What do a thousand-year-old Viking turd, dangerously agreeable chatbots, laws that literally banned ugly people, and competitive sperm racing have in common? They're all real, they're all bizarre, and they all prove that humans have been finding creative ways to be absolutely bonkers throughout history. Today we're exploring archaeological treasures that nobody wanted to find, AI that's so desperate to please it might actually harm you, shameful laws that criminalised looking different, and modern sporting events that redefine the term "personal best." These stories will make you question everything you thought you knew about human progress - and probably make you the most memorable dinner guest of the year. 

 

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Archaeological Discovery at Lloyd's Bank

01:13 A Little Bit Of Science!

01:43 The Fascinating World of Coprolites

02:38 Cultural and Scientific Significance of Poo

05:00 The Coprolite's Journey and Preservation

09:10 AI Chatbots: The Agreeableness Dilemma

15:56 Group Experiment: AI vs Google vs Brain

16:58 The Impact of AI on Learning

17:40 AI Usage Among Students

18:21 Men's Health Awareness: Sperm Racing

23:45 The Ugly Laws: A Dark History

31:18 Discovering the Furthest Galaxy & Ending the show at the same time

 

SOURCES:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyds_Bank_coprolite#:~:text=The%20Lloyds%20Bank%20coprolite%20is,day%20York 

https://knightstemplar.co/lloyds-bank-coprolite/ 

https://futurism.com/therapy-chatbot-addict-meth 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/history-of-ugly-laws-america-disability?rid=45CECE0570F98D481C1B20552919DC46&cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=WeeklyEscape_20250604 

https://www.spermracing.com/ 

https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/world-first-sperm-race-what-is-it-357119-20250415

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1

https://437097.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/437097/Studiosity/Downloads/Research/2025%20AU%20Wellbeing/2025%20Australian%20Student%20Wellbeing%20Survey.pdf?hsCtaAttrib=190770896685

https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/previously-unimaginable-james-webb-telescope-breaks-its-own-record-again-discovering-farthest-known-galaxy-in-the-universe 

What do a thousand-year-old Viking turd, dangerously agreeable chatbots, laws that literally banned ugly people, and competitive sperm racing have in common? They're all real, they're all bizarre, and they all prove that humans have been finding creative ways to be absolutely bonkers throughout history. Today we're exploring archaeological treasures that nobody wanted to find, AI that's so desperate to please it might actually harm you, shameful laws that criminalised looking different, and modern sporting events that redefine the term "personal best." These stories will make you question everything you thought you knew about human progress - and probably make you the most memorable dinner guest of the year.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Archaeological Discovery at Lloyd's Bank
01:13 A Little Bit Of Science!
01:43 The Fascinating World of Coprolites
02:38 Cultural and Scientific Significance of Poo
05:00 The Coprolite's Journey and Preservation
09:10 AI Chatbots: The Agreeableness Dilemma
15:56 Group Experiment: AI vs Google vs Brain
16:58 The Impact of AI on Learning
17:40 AI Usage Among Students
18:21 Men's Health Awareness: Sperm Racing
23:45 The Ugly Laws: A Dark History
31:18 Discovering the Furthest Galaxy &amp; Ending the show at the same time
&nbsp;
SOURCES:
<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyds_Bank_coprolite#:~:text=The%20Lloyds%20Bank%20coprolite%20is,day%20York">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyds_Bank_coprolite#:~:text=The%20Lloyds%20Bank%20coprolite%20is,day%20York</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://knightstemplar.co/lloyds-bank-coprolite/">https://knightstemplar.co/lloyds-bank-coprolite/</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://futurism.com/therapy-chatbot-addict-meth">https://futurism.com/therapy-chatbot-addict-meth</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/history-of-ugly-laws-america-disability?rid=45CECE0570F98D481C1B20552919DC46&amp;cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=WeeklyEscape_20250604">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/history-of-ugly-laws-america-disability?rid=45CECE0570F98D481C1B20552919DC46&amp;cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=WeeklyEscape_20250604</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.spermracing.com/">https://www.spermracing.com/</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/world-first-sperm-race-what-is-it-357119-20250415">https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/world-first-sperm-race-what-is-it-357119-20250415</a>
<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1">https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872v1</a>
<a href="https://437097.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/437097/Studiosity/Downloads/Research/2025%20AU%20Wellbeing/2025%20Australian%20Student%20Wellbeing%20Survey.pdf?hsCtaAttrib=190770896685">https://437097.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/437097/Studiosity/Downloads/Research/2025%20AU%20Wellbeing/2025%20Australian%20Student%20Wellbeing%20Survey.pdf?hsCtaAttrib=190770896685</a>
<a href="https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/previously-unimaginable-james-webb-telescope-breaks-its-own-record-again-discovering-farthest-known-galaxy-in-the-universe">https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/previously-unimaginable-james-webb-telescope-breaks-its-own-record-again-discovering-farthest-known-galaxy-in-the-universe</a>&nbsp;

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed. 

From tales of historical idiocracy and scientific genius to weird and wacky cultural phenomena, Dr Rod Lamberts and Dr Will Grant are here to take you on a wild conversational journey, deep diving into the crevices of science, history and culture that you never knew existed.

Bizarre science history from academics with beers

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