Smartest Year Ever
EN399 episodes
education
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)
Why Are Manhole Covers Round? (Most Fail This Microsoft Question) | Smartest Yea...
Smartest Year Ever
May 5, 20253:56pending
Why Do People Press Their Hands Together to Pray? | Smartest Year Ever (May 4, 2...
Smartest Year Ever
May 4, 20253:09pending
Can You Actually Film Light Moving? (Femto-Photography Explained) | Smartest Yea...
Smartest Year Ever
May 3, 20255:45pending
The Cat That Survived Three Shipwrecks | Smartest Year Ever (May 2, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
May 2, 20254:56pending
What’s the Rarest Birthday? (And Why It Happens Less Often) | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
May 1, 20255:17pending
How the First Transatlantic Cable Changed the World (Then Immediately Broke) | S...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 30, 20256:31pending
What’s the Oldest Joke Ever Recorded? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 29, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 29, 20255:55pending
Why Are There So Many Pigeons in Cities? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 28, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 28, 20255:26pending
Why Is It Called Bluetooth? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 27, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 27, 20256:23pending
Do You Own the Land All the Way to the Earth’s Core? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 2...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 26, 20255:34pending
Could a Neanderthal Outrun You? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 25, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 25, 20257:16pending
LA’s Palm Trees Are Dying—and They’re Not Coming Back | Smartest Year Ever (Apr...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 24, 20254:59pending
Why Zebras Were Never Domesticated | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 23, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 23, 20255:25pending
Who Invented the Recycling Symbol? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 22, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 22, 20252:54pending
The Craziest Olympic Marathon Ever | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 21, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 21, 20255:30pending
Why Do We Say “Going Cold Turkey”? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 20, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 20, 20252:40pending
How Did They Measure Everest Before Computers? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 19, 202...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 19, 20256:15pending
Why Do We Have a Uvula? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 18, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 18, 20253:47pending
Why Didn’t the Industrial Revolution Happen in Ancient Rome? | Smartest Year Eve...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 17, 20255:29pending
Where Do Food Idioms Come From? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 16, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 16, 20255:35pending
Why You Can’t Sell Your Oscar | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 15, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 15, 20254:30pending
Why Do Cicadas Sleep for 17 Years? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 14, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 15, 20256:16pending
Is It Illegal Not to Have a Last Name? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 13, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 13, 20255:31pending
1925's Crazy Predictions for 2025—What Actually Came True? | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 13, 20255:36pending
Why Do Donkeys and Your Backside Share a Word? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 11, 202...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 11, 20254:02pending
Does Birth Order Really Shape Your Personality—or Is That Just Sibling Mythology...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 10, 20253:28pending
Humanity’s Backup Plan: The Doomsday Seed Vault in Svalbard | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 9, 20252:25pending
Did a Melted Candy Bar Accidentally Invent Your Microwave? | Smartest Year Ever...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 8, 20254:41pending
Why Do We Even Have Middle Names? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 7, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 7, 20254:54pending
Were Neanderthals Actually Better Than Us? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 6, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 6, 20254:47pending
Which City Was First to Reach 1 Million People? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 5, 202...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 5, 20253:00pending
Why Do We Save Money in Piggy Banks? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 4, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 4, 20253:41pending
The Neck Ligament That Helped Humans Outrun Antelope | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 3...
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 3, 20254:27pending
Why Rain Smells So Good | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 2, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 2, 20254:16pending
Is April Really the Rainiest Month? | Smartest Year Ever (Apr 1, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Apr 1, 20253:39pending
Why Did Young Ben Franklin Pretend to Be a Woman? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 31,...
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 31, 20253:09pending
Why Do We Prank People on April 1st? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 30, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 30, 20254:20pending
Why Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 29, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 29, 20253:36pending
Why Do We Say “Pardon My French”? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 28, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 28, 20252:32pending
SOS Doesn’t Stand for What You Think | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 27, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 27, 20253:38pending
The Queen’s Gambit: A Chess Move That Wins Games | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 26, 2...
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 26, 20253:36pending
Why Do Bird of Paradise Plants Look Like Birds? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 25, 20...
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 25, 20253:51pending
Why Do We Say “P.U.” for a Bad Smell? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 24, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 24, 20253:01pending
Why Do We Get Brain Freeze? | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 23, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 23, 20253:02pending
Why the U.S. Still Uses Fahrenheit | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 22, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 22, 20254:10pending
The Day There Was No News | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 21, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 21, 20253:00pending
Why Do We Call It a “Heinie”? Funny Origins of Butt Slang | Smartest Year Ever (...
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 20, 20252:59pending
The Extinct Penguins Bigger Than You | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 19, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 19, 20252:53pending
The Gas That Makes Your Voice Deep | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 18, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 18, 20252:59pending
The Surprising Origins of Leprechauns | Smartest Year Ever (Mar 17, 2025)
Smartest Year Ever
Mar 17, 20253:30pending
...