Stuff You Should Know Podcast

I love learning new stuff. Not just in a “man, learning is neat” kind of way but in a “gimme, gimme, gimme all the things to learn” kind of way. But this is not just a selfish kind of desire for knowledge, it also has to do with how we school our kids. We want our kids to always be learning and the best way to do this, is to show them that you are always learning yourself. One of the ways I do this, is by listening to great podcasts like Stuff You Should Know. The title kind of says it all although if it were completely accurate, the title maybe could be “Stuff That is Cool to Know But is Not Entirely Useful to Know.”

Stuff You Should Know or SYSK is a podcast from the folks behind the excellent HowStuffWorks.com and generally chooses one subject and digs deeply into it. Besides the content, my favorite thing about the podcast are the hosts, Chuck and Josh. They come into each show very well prepared with a wide variety of information about the given subject and they play off of each other very well. They are entertaining, humorous and seem genuinely interested in the material that they are presenting. This makes it easier for us as listeners to come along for the ride.

Some of my favorite recent episodes include “Polar Bears” (did you know that their fur is translucent?), “How Food Tasters Work” (not a fun sounding job at all) and “Jellyfish, Cooler than Octopi?” (jellyfish can kill an adult human, what the…????). If those don’t sound interesting, they have more than 100 other episodes to choose from and new ones are released regularly.

So, if you want to keep recharging that brain of yours, the Stuff You Should Know podcast is a great place to start. It will make you a better teacher for your kids and you just might learn something that will save your life. WATCH OUT FOR THAT KILLER JELLYFISH!