went right into my eye. Luckily, my mom kissed it and made it all better… or… was it my brain that made it better? And can dogs do that too? Brb, gonna go kiss my dog.

01:07:23

LIVE SHOW : Tunnels of Allergic Plants and Blinding...

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/06/05

This is our first LIVE SHOW ever!! We were invited to perform the podcast live at Smith College in Massachusetts and people actually came! Thanks for all your support these past two years. We wouldn’t be here without you all. Thank you!

01:05:57

Massacring Mosquitoes with a Billion Bananas - An...

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/05/29

Bananas are positively aching to murder you. They’re radioactive, they’re clones, they’re slippery, they’re filled with potassium (which explodes when it hits water). Ignore those mosquitoes over there in the corner, pay attention to this murderous banana! NO DON’T PULL THE CURTAIN

00:57:30

Chatty Planties Under Twin Suns | feat Maren Hunsberger

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/05/22

Turns out plants are absolute CHATTERBOXES! They talk so much that they make Julian look like a silent partner (he’s not). Instead, he uses a silly German accent to accost our guest Maren Hunsberger all about plant communication. And, speaking of intense interrogations, Star Wars’ Tatooine gets a lot of play in the pop-science space news, but here at home having two suns is way hotter, and also (surprisingly) WAY COLDER!

01:34:02

Americas? Gone. Half the Population? Gone! My...

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/05/15

Let’s just wait a minute while everyone logs on… just a miiiiinnuuuuute, OK do we? I think… Yes, we have everyone! Welcome y’all to our weekly corporate roundtable, before we get started let’s all do some SNAPS for Norm for his Thanos Post-Mortem! The deck was amazing and I think there were some incredible insights to share. But today we’re throwing it over to Trace to speak to our MISSING AMERICAS strategic initiative, and then later, Julian will unpack the objectives and KEY reports which, I think

01:06:23

"I Flick My Space Boogers at You" - the Sun, Probably

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/05/08

Ever notice that our fingers seem to fit perfectly in our nostrils? Is... is that supposed to be like that? Our Patreon subscribers picked this little gem so Trace dug deep to find an answer. Then Julian tries to figure out just what it would take to make a star-encapsulating super structure, better known as a Dyson Sphere.

01:31:59

TAPE Classic | Rump-Shaking Dyslexic Shrimp | feat....

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/05/01

Hi All! Trace and Julian are taking a bit of a break this week but fear not, we still have some content for you! This is one of our favorite old episodes where Julian learns the REAL alphabet, also known as the ABG’s (not a typo); Trace discovers we are all constantly online whether we like it or not by exploring the mysteries of WiFi; and special guest Dr Virginia Schutte dives into a super-powered animal propelled by twerking.

01:06:09

Internally Screaming Until Leap Year

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/04/24

This episode Julian tries to think of an even better calendar (too bad "Julian Calendar" was already taken) and Trace thinks a thought so hard his head hurts.

01:14:16

Belting Fly Brains and Melting Gold with Rain

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/04/17

Let’s get ready to RUMMMMMMMBBBLLLEEE!! In this corner, we have a normal human who is definitely not a psychopath, and in the opposite corner we have… a fly. Just like, a fly. Also Julian is here and has an amazing story about melting gold with acid rain!

01:11:29

Going Full Goron on the Himalayas

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/04/10

Tonight our chefs have prepared an all-natural pasture-raised and pristine ivory-hued plutonic entree, slow-cooked under rich, Indian-spiced tectonic compression for 50 million years, adorned with a constellation of tourmaline and garnet, presented alongside gossamer-thin schist ribbons. Then, for dessert, an insulative coating of CHOOH2 which should leave your myelinated neuronal strands feeling slick and hyper-conductive.

01:21:37

Forever and a Hair

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/04/03

In this episode, we learn Julian used to wear fedoras. He says, it’s been forever and a day, but I’m going to wait a Planck beard-second to see if that bears out. Before that, Trace combs through the hairy subject of human fur — about which he’s an experienced expert. Plus, like a hair on the tongue of your mind we just can’t seem to stop screaming about this one emo song.

01:11:44

Terminal Thoughts

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/03/27

Ever get caught in a light drizzle and think, "Ah, this is nice"? WELL WHAT IF IT WAS ACTUALLY HORRIFYING??? Julian explores the several ways air resistance keeps rainstorms from becoming catastrophic bombardments from the sky. Then Trace tries to get inside the mind of Julian's chihuahua. Turns out most of her thoughts boil down to "shake" and "bark".

01:08:18

Headaches Wheelie Hurt (I'm Sorry)

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/03/20

Wheel wheel wheel … this episode definitely gave us both a headache. I swear we’re not going to conquer every silly meme from your group text (or maybe we will?).

01:48:48

My Broccoli Dog Ate My English Homework | Feat. MJ Wu

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/03/13

This episode Trace tears into the age-old question, “What color should your English notebook be?” Special guest MJ Wu from the podcast Everything is Public Health looks at dogs and broccoli and somehow relates them to public health, and Julian attempts to find permanent sunscreen for his pale, pale, oh-so-pale skin. Is it gross? You betcha!

01:02:08

Honey, I shrunk the the… OjkdfiAGH!!

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/03/06

If you were shrunk REALLY ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᵣₑₐₗₗᵧ ₛₘₐₗₗ … would we be able to live? Did the documentary “Honey, I shrunk the kids” LIE to us?! Julian grabs his magnifying glass to learn Mor(anis). Meanwhile, Trace wants to know if … if the … uh, the … BLARG! IF SPEAKING A NONSENSE WORD can actually help!

02:03:47

Red Sky at Night Batman’s Delight! | feat. Yasmin Khan

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/02/27

Easter is around the corner, but where does that weird Bunny get all the eggs? And why are there eggs in the first place? Guest Yasmin Khan (The Young Turks) has an answer. Meanwhile, Julian explores the word of bat-style crime fighting on a budget and Trace explores if living on Mars would make us super aggro!

01:08:29

Outweigh. Outshine. Outlast.

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/02/20

Can the sun be beaten at its own game… OF BEING A SUN?! Julian shines some light on it. Meanwhile, as he spends time on the science of the extremely large, Trace gathers data concerning the massive impact of 0s and 1s. Note: they are very very very very smol.

01:04:42

Rounding Up 1+1

That"s Absurd Please Elaborate ·

2025/02/13

Happy love celebration week!! In honor of how much we LOVE our patreon subscribers, Trace and Julian answer two winners of our Patreon polls! It takes two 🎶 to make a dream come true 🎶 It just takes two — or is it three? What if it was three? Julian checks the math. Meanwhile, Trace (wait doesn’t that mean three again?) gets around in the animal kingdom, but not the waay you thiiiink!

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