Brain Junk

Series produced by Trace Kerr

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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
201: Rabbit War
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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What happens when you are the Emperor of France and your hunting party plans go completely wrong? You get attacked by rabbits. This isn't a Monty P...

Bought by WRFA-LP and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Feb 15, 2022
  • Length: 04:47
  • Purchases: 2
198: Mary McLeod Bethune
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Mary McLeod Bethune was the daughter of former slaves and a founder of Bethune-Cookman University. She was often the only woman of color with a sea...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Feb 15, 2022
  • Length: 05:02
  • Purchases: 1
197: Singing Gorillas
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Give a captive gorilla tasty food, they often vocalize in ways that sound a lot like singing. It's so charming! But scientists thought this "singin...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 05:08
  • Purchases: 1
194: Iris Sphincters
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
You might think you're special because you can flex your nostrils or flap your ears--but it turns out that there's a person out there who can volun...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 11:34
  • Purchases: 1
193: Navy Seals
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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The US military uses more than boats to protect our Naval bases. This episode brings a whole new meaning to "Navy seals".

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 09:30
  • Purchases: 1
190: Beard Power
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Those of you with a thick beard, that hair does more than make you look suave or rugged. Turns out, a beard might be protecting your face. There's ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 05:03
  • Purchases: 1
188: Trash Parrots
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Forget raccoons digging into your trash cans, Australia has giant parrots snacking out of trash bins. Some family groups of Sulfur-crested cockatoo...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Nov 29, 2021
  • Length: 05:27
  • Purchases: 1
187: Animal Buddy Cops
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In an unexpected turn of events, two predators with very different hunting styles work cooperatively. During the summer months, badgers and coyotes...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 04:32
  • Purchases: 1
186: Sudden Genius
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Imagine waking up from a nap to discover that you have the ability to compose music in your head. What a shock that would be! There are people who ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 04:51
  • Purchases: 2
185: Crash at Crush
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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In September of 1896, the town of Crush was created for the sole purpose of crashing two steam trains together. Things did not go according to plan.

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 05:00
  • Purchases: 1
184: Dog Days of Summer
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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It's fall now, but we recorded this episode during the dog days of August. The sky wore a blanket of wildfire smoke and daytime lows were in the mi...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 04:20
  • Purchases: 1
181: Goo From the Sky
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Apologies--we had sound quality issues. We did not record from the bottom of a metal trash can while hiding from mystery blobs falling from the sky...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 04:53
  • Purchases: 1
183: Telling the Bees
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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The last episode of 4 with wonky sound. We got all the bugs out. (get it...bugs- cause its an episode about bees. *nudges in dad joke* Many cultur...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Aug 18, 2021
  • Length: 04:56
  • Purchases: 1
180: Dr. Mae Carol Jemison
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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On September 12, 1992, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first Black female astronaut. She's an engineer, a scientist, a physician, and an educator....

Bought by KMUN, WRFA-LP, and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 13, 2021
  • Length: 04:55
  • Purchases: 3
179: Spontaneous Combustion
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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This episode is marked explicit because we go into details that might lead to a person catching on fire. It's interesting science and we don't get ...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Aug 13, 2021
  • Length: 06:52
  • Purchases: 1
177: Knocker Uppers
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Stop laughing Americans, it's not what you think. Starting with the industrial revolution in the UK, people were employed as human alarm clocks, wa...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Aug 13, 2021
  • Length: 04:41
  • Purchases: 2
176: Math Pain
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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If you're like Trace, the thought of math makes you want to run and hide; that anxiety, that tightness in your chest, the weird shooting pains (wai...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jun 14, 2021
  • Length: 04:54
  • Purchases: 1
175: Angels' Glow
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
It's the Civil War and you're in the medical tent. It's dark and the man next to you has wounds glowing an eerie blue. Turns out, the men who had t...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jun 14, 2021
  • Length: 04:58
  • Purchases: 2
173: Mushroom Lightning
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
There's a long tradition of Japanese folklore around the possible relationship between large mushroom harvests and lightning. Researchers decided t...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jun 14, 2021
  • Length: 04:54
  • Purchases: 2
172: Dancing Plague
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
During the 1300-1500s there were several accounts of people being afflicted with spontaneous dancing. One group of 400 people were struck with the ...

Bought by WRFA-LP and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 24, 2021
  • Length: 04:44
  • Purchases: 2

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