PRX - Pieces for Tone: Quirky

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Pretending to be Proper
From: KMUW
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We look at some "rules" of the language that were mostly just made up so people could feel like they were speaking proper English.

Bought by KECG and KRPS


  • Added: Mar 07, 2024
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Psilence!
From: KMUW
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We run through a few of the many, many English words that contain silent letters. And we'll hear some of the baffling reasons we pronounce those wo...

Bought by KRPS


  • Added: Feb 22, 2024
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sneaky Rules We Don't Know We Follow
From: KMUW
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Some of us like to be rule breakers, but here are a few rules of the English language we can’t help but follow. And we probably don’t even know the...

Bought by KRPS


  • Added: Feb 08, 2024
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Grave Robbers
From: KSLU
Series: Rock School
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Elvis was not always buried on the Graceland property. After an attempted grave robbing, he was moved there. In fact, many musicians' graves have...

Bought by WMTNradio, KHNS, KWIT, Harford Community Radio, KSRQ and more


  • Added: Sep 25, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
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
209: Detachable Tails
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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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
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
TV Themes that Became Hits
From: KSLU
Series: Rock School
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Here's the game. Name a TV theme song that then became a hit on the pop chart. You cannot choose a song that was first a hit and then used for a ...

Bought by WKPW, KSRQ, KTRL, KHNS, KWIT and more


  • Added: Mar 06, 2022
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
202: Honeypot Ants
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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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
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
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
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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
187: Animal Buddy Cops
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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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
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
Band Fan Bases
From: KSLU
Series: Rock School
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You have heard of the KISS Army, right? That what KISS fans call themselves. But did you know that other bands and musicians also have nicknames ...

Bought by WYAP, KSRQ, WNYO, KWIT, Harford Community Radio and more


  • Added: Aug 22, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
  • Purchases: 7
172: Dancing Plague
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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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
Vaccines
From: KSLU
Series: STEM Science Radio
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Rhett Allain and Adam Cortez discuss the science behind the vaccines and why they work

  • Added: May 06, 2021
  • Length: 11:59
159: Wanna Cuttle?
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Can a cuttlefish master a test that very young children often struggle to pass? Instead of using marshmallows like we do with people, scientists us...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 30, 2021
  • Length: 05:05
  • Purchases: 1
Parody Bands
From: KSLU
Series: Rock School
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This week was inspired by the Spinal Tap debut back in 1984. Once I started doing the research, there was simply a large group of bands that are b...

Bought by KSRQ, KWIT, Harford Community Radio, and WOUB


  • Added: Mar 28, 2021
  • Length: 58:56
  • Purchases: 4
149: History of Bandanas
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Originating in India, the western version of the red bandana began in 1800s England with the use of snuff. Over the years the pattern has changed s...

  • Added: Feb 21, 2021
  • Length: 04:55
136: Sneaky Potato
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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In 1532 the Spanish found out what everyone in South America already knew--potatoes are amazing. But when they brought them back to Europe the rece...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 10, 2020
  • Length: 04:41
  • Purchases: 1
118: Trundling
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Trace follows a trail from shoving boulders downhill to the 18th century sport of hoop rolling. P.S. Trace mentions in the beginning of the episode...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 23, 2020
  • Length: 04:46
  • Purchases: 1
111: Pigeons and Four Letter Words
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Might it be possible to teach a pigeon how to "read" a label for a person who can't read? Is there the possibility of a future where pigeon service...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 20, 2020
  • Length: 04:15
  • Purchases: 1
sontimeter / centimeter
From: Pius Wong
Series: Engineering Word Of The Day
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If your client calls a centimeter a "sontimeter," I'll assume they're medical and you've got a leader. This is Episode 82 of Engineering Word Of T...

  • Added: Feb 07, 2020
  • Length: 06:10
90: Full Moon Killers
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
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Barn owls come in three colors, a tawny brown, a mix of brown a white, and all white. It didn't make sense to researchers how a white owl could be ...

  • Added: Jan 06, 2020
  • Length: 06:15