Seriously researched answers to absolutely ridiculous questions. New episodes every week.
This episode Trace tries to track down the first word ever uttered by human kind and Julian gets confused about how reproduction works… again…
QUESTIONS
Julian: "What if every set of DNA passed on from each individual were identical, respectively?" from Brandon
Trace: "What was the first word?" from Tyler
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculou...
In this absolutely absurd episode, Dr Simon Clark ponders if human's could colonize an atmosphere like Jupiter's -- Star Wars Cloud City is on trial. Speaking of gas giants, Julian digs into the evolutionary experiment that could give rise to a vampire. But first, Trace leads us off by learning about the uneven distribution of kitty cat toe beans!
QUESTIONS
Julian: "What environmental pressures would have to be present to l...
🎉 Happy Anniversary to us!! 🎊
It’s been one year since we launched That's Absurd Please Elaborate and what an absurdly fun ride it's been. To celebrate we tweaked the show just a bit. Our special guest, producer/editor Kyle Sisk, has selected six listener-submitted questions for Julian and Trace to answer.
The catch? They only have five minutes to do their research.
I know right?
Important Reminder: This format means our hos...
Did you know scientists turned a swarm of crabs into a computer? Julian explores if it can play an old video game. Plus, our guest Deboki feels out animal pregnancy, and Trace learns that Ben Franklin wrote a eulogy for a pet squirrel.
QUESTIONS
Trace: "Would squirrels still be so annoying if we weren’t around to observe them?" from Deboki
Deboki "Can any mammals (other than humans) tell that they are pregnant? " from 80-hd N...
This time around, guest Hip Hop MD stamens your pistol and Julian admits (surprising no one) that he flows with nerd core.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "What rapper would make the greatest scientist, and what would their game changing discovery or invention be?" from Maynard
Maynard (Hip Hop MD): "What if people reproduced like plants do" from Anonymous
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about...
This week Julian explores the rocket science of farts. That’s a sentence that had likely never been written until this moment. Trace talks about the science of stasis, a.k.a hyper-sleep, a.k.a. cryo-freeze. As a bonus, we all get to learn the predictive powers of the 1993 classic film “Demolition Man.”
QUESTIONS
Julian: "How hard would I have to far to lift off the ground?" from Ricky
Trace: "Could hyper-sleep ever be a possi...
This episode Trace imagines what it would take to lock a world in darkness while Julian does something very suspicious with pineapples.
QUESTIONS
Trace: "Would it be possible to have a permanent solar eclipse?" from Aaron
Julian: "Is there an amount of pineapple that can dissolve a human body?" from Macks
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculo...
One year ago today we announced the launch of That's Absurd Please Elaborate. Now on this April Fools' day we have another exciting (and real!) announcement (because we're bad at marketing and didn't consider that announcing things on April 1st might cause people to doubt it's veracity).
ASK US A QUESTION
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridicul...
In this revolting episode, our guest Dr Sam Jones asks Julian to never see a man about a horse again, then she weeds out the filth in the animal kingdom, and finally Trace gives us a palate cleanser of starchy, potatoey goodness.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "If all humans never had to poop again — how would it affect the world?" from Sam
Sam Jones: "What is the filthiest absolutely disgusting animal" from Danielle
Trace: "What is the be...
This time on T.A.P.E. — Matt Krol digs into cinema history to answer a deathly serious question, and Trace is out cold answering a question mulled over by scientists for centuries.
Julian is helping out at NASA so he’ll be back next week.
QUESTIONS Trace: "Why EXACTLY is ice slippery?" from Matt Krol
Matt: “What actor has died the most in movies?” from Cole
For more of Matthew Krol’s wonderful work you can look on Nebula or Yo...
This week Julian wonders if you can really cook your jumblies with microwaves and 5G, and Trace dives into linguistics and chemistry to learn if the ocean is actually a very broth-forward soup.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "Microwaves are the most common way to use radiation to cook food, could we use radio, gamma, or X-Rays to cook food?" from Aaron
Trace: "What is soup?" from Silas
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea ...
This episode Trace indulges us with why chocolate is so popular on valentines day and Julian goes deep on why his body (and everyone else’s for that matter) is such a mess.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "Can the human body “design” be improved on intentionally" from Xander
Trace: "Why do people like chocolate so much on special holidays" from Lee
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nat...
In this episode, Trace wonders if "Weird" Al Yankovic influenced a generation of people to say "my back teeth are floating," and Julian time travels to the Triassic with a cold (and maybe a chicken).
QUESTIONS
Trace: "Why do my teeth feel like they are floating or vibrating when I really have to go to the bathroom. " from Spencer
Julian: "If you went back in time to see the dinosaurs, would they go extinct from the common col...
This episode Trace resets the solar system to see what life would look like on “Wee Earth” and Julian finally learns his left from his right thanks for particle physics.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "If I had some magic communicator to speak to someone in another galaxy, could I explain what "left" and "right" were?" from Anonymous
Trace: "How would have life evolved if Earth was two [to] three times smaller?" from Moma
Do you have an ab...
This episode we have special guest Ralph Crewe (Writer/Producer, Practical Engineering) who gets exhausted trying to explain continuous breathing, Julian mulls over the least pointy thing (shout out to Pod 007) and Trace takes a Mayan Bak-tun to explain why the heck there are 60 minutes in an hour.
QUESTIONS
Trace: "Are there other systems of timekeeping besides Hours/Minutes/Seconds?" from Julian
Ralph: "Can we evolve or eng...
This episode Trace cracks the mystery of nuts, and Julian tickles a moose and a buffalo* for science!? You’ll have to listen to find out!
QUESTIONS
Julian: "Is riding a moose more like petting a buffalo or tickling a grizzly bear?" from Brendan F.
Trace: "Are nuts actually fruit pits?" from Sandy in Seattle
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridicul...
In this week's episode, Julian tracks the history of toilet paper to its source, Trace gives a gorilla some workout advice, and special guest Vanessa Hill grows a whole human after an unfortunate fireworks accident.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "Before the invention of toilet paper, how did people relieve their bottom as to not clog the pipes?" From Vanessa
Trace: "How strong could a gorilla be if it knew proper bodybuilding techniques?...
This week Trace explains why organic doesn’t mean what you think it means and Julian researches whether grizzly bears have more biological variation than humans do!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. We're most thankful for YOU listening to this little show.
QUESTIONS
Trace: "If we only ate organic vegetables how many people would starve?" from listener Chris J.
Julian: "Why do humans come in so many more sorts of shape...
This episode Julian takes a pole on the magnetic dynamo inside our planet, and Trace explores how 19th century French landscaping grew on everyone.
QUESTIONS
Julian: "Could you wirelessly charge using the Earth’s magnetic field?" from listener 26Matso
Trace: "Who invented the Lawn?" from listener Brian M.
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculou...
In this (very scary) episode, Julian loses his head (no one seems to notice) and Trace unleashes the ultimate nightMare: an apex predator HORSE! WHINNY! THUNDER CLAP! ORGAN MUSIC!!!
QUESTIONS
Julian: "How long could we survive without a head?" from Trace
Trace: "What if horses were apex predators?" from listener Meg
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or...
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.