Every Little Thing

Listener Taylor was making a medieval stew when she noticed a prominent ingredient was missing from the recipe: potatoes. Potato biologist Maria Scurrah and journalist Charles Mann explain the potato’s twisting route to stewpot domination. Special thanks to Graham Thiele, Bruce Owen, Alan Covey, and Gary Urton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listener Christina gets ruffled by a stiff breeze and wants to know if she’s alone in her wind rage. Atmospheric science historian Vladimir Jankovic introduces Christina to her people, and iconic couples therapist Esther Perel, host of “How’s Work” and “Where Should We Begin,” helps Christina rethink her relationship with the wind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How are essential workers doing now? We check in with some of the essential workers we talked to back in April and hear what it’s been like to teach, fly on planes, ship packages, and drive a truck during a pandemic. Thanks to Rob, Justin, Tamasha, Lucy, Jacob, Kaleb, Ian, and Dawn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listener Gab is clumsy — white sweaters, stemmed wine glasses, and sharp edges are off the table. Can Gab learn to be less clumsy? Professional steady hand Bryan Berg and kinesiologist Priscila Tamplain share tips for foiling fumbles. Special thanks to Carl Gabbard and Michael Wade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attention all you #hortihotties, this week caller Esther asks about houseplants: When did we start keeping them, and has there ever been another houseplant heyday? Guests Catherine Horwood, author of Potted History, and Charlotte Salter-Townshend of the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin sift through the facts and expose the shady side of houseplant history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, some comfort food. For a lot of us, the holidays won’t be the same this year. Instead of arguing around the table with our extended families, we’ll be stuck at home with a single-serving of mashed potatoes, face-timing the people we love. So we invited ourselves to your place. We asked you to tell us about a meal you can't forget. And you delivered. Your stories made us laugh, cry and get very hungry. Thanks to callers Margaret, Janae, Brandon, Johnny, Jameson, and Oz, and all of you who left us a message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flora’s sister Ruth claims last year’s jack-o’-lantern seeds sprouted... a litter of decorative gourds. ELT gets to the bottom of this pumper stumper. Plus, a spooky Face ID mystery, and a peek under the husk of corn mazes. Guests: professor of horticulture and pumpkin expert Steve Reiners; farmer and corn maze designer Angie Treinen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caller Sadera has a burning question: When there’s a wildfire, how do we figure out what caused it? Fire investigator Paul Steensland tells ELT what he searches for in the burnt landscape, and the clues that can lead him to the cause. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listener Lily called in about a crying shame: She thinks she cries too much. ELT investigates why we cry, and whether wet cheeks were once très chic. Ad Vingerhoets, crying researcher and clinical psychologist, and Tom Lutz, author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears, talk through tears. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caller Juanita wants to know if her cats are southpaws. ELT calls in animal behavior researcher Deborah Wells and neuroscientist Sebastian Ocklenburg for an answer. Plus, why would slugs ditch the shell? Biologist Robert Cowie fills us in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After their dad served 4-year-old fish for dinner one night, listener Max wants to know how long you can safely keep food in the freezer. Food safety expert Haley Oliver serves up the juicy details. Plus, can tiny eyes see things we can’t? Spider expert Sebastian Echeverri takes us behind some of the most impressive peepers in the animal kingdom. Thanks to listener Miles. In the original version of this episode, we made an error about the types of light jumping spiders can see. All jumping spiders that have been studied are able to see UV and green light. Some species, including Oregon’s paradise jumping spider, can see red as well. We apologize for the error and have corrected it in this version of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listeners Marmie and Ryan have a quarantine quibble: How many times should you shuffle a deck of playing cards? Marmie says three, while Ryan says four or more. The couple place their bets and go all-in with applied mathematician Steven Strogatz and a full house of card-world VIPs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listener Erik saw a mysterious glow in the water during a trip to the beach, and he wants to know more. ELT talks to the “Jacques Cousteau of glow,” a scientist who has spent decades deep diving for answers. Guest: biologist and ocean researcher Edie Widder. Thanks to Eelke Dekker for the seagull and ocean sounds we used in this episode. Thanks also to Steven Haddock, Michael Latz, Matt Davis, Vincent Pieribone, and Severine Martini. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caller Hank wants to know where the sand on his central California beach came from. ELT gets the surprising scoop on how beaches are born. Guest: Kiki Patsch, California State University Channel Islands. Special thanks to Gary Griggs.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flora is out this week force feeding her niblings flamingo facts, so we’re rerunning one of our favorite episodes. Does swearing make you more powerful? Plus, we talk to someone who turns the “mother f*ckers” into “manhole covers” for the TV versions of movies. Guests: Cognitive scientist Ben Bergen, author of What the F***; Gwen Whittle, supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound. Thanks to caller Mark for the monkey flippin’ question, and to Mark’s dad Steve.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flora is hosting the Chapped Cheeks Book Club this week, so we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes: How do U.S. postage stamps come to be? ELT explores the secret world of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, the group that decides what gets stuck on America’s envelopes. Guests: Bill Gicker, manager of stamp development at USPS; Jessica, ex-CSAC member; Kam Mak, artist and stamp illustrator. Thanks to caller Elizabeth. “Mr. Stampman” performed by Bobby Lord, Matthew Boll, MR Daniel, and Julia Kaplan. Mail your stamp idea to: Stamp Development / Attn: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee / 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300 / Washington, DC 20260-3501. Remember: One idea per letter! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flora is away this week, so we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes — about a summer visitor no one wants. Caller Jeremy has a problem: fruit flies have moved into his apartment, and he needs to know how they got there. ELT finds out where Jeremy’s freeloading flatmates came from. Guests: Biologist Marcus Stensmyr, Lund University. Chemical ecologist Kevin Cloonan, Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. Thanks to Jeremy and all the listeners who shared their gnat knowledge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flora is away this week at a flamingo fanciers convention, so we’re revisiting one of our favorite shows — a two-part, deep dive into cheerleading. It’s not all smiles and ponytails. Guests: Cheerleading researcher and professor at the University of Alabama Natalie Adams; Barbara Hazlewood; Sharita Richardson, cheerleading researcher, instructional coach at North Carolina A&T State University, and founder of Black Girls Cheer. Thanks to caller Jessica for the question. Special thanks to Vonciel Baker, one of the original seven Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and to Dee Brock, former manager of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listener Amy gets lost a lot. She wants to know if some people are naturally better at finding their way, and whether there’s hope for her. An expert locates some answers. Plus, how the best navigators in the world get around. Guests: navigation and orientation researcher Giuseppe Iaria; former London cab driver David Styles. Thanks to caller Amy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The average tree squirrel can bury up to 10,000 nuts every fall. How do they keep tabs on that stash? Guest: animal behaviorist and pro squirrel watcher Mikel Maria Delgado exposes the secrets of squirrel pantry maintenance. Thanks to caller Cayra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices