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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:
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Why we absolutely hate the sound of our own voices
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The secret origin of the biohazard symbol
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America’s classified, Cold War plan to nuke the moon
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The Stanford Prison Experiment (and why it was actually kind of BS)
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Portland’s very own infamous Barbie-hacking culture jammers
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The unsolved mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
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And yes... the actual science of farts
What’s in an Episode?
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The Catch-Up: A little life banter between two longtime friends navigating the Rose City.
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Just the Headlines: A quick spin through the weirdest, wildest science and culture news of the week.
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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.
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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
Tuesday Feb 07, 2017
Tuesday Feb 07, 2017
From Portland’s “Escape Room,” to Fukushima, to Denmark, to China, and finally to space, this roving episode covers a lot of ground. Join us as Mark, Todd, and the Unipiper recount their experience with one...
The post #73 – Escape Rooms and Other News appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Sunday Jan 29, 2017
Sunday Jan 29, 2017
You know those dinner parties where you’re blindfolded and made to sit in the dark while you’re served mystery foods to eat with your hands? We do! Hear about our sensory/social experiment, both from the...
The post #72 – Dinner in the Dark appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Sunday Jan 22, 2017
Sunday Jan 22, 2017
The “Internet of Things” is a term both vague and exact, and it will be running all of our lives very soon. What exactly is it? How will it intertwine itself in our lives? Will...
The post #71 – Alternate Facts About The “Internet Of Things” appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Tuesday Jan 17, 2017
Tuesday Jan 17, 2017
Is it possible to write a movie whose dialogue consists solely of ham-fisted doctor puns? Is it necessary to film an entire movie in a tiny park in unincorporated SW Portland even though it mostly...
The post Portland at the Movies #3 – Dr. Giggles appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Jan 16, 2017
Monday Jan 16, 2017
Douglas Engelbart is not a household name, but you owe much of what you do in day-to-day life to him. He invented modern computing, and by 1968 he had the vision to predict what our...
The post #70 – Of Mice and Man appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017
What are the driving forces behind conspiracy theories, and how do they work? We’ll take a look at the psychological and social building blocks needed for conspiracy theories to spread, and how pieces of them...
The post #69 – Conspiracy Theories: That’s Just What They Want You To Believe appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Jan 02, 2017
Monday Jan 02, 2017
We make up for last week’s missed show by giving you a super-sized double episode! Join us as we look ahead to what 2017 will bring in the areas of science, technology, and blimp-platform-based delivery...
The post #68 – We’re Looking Forward To 2017 appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Dec 19, 2016
Monday Dec 19, 2016
As 2016 comes to a close, we take a look at the biggest news stories from this past year, from the detection of gravitational waves, to SpaceX, to advancements in medicine, to a brand new...
The post #67 – The Year in Science Minus One appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Dec 12, 2016
Monday Dec 12, 2016
This week’s show is packed, as we catch up with a bevvy of news stories and followups we’ve been collecting. Also, we talk to the Unipiper about his very popular last video (6.5 million views...
The post #66 – The Unipiper Goes Viral and Other News appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Dec 05, 2016
Monday Dec 05, 2016
In 1986, the world saw first-hand what a wide-spread nuclear disaster could look like when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant melted down. What happened? What were the effects both short term and long term? Find...
The post #65 – Chernobyl appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.