Smartest Year Ever
The Smartest Year Ever began as a 365-day experiment in curiosity. In 2025, I dropped a new fact every single day. History, science, language, word origins, and strange true stories, all the stuff that somehow makes you sound smarter in conversation. The goal hasn’t changed: help you become the world’s greatest conversationalist.
Episodes (399)
He Carried a Calf Every Day…Until It Became a Bull
Smartest Year Ever
The Day a Major City Had No Police
Smartest Year Ever
How Did People Wake Up Before Alarm Clocks?
Smartest Year Ever
Abandoned Olympic Venues Around the World
Smartest Year Ever
The Weirdest Olympic Events Ever
Smartest Year Ever
When the U.S. Dropped Two Nuclear Bombs on Itself
Smartest Year Ever
The Only Sea Without a Coast (The Sargasso Sea)
Smartest Year Ever
What It’s Really Like to Enter Witness Protection
Smartest Year Ever
The Odds of a Monkey Writing Shakespeare Are Worse Than You Think
Smartest Year Ever
365 Days of Facts — Smartest Year Ever Bonus Episode | Smartest Year Ever (Jan 1...
Smartest Year Ever
What Astronauts Call “The Overview Effect” — 2025 Finale | Smartest Year Ever (D...
Smartest Year Ever
Why Kissing Exists — Across Species | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 30, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why We Call It “Trivia” | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 29, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why the QWERTY Keyboard Is Laid Out This Way | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 28, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
How Long a Goldfish Actually Remembers | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 27, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Animals That Can Have Virgin Births | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 26, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
What the “X” in Xmas Really Means | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 25, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why We Hang Stockings on Christmas | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 24, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why Santa Has Reindeer | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 23, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why We Have Christmas Trees | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 22, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The True Story of the 1914 Christmas Truce | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 21, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Hidden Message Inside the Peace Sign | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 20, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Only U.S. President With a Patent | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 19, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Illegal Wooden Skyscraper One Man Built by Hand | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 18...
Smartest Year Ever
What People Used Before Toilet Paper | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 17, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Surprising History of the Monocle | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 16, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
What the CIA Tried to Hide | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 15, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The CIA’s $20 Million Spy Cat | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 14, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Balloonfest ’86: The World Record That Went Horribly Wrong | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
The U.S. Secret Plan to Nuke the Moon | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 12, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Woman Who Cheated the Boston Marathon | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 11, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Town That’s Been Burning Since 1962 | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 10, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
How Parrots Talk | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 9, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
NASA’s Forgotten Moon Trees | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 8, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why You Think Everyone’s Noticing You | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 7, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why Incompetent People Think They’re Brilliant | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 6, 2025...
Smartest Year Ever
Why One Good Trait Blinds Us to the Rest | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 5, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why We Love What We Build | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 4, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why Asking for a Favor Makes People Like You | Smartest Year Ever (Dec 3, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why That Horoscope (and Personality Test) Felt So Accurate | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
Why You See Things Everywhere After You Learn About Them | Smartest Year Ever (D...
Smartest Year Ever
The Forgotten Captain of the Mayflower | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 30, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Mystery of Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 29, 2...
Smartest Year Ever
The Myth of Plymouth Rock | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 28, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why It’s Called “Black Friday” | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 27, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
What Was Actually Eaten at the First Thanksgiving | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 26,...
Smartest Year Ever
Why Turkeys Are Called Turkeys | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 25, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Why Leaves Change Color | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 24, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The President Who Served Only 31 Days | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 23, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
The Only President Who Never Married | Smartest Year Ever (Nov 22, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever