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Curiosity Daily Podcast: Medieval Dancing Plagues, Altruistic Indulgence, and Types of Human Species

Learn why you’re more likely to order junk food after your friends do; why we’re the only human species; and why people literally danced themselves to death during the Medieval Dancing Plague.

May 06, 2019

Episode Show Notes:

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom

Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Up

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Introducing If/Then

What gets you curious? Virtual experiences, celestial bodies, water worlds or maybe just the tiniest mysteries inside your brain? The endlessly curious and curiously funny, Gillian Jacobs (Community, Netflix's LOVE) and Diona Reasonover (NCIS), step off set to go on tangents with real-life astronauts, astrophysicists, science artists, mathematician-types and other really smart people that investigate what seems impossible.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: The Curiosity Podcast Wraps Up with Yoga, Volcanoes, and Meditation

Learn from some of our favorite expert guests about yoga, volcanoes, meditation, and more on this special episode of the Curiosity Podcast. You'll hear from accomplished authors and academics from past episodes, in addition to a special guest you've never heard before on the show. Plus, hear about the past, present, and future of the Curiosity Podcast.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Are Facial Expressions Universal?

Learn about common ancestors shared by every human; evolution’s multiple directions; and universal facial expressions.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Does ESP Exist?

Learn about ESP; why people panicked about electricity in the 1800s; and how embryos use sound to prepare for the world.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Do Opposites Really Attract?

Learn about why opposites don’t really attract; the “propinquity effect” and how physical distance affects the way we feel about other people; and the history of when and why we started using last names.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: How to Talk to Strangers, Red Dead Redemption 2 Naturalists, July Curiosity Challenge

Learn how to get better at talking to strangers; and how Red Dead Redemption 2 turns gamers into naturalists. Trivia too!

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Explorers Club - Steve Elkins

Today, we’re hearing from an explorer and filmmaker named Steve Elkins. Steve spent decades searching for a legendary lost city deep in the jungles of Honduras. His search for the city was documented in the New York Times best-selling book, “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” by Douglas Preston.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: How Hollywood Gets Seances Wrong

Learn about how bacteria in your gut can produce electricity. Then, performer and lecturer Thom Britton will tell us about the origins of seances and how Hollywood gets them wrong.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Some Viruses Do You Good

Learn about how blind and low-vision gamers have an edge when it comes to certain games, with Cornell University Professor Andrew Campana. Then, learn how some viruses actually protect their hosts; and the shocking solution to the Monty Hall Problem, an infamous brain teaser that may leave you questioning your math skills.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Octopuses Have Sleep Cycles, Too

Learn about imaginary beams of motion coming from people’s eyes; where lost luggage ends up; and octopus sleep cycles.