NO SUCH THING

For this episode, we make our way back into the bathroom as we go deep on showering. How often should you actually shower? What’s the proper way to do it? Do you actually need to wash your legs every time? How long should your shower last? Should you be using a loofah — or are they actually bad for you? Our guests this week are Katherine Ashenberg, author of The Dirty on Clean: An Unsanitized History and board-certified dermatologist Dr. Lisa Akintilo. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's episode, we're putting on our true crime hats to get to the bottom of what happens to properties after high-profile murders occur inside of them. We talk to journalist Catherine Fenollosa, who shared with us her interview with Randall Bell, A.K.A. the “Master of Disaster.” For decades, it’s been Randall’s job to manage and help sell the property where these kind of tragedies happen. From Nicole Brown Simpson’s condo, to the “Heaven’s Gate” mansion, to the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Randall has seen it all, and shared some incredible insights into this kind of work. This episode was produced with the help of America’s Crime Lab, a podcast on our network at Kaleidoscope. Follow us on Instagram and sign up for our newsletter at nosuchthing.show. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So everyone knows Taylor Swift is one of the most popular musicians of all time, but how does she stack up to giants of the past like Michael Jackson and The Beatles? No matter how many reports of new chart records, we can’t shake the feeling that someone like MJ just had a larger cultural impact worldwide. This week, we crunch the numbers to see the true size of the Swiftdom we live in. Our guest this week is Chris Dalla Riva, author of Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. For more, check out our newsletter. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, folks. This week, NO SUCH THING is hosting Origin Stories, a new podcast from Campside Media. Each week, veteran journalist Matthew Shaer talks to a different writer or director about the creation of a work close to their own hearts, and this episode is the perfect example. Palestinian filmmaker Yousef Srouji is the creator of the critically-acclaimed documentary "Three Promises," which uses his mother’s old home video footage to tell an intimate story of life during the Second Intifada. Srouji talks to Matthew about coming to documentary film as a newbie and learning the tools of the trade on the job. He also discusses the difficulty of finding distribution for “Three Promises,” despite the project being largely apolitical. Listen to Origin Stories. NO SUCH THING will be back next week! Don't forget to cast your votes for the Signal Awards. We've been nominated for: Best Buddy Podcast and Activism, Public Service, & Social Impact for our episode about Online Pedophile Hunters.  Follow us on Instagram and sign up for our newsletter at nosuchthing.show Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at  or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we’re asking: what do you do when your favorite artist becomes a self-proclaimed N*zi? And we dive into the new documentary In Whose Name?, which claims to show Kanye in a new light.  Don't forget to cast your votes for the Signal Awards. We've been nominated for: Best Buddy Podcast and Activism, Public Service, & Social Impact for our episode about Online Pedophile Hunters. Follow us on Instagram and sign up for our newsletter at nosuchthing.show. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why does it seem so common that modern sculptures of iconic figures look so bad? Soccer star Ronaldo, NBA legend Dwyane Wade, and even the great Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. have been frankly disgraced by sub-par and strange renditions. Is creating a great statue a lost art, or are we being unfair? This week, we talk to a real sculptor to find out.  Our guest this week is John Belardo.  To follow along with the sculptures in the episode, check out our newsletter or Instagram. Some exciting news, we’ve been nominated for two (2) Signal Awards: Best Buddy Podcast and Activism, Public Service, & Social Impact for our episode about Online Pedophile Hunters. If you’re feeling generous, head over to those links and vote for us :)) Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is therapy exactly, and what is it supposed to do? How do you know if you need therapy? If you’re in therapy, how do you know if it’s working? NO SUCH THING talks to Lilly Kaplan, therapist and author of the Reality Test newsletter, who gracefully demystifies the practice of therapy for us and answers a barrage of questions. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do some people seem to suffer the ills of foodborne illness at an alarming frequency, while others cruise through rare steaks unimpeded? In this episode, we bravely (or foolishly) ask: does food poisoning actually exist? This week, we talk to food safety experts to find out what food poisoning actually is, where it comes from, and what  you can do to avoid it. Also discussed: Did your family have a dedicated bowl to vomit in? Will leftover rice kill you? And do you have to wash your chicken?  Our guests this week are Dr. Ben Chapman, Extension Food Safety Specialist at North Carolina State University, and food safety lawyer Bill Marler.   Check out Ben’s podcast Food Safety Talk. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we’re turning our attention to our weather apps. Are they getting worse? Are Trump’s DOGE cuts to blame? Why don’t we use feels like as the default temp? And what does the percentage of precipitation (PoP) actually mean? Then, we answer a listener's question on how Spotify’s shuffle feature actually works. Check out Heather McCalden’s “The Observable Universe.” The last track in this week’s episode is from Certain Self’s  “Girl in the Walls” from his new EP You Look Tired. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we settle your dumb arguments. Yup, it’s mailbag time. We’ll argue about the RIGHT way to load a dishwasher, revisit a right-wing conspiracy theory about cat litter in schools, solve an intersection conundrum involving a funeral procession and a school bus, and finally reveal how this beautiful friendship actually began. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Manny, Noah, and Devan revive a debate from almost a decade ago, albeit with modern framing: if you're in a relationship, and you're romancing an AI chatbot, should that be considered cheating? They chat to Tatum Hunter, tech reporter for the Washington Post, and couples therapist Jeff Guenther, better known as Therapy Jeff. And finally, they decide to try it for themselves, and go on a date with an AI chatbot. Check out Tatum's work here, and scroll through Therapy Jeff's Instagram for wisdom and advice. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might remember To Catch a Predator with Chris Hansen, but now streamers are making their own version, and they’re a lot more violent. New York Times reporter Aric Toler takes us inside the world of modern-day “pedophile hunters,” while Stefan Turkheimer, VP of Public Policy at RAINN, shares what justice could—and should—look like for survivors. Check out Aric's visual investigation on online pedophile hunters. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you are not alone. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and en Español. Call 800.656.HOPE (4673), chat at hotline.RAINN.org, or text "HOPE" to 64673.  Additional music for this episode by Zeno Pittarelli, check out his new project You Look Tired. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we take a deep dive into the frustrating conundrum of the kids menu. Why would a restaurant show me they’re capable of making a delicious and adorably small offering of chicken nuggets, only to restrict it to those fortunate to be 12 years old or younger? Are these restrictions an economic necessity, a moralizing judgment, or something else? We speak with a few industry insiders to learn the history of the kids menu and put these limits to the test.  Our guest this week is Kate Lindsay, longtime sufferer at the hands of Big Kids Menu, host of Slate’s internet culture podcast ICYMI and writer of the newsletter Embedded. Thank you to our restaurant industry expert Lori Rakoczy from Technomic, and our anonymous movie theater server.  If you liked this episode, check out Ep. 11: Can you cure picky eating? (w/ Search Engine) Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286‬ For more, subscribe to our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.showSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, we discuss the fatigue people have been feeling around franchise movies, particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But where did franchise movies come from, and how did virtually all of Hollywood become so fixated on this kind of film? Walt Hickey, author of You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything, walks us through the weeds on this, and gets to the bottom of our questions. Walt is also the author of Numlock News. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates and bonus content. Have a question you want us to tackle? Email us: mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail: ‪(860) 325-0286. NO SUCH THING is a production of Kaleidoscope Content, executive produced by Kate Osborn and Mangesh Hattikudur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s episode was inspired by Susan Dominus’ new book “The Family Dynamic.” The book profiles six families with multiple successful siblings and analyzes the factors that have contributed to their success.  Subscribe to our newsletter for updates and bonus content: www.nosuchthing.show  Have a question you want us to tackle? Email us: mannynoahdevan@gmail.com Or leave a voicemail: ‪(860) 325-0286See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a wild stat that’s floated around basketball circles for a long time: A 7-foot (or taller) American man has a 17% likelihood of being an NBA player. This week, we try to find out if this statistic holds true, and along the way we learn how extremely rare it is to be so tall, why the number of seven-footers in the league saw a dip, and… the case for socialized medicine? Our guests this week are Barry Bogin, Björn Quanjer, Guillaume Lettre, Stereogum’s Tom Breihan, and The F5’s Owen Phillips. Check out Owen’s basketball newsletter, The F5: https://thef5.substack.com/  Tom Breihan, “On Being a Giant” & his book: The Number Ones For more, please subscribe to our newsletter www.nosuchthing.show  Have a question you want us to tackle? Email us: mannynoahdevan@gmail.com Or leave a voicemail: ‪(860) 325-0286‬See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of you called our hotline and sent emails seeking our advice, and we are here to help. From party invitation etiquette, to a coupon fiasco straight out of a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, the boys give their takes and dole out some help. And for more, check out our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show. If you have a question you want us to answer or want to be featured in our next advice episode, email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or give us a call at (860) 325-0286‬.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s not just nostalgia or low-res photos—there may actually be biological and cultural reasons why people in the past looked so old. To get to the bottom of it, I spoke with Dr. Caroline Hudson, a facial plastic surgeon based in Chicago and co-author of Analysis and Assessment of Facial Aging.  To see the images we reference, check out our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show. Want advice from Manny, Noah, and Devan? Leave a message at (860) 325-0286‬ or email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com. Like this episode? Check out Why does Dasani water taste like that? Follow Dr. Caroline Hudson on Instagram. Original music for this episode produced by Zeno Pittarelli.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some conspiracy theories are fun, but many end up being dark and concerning. When someone is in too deep, what would it take to pull them out of the rabbit hole? Journalist Zach Mack ventured to find out in his show, Alternate Realities over at NPR, and on today's episode, he debriefs us. Listen to Zach's show Alternate Realities on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And for more, check out our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show. If you have a question you want us to answer, email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our whole lives, we’ve been told the pullout or withdrawal method is not a legitimate form of birth control and a fast-track way to becoming a parent. Some have even referred to it as the pull-and-pray method. But reproductive health researcher Andréa Becker makes the argument that the pullout method “is not the enemy of public health it’s been made out to be” if done correctly.  Pre-order Andréa’s book Get It Out: On the Politics of Hysterectomy. For more, check out our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show, and if you have an argument you want us to settle, email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com. Like this episode? Check out Episode 3: Why are slurs making a comeback? Original music for this episode produced by Zeno Pittarelli.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.