Strange by Nature Podcast

41:55

Testing Soil with 2000 Pairs of Underwear

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/09/30

There is still a tiny bit of time to get your submission in to be a part of the 300th episode. Use your phone to create a short voice memo and email it to contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com. Include your name, where you listen from and a topic from the show that has been memorable for you.Kirk kicks things off this week with the strange story of scientists who had people bury 2000 pairs of mens cotton underwear in their gardens to watch how they decompose. It seems silly but it was a very serious

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43:27

The Animal Who Shall Not Be Named

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/09/23

What a fun episode this week. We didn't intend to but all of our topics nicely tie together.Victoria starts us off with a creature feature on Bee Eaters. These fascinating birds eat stinging insects as a regular part of their diet and are unharmed by the process. You know who else loves bees? The Brown Animal. Kirk talks about how the name for the large wild animal that eats honey was once taboo and the name "Bear" doesn't really mean bear. Rachel rounds out the show with another in her running

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43:22

Barf Out the Frog Babies

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/09/16

Rachel starts off with a nearly unbelievable story about frogs that raise their young inside their stomachs for six weeks.Victoria brings us...the Tuna! What's strange about tuna? You'll have to listen to find out. Kirk wraps things up by revisiting the topic of the oldest animals on Earth by looking this time at the oldest living things (other than animals) and the numbers get ridiculous. Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you

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40:17

How to Carry a Rhino

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/09/09

Kirk kicks off the show talking about the Rock Hyrax. These little furry critters have a wide array of strange things about them including being closely related to two very surprising and different relatives.Rachel stays in Africa with a deep dive on the White Rhino and surprising research that won the ignobel prize by figuring out if it is better to carry a rhino right side up or upside down. Victoria blows our minds by bringing us a story about sea cucumber "feet" that seem to be able to be torn

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36:23

A Strange New Kind of Spider Web

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/09/02

Victoria is back and she bring us the story of a new spider species with a bizarre web that flings ants into the air at incredible speed to trap them. It's a wild example of a novel solution to catching prey.Kirk then talks about how the Amazon Rainforest is made possible by dust blown from Africa. Strange but true, dust storms from a dried lake in Africa are a major supply of phosphorus for the rainforest and it all travels as dust on the tradewinds. Rachel talks about Caddisflies. These strange

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40:04

Hallucinating Voices Saved Her Life

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/08/26

Rachel starts us off this week with an absolutely wild story about a woman who heard voices in her head that somehow knew she had a brain tumor.Kirk then goes down a mind-bending rabbit hole exploring the question of just how long can an animal live? Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com where you can sign up for our

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40:48

Where Ice Grows in Summer

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/08/19

This week on the show Rachel and Kirk had a great time sharing their topics.Kirk starts off the show with a bizarre listener submitted tale of the Coudersport Ice Mine. In this bizarre mine, ice grows thicker in the heat of the summer and them, equally strangely, it melts in the cold of winter. Kirk looks at the history and geology of what's really going on. Rachel looks into the close connection between Ravens and Wolves. It turns out it is more complex than we previously thought. The new research

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34:46

Copper, Trees, and Booze

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/08/12

Victoria brings us the intriguing tale of Lusitanian flora. These are plants only found in Iberia AND southern Ireland. The reason they are in Ireland at all is a tale that goes back thousands of years and involves copper, trees, and booze.Kirk brings back a topic from last December because it turns out a dutch painter beat scientists to a discovery about bats by over 400 years. No one had looked closely enough at the painting to notice. Rachel rounds out the show with a fascinating profile on the

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35:44

The Amazing Jumping Snails

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/08/05

Rachel kicks things off this week with a fascinating look at the ancient relationship between moss and fungus.Victoria brings us a story about a bizarre form of locomotion. She brings us... Jumping snails (and slugs). Kirk's story this week is about the Japanese Tree Frog and how new research shows us that this small creature just might hold an amazing bacterial cure for cancers. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support

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47:22

Mushrooms Made Me See Pixies

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/07/29

We had a ton of fun with this week's show. Kirk starts us off with a story about the bizarre evidence for Heat Bursts. This strange weather phenomenon can create oven-like blasts of air seemingly out of nowhere.Rachel comes back to the ocean and tells us about Basking Sharks just in time for Shark Week. Victoria takes us on a trip with new research on a psychoactive mushroom species that seems to always make people see little imaginary people. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters

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41:07

The Bat that Eats Fish

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/07/22

Victoria brings us into the strange medical world of autosomal dominant diseases.Kirk brings us the strange sad tale of nutmeg. Sometimes a great plant turns into a curse. Rachel tells us about strange Fish Eating Bats. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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43:32

The Ancient Whale Graveyard

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/07/15

This week, Rachel continues her series on bears, this time with the utterly strange Panda Bear. Victoria tells us about the mysterious and recently discovered whale graveyard that has been around for millions of years. Kirk tells us about the Coldest Trees in the World. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com where you can

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40:24

Stay Out of the Water!

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/07/08

Kirk starts us off with a strange nematode parasite that causes spiders to drown themselves. Rachel also takes us to the water but we don't want to get in. She tells us about Lake Natron, a lake that will calcify anything that dies it in it and turn you to stone. Victoria tells us about cordyceps fungus and how it zombifies the insects it infects and causes them to engage in strange behaviors. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support

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42:50

The Mystery of Mars

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/07/01

Victoria takes a page from Kirk and brings us to space with some weird facts about Mars and how it got where it is. Kirk breaks our brains with a genealogy puzzle. When was the most recent common ancestor to all humans alive? The answer is bizarre. Rachel doesn't want to break our brains so she brings us a beautiful rainbow sea jelly. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email

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37:53

When Flowers go Wrong

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/06/24

Rachel tells us this week about spiny rats. These strange little mammals can actually drop their tails when in danger. Victoria brings us the fascinating topic of fasciation, when plant flowers go a bit wrong. These blooms get really weird. Kirk rounds out the show by talking about how plants are master manipulators and this time we discover that they can mimic the smell of ants attacked by spiders in order to attract pollinating flies. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on

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29:23

Glowing Termite Mounds of Brazil

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/06/17

Rachel shocks no one when she goes back to the ocean this week and comes up with the rather strange looking Goosefish.Not to be outdone, Victoria takes us to Brazil to see glowing termite mounds. It turns out, the glowing is actually click beetles. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com where you can sign up for our

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31:07

Birds with Ants in their Pants

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/06/10

This week Victoria tells us all about the bizarre process of Anting. What's that? That's when birds cover themselves with ants. Yeah, it's strange.Rachel follows that up with a story about the Hero Shrew, this cunning little guy is incredible and tough. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com where you can sign up for our

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35:43

Guard Duty Turns Dad into Cannibal

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/06/03

This week, Victoria brought us the Sand Bubbler Crab. These guys are wild. Native to the Indo-pacific, they breathe though their legs and they hide out underground in a bubble of air during high tide. That's just one of the reasons this strange little animals is called the Sand Bubbler Crab.Kirk brings us some research trying to solve the mystery of why Damselfish dads eat some of the eggs they are in charge of guarding. The answer isn't what you would expect...he's trying to help. Rachel brings it

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38:03

Mike the Headless Chicken

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/05/27

Once again we're back with weird tales from thsi amazing planet we live on. This week, Rachel tells us about Ichneumon wasps. They may look like they are out of a horror movie but these giant insects don't harm humans.Victoria delves into the history books to tell us about a famous celebrity, Mike the Headless Chicken. Spring is a time of migration so naturally Kirk is talking about birds and how research is showing that they use the magnetic field of the Earth to know when to eat extra food before

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43:09

Toad Licking

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/05/20

Kirk is up first this week and he brings us the wild truth behind Toad Licking.Rachel brings us a weird story of two unlikely buddies. Frogs and Tarantulas. Their relationship turns out to be beneficial to both. Victoria rounds out the show with a story of caterpillars that mimic snakes! The illusion is pretty amazing and even fools Rachel. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email

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