Stuff You Should Know

Floyd Collins was a natural-born caver who met a terrible fate, becoming stuck underground where no one could get him loose. His unlucky, slowly unfolding plight also turned out to be one of the first national media sensations of the 20th century.

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Anyone who knows anything about Jean-Claude Van Damme knows he played a French legionnaire in the movies. He was just one of many actors to star in films that romanticized this mercenary force. Check out the details in this classic episode with Josh and Chuck.

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Chuck and Josh were around during the Golden Age of the arcade. And look how they turned out! Join them on a trip down memory lane. 

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John Cage was a unique artist to say the least. Learn all about this avant-garde composer today.

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Amaro is a delicious traditional liqueur, usually from Italy, that has delighted diners and drinkers for centuries. Tune in to learn all about this wonderful digestif. 

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During World War II, Nazis invaded the United States with saboteurs bent on fomenting chaos. Three times. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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You may have heard your parents or – gasp – grandparents prattle on about how amazing the original 1969 Woodstock Festival was. It turns out that, as much as people who lived through the 60s like to talk them up, Woodstock really was that amazing.

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Paprika is more than a smoky Hungarian spice. Actually, that's not true, that's exactly what it is. But it sure is delicious!

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A noncompete agreement, a pledge not to work for a competitor for a set amount of time, makes sense – when the worker is well compensated and privy to company secrets. But that doesn’t describe the vast majority of workers who’ve signed noncompetes.

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In this classic show recorded live on January 5, 2017 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, Josh and Chuck delve into the history and the heyday of the church of consumerism and what it means for local communities and our capitalist society at large when malls die.

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Crossword puzzles have an interesting history and are a lot of fun to do. Dive in today to learn about Chuck's latest obsession.

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In a bridal shop in Chihuahua, Mexico a mannequin has been standing in the window since the 1930s that’s so lifelike some say it’s actually a corpse.

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If you’ve ever thought, “What’s the Amazon rainforest ever done for me? Nothin, that’s what,” then you’re dead wrong, friend. It covers 1 percent of the Earth’s surface but houses perhaps 30 percent of its species and it’s invaluable to all life on Earth.

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In a small town in Iowa in 1912 eight people were murdered in the grisliest of ways while they slept. Local reputations were ruined when accusations flew, but could a drifting serial killer working across the Midwest have been behind it? Learn all about it with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Naps are great if you can manage to find the space to take them. The trick is to do it for the right amount of time. We get into all in the ins and outs of Chuck's favorite time of day. 

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It’s pretty well known that if you wait to make a big decision until after you get some sleep, you’re likelier to make a good one. But why should that be? Why, we’ll explain if only you’d listen.

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Chuck and Josh turn into the Hardy Boys for one of the great unsolved mysteries of WWII, a work of art worth a king’s ransom that went missing in 1945.

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In 1987, a very strange broadcast intrusion occurred in the city of Chicago. For just a couple of minutes, the odd TV character Max Headroom appeared onscreen in the middle of an episode of Dr. Who. He spoke in garbled tones, brandished a marital aid, and was spanked on the rear with a fly swatter by a person dressed in Annie Oakley garb. If this sounds weird, it is. It's the Max Headroom Incident. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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The fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was not in Los Angeles, but Kentucky. Which happened to be Las Vegas before Vegas was Vegas. Confused? Listen in and all will be clear.

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In 1981 a Mobile mother of six was forced into the role of civil rights activist when the Klan murdered her son and she was moved to fight back.

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Flamingos are much more than just pretty pink birds. They are in fact, quite remarkable! Listen and learn…

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There are extreme sports and then there is cave diving, the most extreme activity a person can engage in without leaving Earth. Cave divers stay underwater swimming miles into – that’s right – caves, where no human has ever been before. It’s pretty cool. Wade in with Josh and Chuck in this classic episode.

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Josh and Chuck take a listener’s suggestion – many, many suggestions – and learn that possums are pretty great and very much misunderstood. By the end of this episode you will too!

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You can thank your parents and grandparents for the longstanding ban against dining shirtless and shoeless. While the concept was around, it mushroomed when hippies came along.

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Honey is an amazing thing. Just ask any bee. They make a ton of it. So much that humans get what bees can't use and that's a lot of honey.

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Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all about these light bulb cooking, working ovens that endanger children to this day, in this classic episode.

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Vets have been around for a long time, but mainly to care for horses. When horse travel went away, guess who saved the profession? Dogs!

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Where are all those birds flying anyway? How do they decide? When do they do it? All of these questions, and more, are answered in this week's ep.

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It’s part of the human condition, to feel the pain of sorrow, loss, embarrassment. But isn’t it kind of weird that an overwhelming emotion can cause you physical discomfort or even pain? Turns out that depends on how you think about the mind and the body.

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Elephants are pretty much the best. Why? Josh and Chuck will let you know in great detail in this classic episode.

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A theory in the field of psychology has become so pervasive, it’s generally taken on faith that it’s true. It says that how your parents respond to you during a short window in your infancy has lifelong effects on your personality. Could this be correct?

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This week's short stuff is all about throat lumps and Adam's apples.

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John DeLorean: visionary, car maker extraordinaire, buyer of large amounts of cocaine, provider of time machine chassis. There is a lot to understand about John DeLorean so let’s get busy.

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Join Josh and Chuck and a whole bunch of great people at the Gothic Theatre in Denver for this live show on game shows and their place in cultures around the world, recorded on June 28, 2018. You just come right on down, why don’t you?

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Toast is bread that has been browned by heat. It's delicious. This is our ode to toast.

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The Golden Age of Pirates didn’t have just men floating on the high seas. Some women became very successful pirates and today you’ll learn about two of them.

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Turns out the Louisiana Purchase was not so much a purchase, but the right to (steal) purchase it from indigenous peoples. But it did transform the United States as we know it. Listen and learn!

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Physicians noticed centuries ago that people exposed to cold temperatures often have amazing recoveries from serious medical emergencies. Now medicine is learning how to purposefully induce hypothermia in order to buy time to fix otherwise fatal trauma. Find out all about it in this classic episode.

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This is not a hit piece! Tarot helps plenty of people navigate their lives and reflect on their feelings – plus the art is unbelievable. We cover the backstory, real and imagined, and lure the innocent into tarot’s grip, er, offer basic tips for beginners.

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Forest Lawn is no ordinary cemetery. Why? Listen in and find out.

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Until the 2007, the largest single corporate bankruptcy was Enron, a $67 billion energy trading company. Its decline was breathtaking, and while it’s a fascinating story of corporate malfeasance and greed, it’s also about the lives of ruined workers.

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Women consistently rate scent as the most important factor in a man's attractiveness and men have been manipulating that for centuries with scents of all sorts. Learn about the fascinating history -- and, well, art -- of making perfumes in this classic episode.

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Mount St. Helen's is a lovely sight to behold, but was a pretty scary thing to be around in the Spring of 1980. Listen in to the harrowing story today!

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You don’t have to lie - everybody picks their nose. But did you know it can be life-threatening? It’s true and you can learn how in this episode.

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Today Josh and Chuck delve into the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not the song, but the maritime accident. Though the song makes an appearance.

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People have believed something strange lives in Loch Ness for at least 3500 years. Thousands of people have sighted the Loch Ness Monster and dozens of expeditions have been launched. But does the fact that nothing’s been found mean it’s not real? Find out in this classic episode.

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This one goes out to the SYSK Army as a special request. Let's do the time warp again!

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Mesas, buttes and plateaus are all very similar. We'll break down the differences in each one just to be sure.

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Fried chicken is Chuck’s favorite food, and Josh sure doesn’t dislike it. It is with this appreciation that SYSK plunges into the hot grease of fried chicken history – and there’s a lot to it!

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Long ago, in a galaxy not so far away, George Lucas allowed the Star Wars Holiday Special to be made. What happened on the night of November 17, 1978 can never be fully explained, but we make our best effort in our annual special edition of SYSK. May the force be with us all.

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Another year comes to a close here at SYSK, which means our annual Holiday Spectacular is at hand. So light a fire, pour up a comforting beverage and gather the family for some good cheer!

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She was known for her quick wit and sharp tongue. But she was also a poet, screenwriter and activist. Tune in today to learn what outside her "vicious circle."

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Nostradamus delighted us all in grade school, but it turns out the real guy wasn't quite as prescient as we were led to believe. In truth, he wrote a lot of purposefully confusing riddles that people have twisted into meaning exactly what they want them to mean. Learn all about Nostradamus in this classic episode.

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We don’t think about the words and phrases we use all the time - until Josh and Chuck look into them and tell everyone what they found. That’s the gist of this episode! 

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One of the very first union strikes in US history was mounted by a group of African American women in the deep South. Listen in and learn all about this little known slice of history.

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For the holidays in 1986 (and ’87) (and ’88) the most stupendous, most wanted, most amazing thing any kid could possibly get – outside of a pony, *maybe* – was the NES. That year, video games came back from the dead and changed forever.

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Polar bears are more than just lovable creatures that roam the ice in search of food. They're one of the most fascinating animals on planet Earth. Sadly, as ice shrinks, so does their habitat. Learn all about these huggable beasts in this classic episode.

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After the murder of a cop in southwest Germany in 2007 a massive hunt was launched across Europe. The suspect was a female serial killer who had left DNA behind during a number of crimes. She was so slippery, she was known as The Phantom of Heilbronn.

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The Birthday Paradox involves math, so you know this one will go perfectly.

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It’s not that the person who can never remember meeting you is snobby or even absent-minded; they may have a fascinating – and often difficult – neurological condition called prosopagnosia, known more commonly as face blindness.

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Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a guess and hop on board this classic episode, aka the 80s train.

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People with Down syndrome lead rich, complex lives like any other human, but it’s only been in the last few decades that everyone else stopped persecuting them long enough to notice this. As a result, both their IQ and their life expectancy skyrocketed.

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Goosebumps are a pretty cool evolutionary holdover from our earlier days as furry beasts. Don't believe us? Listen in. 

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The space around you that you can reach with your arms is a very special place. It’s where we interact with reality. And although we are so good at using it we don’t give it a second thought, our ability to use it is one our most amazing abilities.

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For millennia humans have recognized four tastes, but in the 1980s a fifth taste first isolated in Japan gained worldwide acceptance - and took off like a rocket! Learn about meaty, musty, savory umami in this classic episode.

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The Victorians were the first to go bonkers for roller skating and since then the pastime has had bursts of popularity every few decades. Over the years skaters have come up with some amazing things to do on skates that go way beyond just going in circles.

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Correction fluid goes by many names, but the OG was Liquid Paper. And it has a pretty cool origin story. 

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Chuck loves typewriters because he loves mechanical brilliance. Dive into the cool history of these amazing machines today. 

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Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 in the Citizens United case that political contributions are speech and should be protected, the floodgates of anonymous political contributions have opened. But does absolute funding corrupt absolutely? Find out in this classic episode.

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The question of Shakespeare's authorship has been around since at least the mid-1800s. Is there anything to it? We'll dig in to this dense topic to find out.

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Is there anything – anything – worse than a yawn you can’t finish? It’s hard to think of anything else and as your obsession with yawning like a normal human being grows it only becomes more difficult. Why? Why?!

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When it comes to pre-wedding festivities, bachelor and bachelorette parties take the penis-shaped cake. Learn all about these sordid affairs today.  

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You know that heartbreak of the schoolyard – finders keepers, losers weepers? That’s actual law in a great many grown up places. Enter the murky legal world of finding something that belongs to someone else, from buried treasure to a misplaced ring. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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It’s time for another great animal episode and in this one we swoop into the world of owls – nature’s greatest silent predator who (hooo) also look very cute and intelligent. Not to mention they can turn their heads 270 degrees.

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It’s not everyday that a message from the 16th century appears on a computer from the 1980s, so when that happened it caught an English couple’s attention and launched a still-unresolved mystery  - across tiiiiiiime!

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Legal precedent is an odd thing. It matters, but it isn't codified. There are advantages and disadvantages. Let's all dive in and take at STARE DECISIS today. 

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Invasive species can mean a lot of things, from fungus to feral pigs and European starlings to kudzu vines. Basically, it's anything brought to a place, either by humans or nature, that didn't originate there. They aren't always a problem, but many times they can wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. Learn all about these invaders in this classic episode.

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In today's episode, you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about vaudeville, whether you like it or not. 

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It’s unjust but true – if you are an adoptee in the US you may not have the same right to access your birth certificate that someone who wasn’t adopted does. The quest to access a birth certificate can be a legal rigamarole that may or may not work.

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In August of 1980 a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of dynamite was quietly delivered to Harvey’s, a casino and resort at Lake Tahoe. This kicked off a whirlwind caper that lasted 30 hours and ended up nearly demolishing the 11-story resort.

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Out of obligation, Chuck and Josh mention Twilight, but it is the longstanding vampire lore that gets the most attention in this examination of how the bloodsucking undead evolved from baby-stealing demonesses to suave counts in our collective psyche. Explore the wild world of vampires in this spooky classic episode.

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It's hard to believe, but this is our 13th edition of the Halloween Spooktacular! So pour up a creepy brew and gather the kids for a dramatic reading of two horror shorts. 

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Robert the Doll is decidedly creepy. So is his story. Listen in to this spooky tale right now!

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Long before we knew what serial killers were, a family in remote Kansas was disposing of victims at their family farm. Listen in to the Tale of the Bloody Benders if you dare!

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Some guys have all the luck, some guys have all the pain. So said Rod Stewart. And if this list is any indication, “guys” is gender neutral. Listen to this classic episode as Chuck and Josh cover some instances of amazingly bad fortune, most of it true!

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Fundamentalism is usually thought of as a problem religions have to deal with, but not all fundamentalists are religious. And no matter what their belief system, fundamentalism is inherently antisocial and a problem for everyone.

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Water towers are so ubiquitous you can look right past them, despite them being giant balls of water thrust triumphantly skyward. Learn about these surprisingly ingenious but simple inventions designed to keep you alive.

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There have been a lot of fake towns built throughout history for a lot of different reasons. Tune in to learn about some of these bogus burgs. 

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What must be one of the most famous natural disasters in history took place when Mt Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 CE. But when the town was resurrected 1700 years later, a new chapter in its history was written. Learn all about it in this classic episode.

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There’s a lot that can go wrong when your identity is at question. Charged with abandoning a baby? Check. Years in prison? That too. Accused of assassinating the head of Hamas? Why not. Learn about the travails of some unlucky saps in this episode.

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Did you know you have stripes? It’s true, you just can’t see them. Learn all about these little-known lines today!

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Seeing your near twin is probably pretty weird. But could there be a genetic commonality as well? You bet  there could!  

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Once in a while a movie comes along that's so forward-thinking it changes the way that horror is done. A new subgenre is spawned, new tropes are established, and audiences are more terrified than ever. Hear about these pivotal works in this classic episode.

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The first tags were required just a few years after the firs cars debuted, as a way to catch jerks scaring horses and running down pedestrians. A century on, they continue to protect both. Plus they’ve accrued some interesting history along the way.

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Listen in today as we salute turntablism, aka, record scratching.

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Despite reading all about how vinyl records are recorded and made, it's still a bit like black magic to us. Dive in and learn all about the coolest music medium.

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Jesters of some sort have been around since ancient Egypt and China. Our modern clown was invented around 1800 and ever since they have been getting steadily creepier. Learn all about clowns in this classic episode.

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In 1973 a study was published in Science where psychologist David Rosenhan revealed he had duped hundreds of psychiatric workers by planting perfectly sane pseudopatients within their hospitals and every last one went unnoticed.

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