Kids get grounded for swearing, and bad words are banned from television... but why is that the case if most adults swear anyway? Linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen says that swearing can be funny, cathartic, and even useful! In this rated-PG episode, he explains how the science of swearing can help us understand how our brains process language, and what the worst words tell us about our culture. And the episode is squeaky clean: no swearing included!

Learn why older classmates are more popular; how some invasive species help their ecosystems; and keyboard cleaning tips.

Learn about how the Faroe Islands created their own Google Street View using sheep; why some vaccines (like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines) have to be kept so cold; and why it’s easier to understand a second language than it is to speak it.

Learn about why social egalitarians are more likely to discriminate against older adults; why throbbing pain has nothing to do with your pulse; and why naturally gluten-free food is labeled gluten-free.

Learn about why more advertising means less happiness; how to calculate your maximum heart rate; and how parents and kids can help language researchers during the pandemic, with help from an app called KidTalk.

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

Learn why watching TV together is good for your relationship; why you don’t hear your own footsteps; and how to schedule your day to be as productive as overachievers like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Learn about how the Oura smart ring could detect fever before you feel it; why there are no stars in moon landing photos; and why it “stinks” that honeybees have been documented using tools for the first time.

Learn how you experience the quantum world every day whenever you see or touch something; the one thing you should keep in mind if you want to make a great first impression; the next common English word that researchers say is going to go extinct; and how to interpret food expiration dates.

Learn about the best time of day to break bad news; how to get over your brain’s habit of loss aversion; and why a coin toss is not as random or fair as it seems.

Learn how accurate fossil preparators must be; why electric cars are an old concept; and words on the tip of your tongue.

Learn about why starting an exercise routine might give you healthier food cravings; math problems that you could get a million dollars for solving; and the story of what drove the growth of astronomy in the Middle Ages, with some help from Dr. David Warmflash.

Learn about whether conspiracy theories are really on the rise; why there may be tens of thousands of black holes in the center of the Milky Way; and, the 3 versions of teen popularity, according to research.

Learn about why Christmas music sounds like Christmas; the Crocodile Paradox, an unsolvable dilemma that dates back to ancient Greece; what causes the smell of fresh rain; and why the National Science Foundation wants your idea for their next project.

Learn about a new computer model that may have gotten us closer to figuring out how we choose our mates; why Meno’s paradox says you can’t ever learn anything new; and whether the Earth weighs the same as it did billions of years ago.