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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:
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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
Sunday Sep 18, 2016
Sunday Sep 18, 2016
Is it possible for an entire population to collectively imagine — and agree on — a reality that doesn’t actually exist? Enter the case of “The Berenstein Bears,” whose names were actually “BerenSTAIN,” even though...
The post #56 – You Say “Berenstein,” I Say “Berenstain.” appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Sep 05, 2016
Monday Sep 05, 2016
While the main topic of this week’s show is the legendary unsolved plane hijacking and parachute escape of D.B. Cooper over the Pacific Northwest in 1971, we also talk quite a bit about our first-hand...
The post #55 – VR + DB Cooper appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Aug 29, 2016
Monday Aug 29, 2016
Aluminum used to be so valuable that the French government once displayed bars of it next to the Crown Jewels, and America capped the Washington Monument with 6 pounds of it to brag about its...
The post #54 – Aluminum: More Than Just Nice Cans appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Tuesday Aug 23, 2016
Tuesday Aug 23, 2016
New technologies can change history in surprising ways, and no technology has changed the literal map of the world like air conditioning. From the desert ice houses of ancient Egypt, to the “Ice King” and...
The post #53 – How Air Conditioning Elected Ronald Reagan appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Aug 15, 2016
Monday Aug 15, 2016
What *is* “True North,” why is it different than “magnetic north,” and what does that have to do with the streets of Portland? We navigate the Earth’s magnetic core in this great episode. Also discussed:...
The post #52 – Earth’s Magnetic Personality appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Monday Aug 08, 2016
Monday Aug 08, 2016
In between the worst opening and closing to our podcast ever is the amazing story of Phineas Gage, who survived an 1848 blasting accident that blew a 3-foot long metal rod clean through his face...
The post #51 – The Fascinating Case of Phineas Gage appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
This week we tackle a listener-submitted topic: the physics-defying “EM Drive” rocket. Find out the fantastic promise–yet much less fantastic reality–of “a reactionless propulsion system that supposedly generates thrust by converting electrical energy via microwaves.”...
The post # 50 – The Flux Capacitor of Space Travel appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Tuesday Jul 26, 2016
Tuesday Jul 26, 2016
Diamond engagement rings are a time-tested tradition. Well, at least since 1940, when the DeBeers “Diamonds are Forever” marketing campaign convinced the world that a) diamonds aren’t worthless, and b) they are inextricably linked to...
The post #49 – Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Marketing Scam appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Sunday Jul 17, 2016
Sunday Jul 17, 2016
Find out how Margaret Hamilton (not the Wicked Witch) pioneered — and coined the word — Software Engineering as she (and her Little Old Ladies) coded, programmed, and literally threaded by hand NASA’s entire Apollo...
The post #48 – No, The *Other* Margaret Hamilton appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.
Tuesday Jul 12, 2016
Tuesday Jul 12, 2016
In this surprisingly fascinating discussion, we turn our ears toward tinnitus, a pervasive ringing in the ears that plagues many people, including Mark. Except, as he finds out, it’s not an ear problem, but a...
The post # 47 – Tinnitus: It’s All In Your Head appeared first on Mark and Toddcast.