DiscoverYour Brain on Facts
Your Brain on Facts

Your Brain on Facts

Author: Moxie LaBouche

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Host Moxie LaBouche brings you a weekly half-hour of things you didn't know, things you thought you knew, and things you never knew you never knew. Topics range from the history of nursing to the Balinese funeral rite David Bowie requested, from the origin of the Vulcan salute to the theft of Canada's strategic maple syrup reserve. This is your brain on facts. yourbrainonfacts.com

230 Episodes
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YBOF's gonna take a break for a month or two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 200, part 2!

Episode 200, part 2!

2022-07-0553:09

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Episode 200!!!!

Episode 200!!!!

2022-06-2851:17

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How hard was it to steal the Mona Lisa? What does the word "ponzi" actually mean? Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
(Chronic health problems sometime require an encore performance of a past episode.) Hundreds dead, thousands homeless, entire communities wiped out, yet most of us have never heard of what happened in Rosewood 1923, Tulsa 1921, or Chicago 1919. Music by Kevin MacLeod   Read the full script. Reach out and touch Moxie on FB, Twit, the 'Gram or email. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What do limestone, leather, plastic and mulberry tree bark have in common? They've all been used to make money, plus lots of other materials besides! Join me for a quick jaunt around the world and through history and we look at a fraction of the history of currency. Shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, Steve Oxen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Who was General Tsao of chicken fame? Where do Danish pastries come from? Is pad Thai actually Thai food? All that and more in this patron-voted episode! 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How did rubber ducks go from lumps of rubber that didn't even float to a cheerful childhood staple? Let's look at where they came from, where they're going, and why they keep showing up at violent political protests. 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross 00:38 Bit of backstory 07:13 Bert's best buddy 10:25 Review, patrons, thanks! 12:00 Ducks for charity or science 17:58 Giant ducks, wild and domestic 20:16 Can You Hear The Duckies Sing? 22:45 THE Rubber Duck Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Finally, I get to the subtopic that launched not one but two episodes, the Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet, as well as the most interesting boring thing I could find and why science didn't get a handle on scurvy until nearly WWII. (Apologies in advance because I was red-lining my mic throughout and I have no idea why -- I'd been doing VO jobs all day with no such issue.) 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross  01:03 Ye scurvy dog 08:27 Gratitude et al 11:30 The doldrums 15:49 Livestream for the Cure 17:46 The Gentleman Pirate, Stede Bonnet  Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What started as a need to tell the real story of "Gentleman Pirate" Stede Bonnet has turned into a myth vs history two-parter! I love when that happens. Hear about pirate pensions, the makeup of the mariners, and civil unions on the seven seas. Special thanks to Charlie and Jesse over the in Brainiac Breakroom for help with the title. 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross    Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, and Tabletop Audio Calm History Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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It's the return of our occasional series, We Can't Have Nice Things. This week, we look at radio contest and promotions that went badly wrong, often at the draft stage. Free nude wedding anyone? 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross at yourbrainonfacts.com/merch  02:45 Radio Luxembourg's Ice Block Challenge 06:02 Bait & switch 10:12 Rules are rules 17:36 Review and news 20:40 No accounting for taste 22:15 Library of Chaos 27:27 Good, better, breast 30:08 Playing matchmaker  Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, Bobby Richards .   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear leather jackets with chains, long hair, and lots of eyeliner! Today we look at three times heavy metal musicians said "We're not gonna take it" and defended the freedom of speech, but were they "Breaking the Law" and just "Howl(ing) at the Moon"? 0:42 Twisted Sister vs Congress 17:07 Reviews and news 19:58 Ozzy Osbourne's Suicide Solution 26:20 Judas Priest, Better Than You 28:28 Subliminal back-masking 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross at yourbrainonfacts.com/merch Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People used to say "If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you," but they really should have said, "I have some lovely acres in the Republic of Poyais you can buy, but you have to act now!" Presenting one of my favorite con artists ever, the man who declared himself prince of a South American country that didn't exist, Gregor MacGregor (yes, that's really his name). Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Want to start a podcast or need a better podcast host? Get up to TWO months hosting for free from Libsyn with coupon code "moxie."   Remember back in episode 155, Hate to Burst your Bubble, we talked about, among other things, the Florida real estate boom and bust of the 1920s? It’s where we get the phrase, “if you believe that, I have some real estate in Florida to sell you.” 100 years before that, we could have been saying, “I have some acreage in Poyais to sell you.” Never been to Poyais? Trust me, it’s amazing. The weather is always perfect, sunny and warm. Located along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, the soil of Poyais is so fertile, you can get three harvests of corn a year. The trees are heavy with fruit and the forests teem with entrees in the form of game animals. If you look into the rivers, you’ll not only see water cleaner and more pure than you’ve ever seen in your life and more fish than you could hope to catch, but in the river bed, the sparkle of gold fills your eyes, not from flecks and dust, but nuggets as big as walnuts, just laying there, waiting for you to scoop them up. The only thing missing is settlers to develop and leverage its resources to the fullest. Wanna get your share? Better hurry; hundreds of people are investing all their savings in a piece of the perfect Poyais. All you have to do is [] to the Cazique or prince. Who is the prince of this equatorial new world paradise? A Scotsman named Gregor MacGregor.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
(Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/MOXIE - Enter promo code MOXIE for 83% off and 3 extra months free!) T-shirt for Ukraine, all proceeds and matching donation to Ukraine Red Cross at yourbrainonfacts.com/merch There are four Sundays a month, but more than a dozen days we call "Black Sunday." Here are three -- two forces of nature and one parade of schadenfreude. 02:42 Black Blizzard 12:45 Bondi Beach 24:42 Disneyland Quote reader: Vlado from It's Not Rocket Surgery Promo: Remnant Stew Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Dan Lebowitz, Kevin MacLeod,  Want to start a podcast or need a better podcast host? Get up to TWO months hosting for free from Libsyn with coupon code "moxie."   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Who you gonna believe -- me or your lying eyes? Today we look at court cases where people try to avoid taxes by arguing that things aren't the things that they clearly are. 00:50 Tomato 08:18 Jaffa Cakes 17:48 Hydrox vs Oreo 37:40 X-Men Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod,  Want to start a podcast or need a better podcast host? Get up to TWO months hosting for free from Libsyn with coupon code "moxie." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our Patrons have a nose for good topics, so today we  07:04 Smells and space  14:40 Ham-sniffer 21:17 It's the pits 30:48 Aromatherapy Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, and The Mini Vandals.  Sources: https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/premium-iberian-ham-sniffers-are-tired-from-sniffing-so-much-ham https://www.rd.com/article/outer-space-smell/ https://www.gentside.co.uk/food/spains-ham-sniffers-prepare-for-a-hectic-season-sniffing-800-hams-daily_art8817.html https://www.rd.com/article/outer-space-smell/ https://www.rd.com/list/foods-banned-space/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EBdhpSh7_I&ab_channel=Mashable https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/cyanide_tech.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/nasas-sniffer-job.htm https://theconversation.com/six-curious-facts-about-smell-128533 https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-associate-memories-so-strongly-with-specific-smells-5203963 https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smell-disorders https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-does-food-taste-bad-on-airplanes.html https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/sfa/aac/silver-snoopy-award https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smell-disorders#2 https://theplaidzebra.com/odour-tester-chocolate-taster-strange-careers-diverge-traditional-9-5/ https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/coverstories/this-job-stinks-from-one-who-knows/article_66ce8eb0-7066-51be-8081-be9bcc24c8be.html https://www.statista.com/topics/5174/essential-oils/ https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-associate-memories-so-strongly-with-specific-smells-5203963 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-smelling-test-the-genetics-of-olfaction-2192370.html https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/blog/essential-oils-cats/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/aromatherapy/faq-20058566 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why did no one tell me about Moms Mabley?!! Hear about her and other 'living loud and proud' ladies (Dorothy Parker, Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead) on this International Women's Day. 01:00 Tallulah Bankhead 13:00 Mae West 23:00 Moms Mabley Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen. Sources: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/204532%7C103917/Mae-West/#biography https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mae-West https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52283/13-things-you-might-not-know-about-mae-west http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/04/this-day-in-history-mae-west-is-sentenced-to-10-days-in-prison-for-writing-directing-and-performing-in-the-broadway-play-sex/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tallulah-Bankhead https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/05/real-cruella-de-vil-tallulah-bankhead https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/09/theater/theater-the-pain-behind-the-laughter-of-moms-mabley.html https://dorothyparker.com/gallery/biography https://bookshop.org/books/your-brain-on-facts-things-you-didn-t-know-things-you-thought-you-knew-and-things-you-never-knew-you-never-knew-trivia-quizzes-fun-fa/9781642502534?aid=14459&listref=books-based-on-podcasts https://www.mamamia.com.au/tallulah-bankhead-cruella/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Voted on by our Patreon, we dive into the deadly side of sculpture, painting, ballet and more! 01:36 Blucifer 04:00 Get the lead out 10:00 Ballet blazes 20:45 Death by a thousand face 26:43 The Conqueror and the conquered Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen. Sources: https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-ballet-girls-who-burned-to-death/71244/ https://www.racked.com/2017/12/19/16710276/burning-dresses-history https://www.oddee.com/item_99203.aspx https://bookshop.org/books/your-brain-on-facts-things-you-didn-t-know-things-you-thought-you-knew-and-things-you-never-knew-you-never-knew-trivia-quizzes-fun-fa/9781642502534 https://www.armco.org.uk/asbestos-survey-news/asbestos-was-used-as-fake-snow-in-many-old-hollywood-movies/ https://www.grunge.com/267772/the-amazing-life-and-tragic-death-of-lon-chaney/ https://www.dogfordstudios.com/killer-art-art-that-has-actually-killed-people/ https://news.artnet.com/art-world/7-deadly-art-materials-to-watch-out-for-1081526 https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/how-important-is-lead-poisoning-to-becoming-a-legendary-artist/281734/ https://noahchemicals.com/blog/the-toxic-histories-of-five-famous-pigments/ https://www.dogfordstudios.com/killer-art-art-that-has-actually-killed-people/ https://owlcation.com/stem/Cinnabar-A-Beautiful-But-Toxic-Mineral-Ore-and-Pigment https://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/newsroom/blogs/its-snowing-asbestos-the-haunting-truth-about-the-white-christmas-killer-set-and-continued-imports-and-use/ https://www.cpr.org/2019/11/04/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-blucifer-the-demon-horse-of-dia https://www.burlington-record.com/2021/06/11/blucifer-just-turned-13-but-the-family-of-the-artist-who-died-creating-it-would-prefer-you-dont-call-it-that/ https://www.livescience.com/64224-sculptor-unknowingly-poisons-herself-with-her-own-art.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Necessity is the mother of invention and these inventions had real mothers! Hear about Black female inventors, the tribulations of research, and a story I didn't expect to find and couldn't pass up. 01:00 L'histoire  06:36 Martha Jones's corn husker 07:55 Mary Jones de Leon's cooking apparatus 08:56 Judy Reed's dough kneader-roller 10:30 Sarah Goode's folding bed-desk 11:40 Sarah Boon's ironing board 17:15 Lyda Newman's hairbrush 19:33 Madam CJ Walker's Wonderful Hair-grower 22:03 Biddy Mason Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen. Sources: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mason-bridget-biddy-1818-1891/ https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14756308/biddy-mason-california-black-history https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/biddy-mason-memorial-park https://alliesforracialjustice.org/shark-tank-in-the-1800s-black-women-reigned-in-household-inventions/ https://interestingengineering.com/black-inventors-the-complete-list-of-genius-black-american-african-american-inventors-scientists-and-engineers-with-their-revolutionary-inventions-that-changed-the-world-and-impacted-history-part-two https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2021/02/08/revolutionizing-cooking-mary-jones-de-leon/id=129701/ https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/lyda-newman https://interestingengineering.com/black-inventors-the-complete-list-of-genius-black-american-african-american-inventors-scientists-and-engineers-with-their-revolutionary-inventions-that-changed-the-world-and-impacted-history-part-two https://laist.com/news/la-history/biddy-mason-free-forever-the-contentious-hearing-that-made-her-a-legend-los-angeles-black-history   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Comments (26)

Denise Nichols

I LOVED. THIS ! GIVE MOM A 5TARS !!!!

Mar 28th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Do what you need girl !! we love you,want to be kappy,whatever you need to do. Stay healthy & happy!!!

Feb 11th
Reply

Denise Nichols

.funn88 ly when listen back to your old podcasts. Your critics on your old podcasts make me smile. I know now you must have been so exhausted. love you girl

Jan 6th
Reply

Denise Nichols

I love this woman! she brightens my day.Unfortunatly I know she's dealing with some health problems and I miss her so .I just listen to these over and over. In a way,I'm lucky,Im so old my first pet was a T*Rex so all the episodes are new to me ever time !! I wish you the best Moxie Girl !!!

Dec 19th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Still here ! Miss ya Moxie so I'm going thru everything again.

Nov 28th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Moxie Girl..I love your voice,you tongue in cheek humor.You are so clever ,making me laugh many times during each podcast. I know your having health issues,as I am. It's a struggle ,yet you always put your sassy ass into each podcast. Sending a warm hug to you.

Nov 12th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Take. all the time you need Moxie.A person has to protect and care for their self.Its not selfish. Do you !

Nov 4th
Reply

AleXander Garcia

Slapped by a yeti! 🤣🤣🤣

Oct 18th
Reply

Happy⚛️Heretic

Always interesting! The host's voice is relaxing & smooth like butter.

Apr 8th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Founds like Freud had some serious issues. I think his daughter being a lesbian is just wonderful! It must of made him crazy.The great Freud was unable to " cure" his own daughter so in turn he torture"s her for years with his creepy interest in her fantasies and trys to shame her in a way by making her sit in a chair on the stage while he talks. . Makes me laugh that he was addicted to cocaine and sucked on cigars. Bravo to his daughter for being strong enough to live her life as she wished!!!

Aug 11th
Reply

Denise Nichols

Moxie is the best !!! wonderful facts given in a delightful lighthearted way. I can't see anyone not enjoying this podcast. I've been here since day 2. I'm 70,my memory often evades me so I can go from Ep.1 all the way to the end then start all over! It's great! Carry on girl !

Jul 24th
Reply

Happy⚛️Heretic

🎧This is an example of everything a podcast should be!

Apr 27th
Reply

Denise Nichols

April Fool's switcheroo! I like it.Always fun to hear an episode from another podcast that your favorite podcaster thinks is good. Gives you something to listen to while waiting for others to be dropped.

Apr 2nd
Reply

Denise Nichols

Women can make fierce fighters bc they've been fighting all their lives just to keep from being attacked,beaten,kidnapped,raped ,their children being hurt,their daughters from being sold at 12 for marriage to some worthless ass.

Mar 27th
Reply

Denise Nichols

I learned a lot today. I'm betting your fans are like myself,interested in everything & anything. Your delivery is ace's.

Mar 21st
Reply

Denise Nichols

Asian men eat the most insane things to supposedly make their....ahem...perform better in bed.Why don't they just buy viagra?

Mar 19th
Reply (1)

Denise Nichols

I'm going thru Moxie's catalog again. I"d forgotten how wild this episode was! Everyone is curious about the last words of people.

Feb 8th
Reply

Denise Nichols

I'm going thru Moxie's catalog again. I"d forgotten how wild this episode was! Everyone is curious about the last words of people.

Feb 8th
Reply

Denise Nichols

I love this podcast! I thought I was a life long collector of odd,off the wall strange and interesting facts but I consistently learn new things.Delivered in that beautiful easy to listen to voice,peppered with tongue in cheek humor, I find it a delightful way to spend relaxing me time.Cup of Constant Comment tea with clover honey,wrapped in a soft fleece blanket on the window seat close to fireplace....ideal! This is one gal not having problem quarantined at home with my mate.🔥💃🕺❤️🥰🤭🥳🥂. Thanks Moxie !

Feb 7th
Reply

Karen Glazar

I could not possibly agree more about gender reveal parties!!! Hate this trend.

Nov 29th
Reply
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