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Episodes
Pour yourself something warm. Let it drizzle outside. This one's for the curious.
The Mark & Toddcast is your weekly escape from the algorithm, the outrage cycle, and whatever fresh hell is trending. Broadcasting from the rainy heart of Portland, Oregon, two friends have spent 11 years and over 300 episodes doing exactly what you wish you could do at your favorite dimly lit neighborhood pub: sitting down with a pint and wandering through whatever's genuinely interesting.
Consider us comfort food for your brain.
Instead, expect pure Pacific Northwest chill and unfiltered curiosity about topics like:
-
Why we absolutely hate the sound of our own voices
-
The secret origin of the biohazard symbol
-
America’s classified, Cold War plan to nuke the moon
-
The Stanford Prison Experiment (and why it was actually kind of BS)
-
Portland’s very own infamous Barbie-hacking culture jammers
-
The unsolved mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
-
And yes... the actual science of farts
What’s in an Episode?
-
The Catch-Up: A little life banter between two longtime friends navigating the Rose City.
-
Just the Headlines: A quick spin through the weirdest, wildest science and culture news of the week.
-
The Deep Dive: A 20-minute, high-level plunge into whatever strange subject one of us couldn't stop reading about.
Meet Your Hosts:
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Mark spent his twenties operating nuclear reactors for the Navy before coming home to Portland's Silicon Forest to keep the machines that build microchips running. Now, he’s a technical director helping companies get found online.
-
Todd has lived several lives—ad copywriter, artist, Newsweek-published writer, and an unrepentant Madonna superfan. Today, he’s a local therapist helping people untangle their stories and reconnect with the humans around them.
Pull up a chair. Grab a local beverage.
Science is funny.
Pour yourself something warm. Let it drizzle outside. This one's for the curious.
The Mark & Toddcast is your weekly escape from the algorithm, the outrage cycle, and whatever fresh hell is trending. Broadcasting from the rainy heart of Portland, Oregon, two friends have spent 11 years and over 300 episodes doing exactly what you wish you could do at your favorite dimly lit neighborhood pub: sitting down with a pint and wandering through whatever's genuinely interesting.
Consider us comfort food for your brain.
Instead, expect pure Pacific Northwest chill and unfiltered curiosity about topics like:
-
Why we absolutely hate the sound of our own voices
-
The secret origin of the biohazard symbol
-
America’s classified, Cold War plan to nuke the moon
-
The Stanford Prison Experiment (and why it was actually kind of BS)
-
Portland’s very own infamous Barbie-hacking culture jammers
-
The unsolved mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
-
And yes... the actual science of farts
What’s in an Episode?
-
The Catch-Up: A little life banter between two longtime friends navigating the Rose City.
-
Just the Headlines: A quick spin through the weirdest, wildest science and culture news of the week.
-
The Deep Dive: A 20-minute, high-level plunge into whatever strange subject one of us couldn't stop reading about.
Meet Your Hosts:
-
Mark spent his twenties operating nuclear reactors for the Navy before coming home to Portland's Silicon Forest to keep the machines that build microchips running. Now, he’s a technical director helping companies get found online.
-
Todd has lived several lives—ad copywriter, artist, Newsweek-published writer, and an unrepentant Madonna superfan. Today, he’s a local therapist helping people untangle their stories and reconnect with the humans around them.
Pull up a chair. Grab a local beverage.
Science is funny.
Episodes

7 days ago
JESSICA?!
7 days ago
7 days ago
Does anyone even read these descriptions? You'll figure it out when you listen.

Monday Apr 13, 2026
This Episode Stinks: The Fascinating Feat of Finding the Facts of Flatulence
Monday Apr 13, 2026
Monday Apr 13, 2026
This week we take a look, um, "inward" with a discussion about the very real science of finally figuring out flatulence -- and more specifically, just *how* they do that, and what we can learn. Also, we take a trip to the small town of Dildo, Canada (located in Conception Bay), then to space with Artemis 2, transporting antimatter at CERN, finding out who's filling the sidewalk cracks of SE Portland, and one of the best phrases you'll ever hear: "non-sentient monkey 'organ sacks.'" All that and no politics!

Monday Mar 16, 2026
The Most Sold Product of All Time
Monday Mar 16, 2026
Monday Mar 16, 2026
This week we take a rollicking journey through Mark's gluten and boat news, the rise of Clavicular and LooksMaxxing, how much clouds weigh, Mark's ChatGPT humiliation fetish, hacking the French language, Ohio tries to steal Sasquatch glory, and finally, digging into the biggest selling product of all time -- what is it, and how did it come to dominate? Find out this week!

Monday Feb 16, 2026
Birthdays, Bowels, and Beyond
Monday Feb 16, 2026
Monday Feb 16, 2026
tbh so much goes on in this episode there's no way to summarize it.

Monday Jan 26, 2026
Meaningless + Memorable: the Biohazard Symbol
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Creating a new symbol to reflect the deadly consequences of something completely undetectable required two essential components: the symbol had to be meaningless enough to carry zero current meaning to any culture on earth, yet had to be memorable enough for people to remember what it means. This week we go from Ancient Egypt and the pyramids to the creation of the biohazard symbol in the 20th century. Also, we learn wtf is going on with beavers and their hatred of running water.

Monday Jan 12, 2026
Mark Goes to CES
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Let's go to Las Vegas, CES, and the Sphere with Mark!

Monday Dec 15, 2025
Why We Hate the Sound of Our Own Voice
Monday Dec 15, 2025
Monday Dec 15, 2025
There's a lot more happening when we hear our own voice than you'd think. We've all heard "it's because the bones in your head are conducting sound," but that's only part of it. Find out the rest of the reasons in this week's show. I won't be listening, because I hate the sound of my own voice.

Monday Dec 08, 2025
Ugly Laws
Monday Dec 08, 2025
Monday Dec 08, 2025
"Ugly Laws" were ordinances across the United States disallowed anyone who was “diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object” for appearing in public places. Not shockingly, this was used to discriminate and dehumanize the poor, needy, disabled, and anyone else that gave the vapors to people terrified of people different than them. All that and talk about Pluribus, Diddy, Star Wars, Frank Gehry, and Mark's debut as a runway model. Enjoy!

Monday Nov 24, 2025
3i Atlas and Locating Yourself on the Moon
Monday Nov 24, 2025
Monday Nov 24, 2025
This week we take a look into space by discussing the weird interstellar object known as 3i/Atlas, conspiracy theories about what the object may be, and how the original Apollo astronauts figured out their exact location on the moon without the aid of any GPS.

Monday Nov 10, 2025
The TikTok-ification of the Mark & Toddcast
Monday Nov 10, 2025
Monday Nov 10, 2025
We're finally back after a two month hiatus, and we threw out the format of the show to see where the conversation took us. The discussion veers from drying off after a shower to AI cats to what g-force actually is, to our final hero of the week: the teacher fired for using fart spray. Enjoy!
