Brain Junk

Series produced by Trace Kerr

Series image

Everything you never knew you wanted to know. We guarantee, you won't be bored.

Amy Barton and Trace Kerr shake up science, history & culture in this once a week show. We hunt for off the wall, totally unexpected answers to questions and bring them to you in two to ten minute short, "Brain Storms" or longer twenty to thirty minute episodes.
We dive into questions like: What are Supernumerary teeth? Do ants pass the Mirror Test? Why do kids in Denmark murder their birthday cakes?
Brain Junk is a fun ride for adults and kids who want to know.


137 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
227: Whatever...Mom
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Why won't your teenager listen to you? Their brain. For real. Insert teenage eye roll here.

Bought by RadioFreePalmer and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jul 14, 2022
  • Length: 05:17
  • Purchases: 2
225: Bees vs Mirrors
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Fresh off the research presses in early 2022, a new study on how honey bees navigate the world while they fly. Turns out still water and mirrors ar...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jul 13, 2022
  • Length: 05:05
  • Purchases: 1
224: Cat Nights
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
We don't know about you, but 2022 has been a MOOD so we're starting Halloween a little early this year. Be prepared! Starting Aug 17th, we have a s...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jul 13, 2022
  • Length: 04:57
  • Purchases: 1
223: Turnspit Dogs
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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It's 1576 and you don't have a young boy to spare to turn your meat while it cooks. So what could you use? A turnspit dog.

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jul 12, 2022
  • Length: 05:05
  • Purchases: 1
221: Harriet the Tortoise
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Harriet lived from around 1835 to 2006! She is believed to be one of the Earth's longest lived creatures ever recorded.

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jun 06, 2022
  • Length: 04:59
  • Purchases: 1
219: Wife Selling
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In the 16 and 1700s, wife selling was a type of marital separation that people did when they couldn't afford divorce. It was shaming, mysoginistic,...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 31, 2022
  • Length: 04:48
  • Purchases: 1
218: Gladiatrices
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Seldom written about, female gladiators fought for glory and Rome from around 509 BCE to 200 AD. What little information we have about them was in ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 31, 2022
  • Length: 05:08
  • Purchases: 1
216: Parachuting Beavers
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In 1948, Idaho Fish and Game got the bright idea to transport beavers into the back country with PARACHUTES. It was a wild and wacky compromise to ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 13, 2022
  • Length: 05:06
  • Purchases: 1
215: James Madison & the 4 Letters
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
It's 1789 and the beginning of bureaucracy in the United States. James Madison is writing letters to smooth the path of George Washington's disorga...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 13, 2022
  • Length: 05:06
  • Purchases: 1
214: Sky Puppies
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
While baby Egyptian fruit bats start life getting carried around, once they get too heavy, their mothers leave them in a cave while they forage. It...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 13, 2022
  • Length: 04:59
  • Purchases: 1
213: Unexpected Origin of Roller Skates
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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The first roller skates were patented by John Joseph Merlin in 1760. He showed off his new fangled wheeled shoes with an epic entrance to a party t...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Apr 15, 2022
  • Length: 05:00
  • Purchases: 1
212: Peanut Butter Diamonds
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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With enough pressure and heat, just about anything with enough carbon in it could become a diamond. And thankfully for us, when a scientist was ask...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Apr 08, 2022
  • Length: 04:56
  • Purchases: 1
201: Ancient Prosthetic Eye
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In 2007, a woman's 5,000 year old skeleton was found in Burnt City, Iran. She was at least six feet tall and had what researchers think may be the ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Apr 07, 2022
  • Length: 05:05
  • Purchases: 1
209: Detachable Tails
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In cases of emergency, lizards pop off their tails to get away. Evolution made it possible for that tail to stay on when tugged but not twisted. It...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 31, 2022
  • Length: 05:00
  • Purchases: 1
207: Cockroach Personalities
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Anything that scatters when you turn on the light...does it have a personality? Is the cockroach urge to run an indicator of a bold or timid world ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 30, 2022
  • Length: 05:33
  • Purchases: 1
206 part two: Skeet Shooting Fish
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Sure, Archerfish can use a squirt of water to knock prey into the water to be eaten. But researchers wanted to know, could they count?

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 11, 2022
  • Length: 04:53
  • Purchases: 1
206 part one: Goldfish FOV
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
You've heard of an ROV, a remotely operated vehicle. But did you ever think you'd see an FOV, a fish operated vehicle? Israeli scientists have atte...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 11, 2022
  • Length: 04:56
  • Purchases: 1
205: Vatican Women's Rifle Team
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Amy pulled out all the stops for this shenanigan filled episode. Don't be an April's Fool like Trace.

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Feb 17, 2022
  • Length: 05:33
  • Purchases: 1
204: Baker Miller Pink
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In 1978, Dr. Alexander Schauss and a research assistant mixed 1 gallon of white latex paint with a pint of shiny red and created P-618 aka Baker Mi...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Feb 16, 2022
  • Length: 05:06
  • Purchases: 1
202: Honeypot Ants
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Imagine you're an ant living in an arid climate. There's no grocery stores! How do you keep enough food on hand for when things are scarce? You won...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Feb 15, 2022
  • Length: 04:48
  • Purchases: 1

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