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
78: Rock and Roll Mosquitoes
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Turn up the Skrillex to ward off some pesky bloodsucking insects. And possibly your neighbors.

  • Added: Nov 24, 2019
  • Length: 10:50
77: Maud Stevens Wagner
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Born in Kansas in 1877, Maud grew up to be the first white female tattoo artist in the United States.

  • Added: Nov 24, 2019
  • Length: 05:29
75: Worm Charming
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
This episode will have you outside with a sharpened stake, a hammer, a slab of metal and an empty coffee can. That's right, we're going to be talki...

  • Added: Sep 11, 2019
  • Length: 05:58
74: Giant Sea Spiders
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Absorbing oxygen through their "skin" and pumping blood with their guts, the Giant Sea Spider isn't a true spider, but it's close. Too close for Tr...

  • Added: Sep 11, 2019
  • Length: 06:24
73: Bridget 'Biddy' Mason
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
At the age of 42, Bridget Mason won a court case in California that freed her and her daughters from slavery. She went on to become a California re...

  • Added: Sep 11, 2019
  • Length: 05:14
71: Ants on Stilts
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Ants hunt for food, but how do they know how to get back? Content warning: Science is messy. Some ants were harmed and we talk about it. Not in gre...

  • Added: Aug 06, 2019
  • Length: 08:50
70: Galloping Crocodiles
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Like a scaly cheetah, galloping crocs were a terror both on land and in the water. Good thing they lived 100 million years ago.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and KSFR


  • Added: Aug 06, 2019
  • Length: 04:15
  • Purchases: 2
68: Seasonal Depression
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Sending a little love to our listeners in the Southern Hemisphere. It might be summer here, but it's the middle of winter down south. Turn on some ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 16, 2019
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 1
66: Gynandromorphy
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Big word for a genetic mutation where an animal is split with one side being entirely female and the other male. This can happen in some species of...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 04, 2019
  • Length: 05:14
  • Purchases: 1
65: Kidney Stone Roller Coaster
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Medical science on the fly. Turns out you only need to pull a few G's to loosen that stubborn kidney stone.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 26, 2019
  • Length: 03:24
  • Purchases: 1
62: Troxler Effect
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In 1804 Dr. Troxler discovered he could make pastel dots on paper disappear if he stared at them for long enough. Blink, and they would reappear. T...

  • Added: Jun 05, 2019
  • Length: 03:24
61: Science Ferrets
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Need to string some wire through your house or clean a particle accelerator? You might need a science ferret.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 28, 2019
  • Length: 03:09
  • Purchases: 1
60: You Swallowed What?
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
It's our one year podcast-aversary! We thank you for listening with an episode on accidental swallowings and some...not so accidental. Trace also ...

  • Added: May 21, 2019
  • Length: 05:50
59: Flatworms
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Can Flatworms remember how to find food after re-growing their heads? Science rolled up its sleeves and found out.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 14, 2019
  • Length: 04:47
  • Purchases: 1
58: Cuteness Aggression
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Why do we want to crush-hug cute things like babies and young animals? It may have something to do with adorableness overload and how our brains co...

  • Added: May 09, 2019
  • Length: 03:50
57: Stagecoach Mary
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Born in 1832, Mary Fields was the first African-American female Star Route mail carrier in the United States. Wearing two guns that she sometimes b...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 30, 2019
  • Length: 04:32
  • Purchases: 1
55: Super Recognizers
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Two percent of the population has the almost uncanny ability to recognize and remember faces from chance meetings even years before. We talk about ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 16, 2019
  • Length: 05:15
  • Purchases: 1
54: Exploding Ants
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Meet C. explodens; worker ants who rupture their own abdomens--filled with toxic goo--to protect the colony from predators.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 09, 2019
  • Length: 03:59
  • Purchases: 1
53: Barbed Wire Phones
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
One more example of how farmers MacGyver everything. No phone lines? Use the fence.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 04, 2019
  • Length: 03:42
  • Purchases: 1
52: Long Lives of Lobsters
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
The internet claims lobsters are immortal. Amy pulls a Dana Scully and debunks the heck out of that idea.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Mar 26, 2019
  • Length: 04:35
  • Purchases: 1

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