Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why Song Lyrics Are Getting Simpler

Learn how a man wrote sentences using only his mind; how popular song lyrics got simpler; and the bitterness of Bitrex.

July 05, 2021

Episode Show Notes:

Brain-computer interface lets people communicate by imagining they're writing by Grant Currin

Popular song lyrics have gotten simpler over time by Kelsey Donk

Bitrex Is The Most Bitter Substance In The World by Anna Todd

Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Up

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Why You Listen to Songs on Repeat, Aluminum Foil Wi-Fi Boosting, and High-Income Morning Routines

Learn about the evolutionary reason why you listen to some songs on repeat; the morning routines of high-income earners; and how you can boost your Wi-Fi signal with aluminum foil.

Curiosity Daily Podcast: Pop Songs Are Getting Sadder, Mysterious Radio Signals from Outer Space, and It Pays to “Just Be Yourself”

Learn about why pop songs are getting sadder; a mysterious radio signal coming from outer space every 16 days; and why it pays to be yourself when you’re in a high-stakes situation.

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: 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: 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: 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 Superstitions Can Reduce Anxiety

Learn how superstitions can actually reduce anxiety, why rebooting can often fix computer problems, and why the first full dinosaur skeleton ever found is finally being studied 160 years later.