Venting might be making you angrier, Neanderthals apparently had a type, and unborn babies are already forming strong opinions about kale. This week we bounce from modern psychology to ancient DNA to fetal facial expressions, with a quick detour into pokie machines and how they might be made a little less addictive.

We start with a meta analysis suggesting venting is not the healthy release we have been sold. Instead of calming you down, it can keep your body fired up and make the anger stick around longer. The less satisfying fix is also the more effective one, doing things that lower arousal like breathing, yoga, and anything that stops you replaying the same rant on loop.

Then we head back to prehistory, where research suggests Neanderthal DNA patterns point to pairings that may have involved Neanderthal men and human women more often than the reverse. The details are complicated, but the headline is simple. Neanderthals are not just history, they are part of us, and the human story has always been messier than we like to admit.

Finally, we look at a study that might explain why some people hate vegetables with the passion of a thousand suns. Fetuses exposed to carrot flavours appeared to react more positively than those exposed to kale, hinting that taste preferences may start before birth. We wrap up with a surprisingly practical idea for pokie machines, adding sounds for losses as well as wins to make the experience less psychologically sneaky.





CHAPTERS:

00:00 Venting Myth 

02:40 Science Debunks Catharsis

04:06 Meta Analysis Breakdown

05:40 Calm Down Not Amp Up

06:59 Jogging And Anger

09:25 Why We Love Anger

10:53 Play Metal And Fun

11:48 Neanderthal DNA Mystery

13:07 Who Mated With Whom

14:17 Neanderthal Dating Bias

15:16 Hybrid Myths and Mechanics

16:28 Picky Eaters Rant

18:54 Fetuses Taste Flavours

20:08 Carrot Smiles vs Kale Grimaces

23:30 Pokies Need Losing Sounds

27:47 Petition and Sign-Off





SOURCES:
 Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was strongly sex biased
 Why I risked prison to add a 'Losing Sound' to poker machines
 Flavour Sensing in Utero and Emerging Discriminative Behaviours in the Human Fetus


https://www.sciencealert.com/venting-doesnt-reduce-anger-but-something-else-does-review-finds

Venting might be making you angrier, Neanderthals apparently had a type, and unborn babies are already forming strong opinions about kale. This week we bounce from modern psychology to ancient DNA to fetal facial expressions, with a quick detour into pokie machines and how they might be made a little less addictive.
We start with a meta analysis suggesting venting is not the healthy release we have been sold. Instead of calming you down, it can keep your body fired up and make the anger stick around longer. The less satisfying fix is also the more effective one, doing things that lower arousal like breathing, yoga, and anything that stops you replaying the same rant on loop.
Then we head back to prehistory, where research suggests Neanderthal DNA patterns point to pairings that may have involved Neanderthal men and human women more often than the reverse. The details are complicated, but the headline is simple. Neanderthals are not just history, they are part of us, and the human story has always been messier than we like to admit.
Finally, we look at a study that might explain why some people hate vegetables with the passion of a thousand suns. Fetuses exposed to carrot flavours appeared to react more positively than those exposed to kale, hinting that taste preferences may start before birth. We wrap up with a surprisingly practical idea for pokie machines, adding sounds for losses as well as wins to make the experience less psychologically sneaky.
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Venting Myth&nbsp;
02:40 Science Debunks Catharsis
04:06 Meta Analysis Breakdown
05:40 Calm Down Not Amp Up
06:59 Jogging And Anger
09:25 Why We Love Anger
10:53 Play Metal And Fun
11:48 Neanderthal DNA Mystery
13:07 Who Mated With Whom
14:17 Neanderthal Dating Bias
15:16 Hybrid Myths and Mechanics
16:28 Picky Eaters Rant
18:54 Fetuses Taste Flavours
20:08 Carrot Smiles vs Kale Grimaces
23:30 Pokies Need Losing Sounds
27:47 Petition and Sign-Off
 
SOURCES:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6774?ref=404media.co"> Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was strongly sex biased</a></li>
<li><a href="https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/03/why-i-risked-prison-to-add-a-losing-sound-to-poker-machines/?utm_source=Pearls+&amp;+Irritations&amp;utm_campaign=4356d93291-Daily&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_0c6b037ecb-4356d93291-583194139"> Why I risked prison to add a 'Losing Sound' to poker machines</a></li>
<li><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976221105460"> Flavour Sensing in Utero and Emerging Discriminative Behaviours in the Human Fetus</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/venting-doesnt-reduce-anger-but-something-else-does-review-finds">https://www.sciencealert.com/venting-doesnt-reduce-anger-but-something-else-does-review-finds</a><a href="https://www.history.com/articles/da-vinci-robotic-lion"></a>
</li>
</ul>

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