Australia has a list of baby names you are not allowed to use, a church once removed a devil statue for being distractingly hot, and one German bloke accidentally kayaked from Europe to Australia. This week, Will and Rod bounce between naming laws, scandalous art, and a seven-year adventure that sounds fake, but absolutely wasn’t.

We start with banned baby names and why governments step in when a name looks like it could cause harm, invite ridicule, or create a lifelong admin headache. Then we hit art history, where the Geefs brothers made the devil too handsome for church, plus Stendhal syndrome which is the idea that beauty can literally make you dizzy.

Finally, we follow Oskar Speck’s kayak trip that escalated wildly, seven years, malaria, dangerous crossings, and prison camps, all because he was trying to outrun a collapsing economy. This week is a wild ride. 

CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Banned Baby Names Setup

00:33 Germany Name Ban Game

01:50 Lucifer And Other Forbiddens

04:13 New Zealand Weird Bans

05:52 US Rules And Santa Claus

06:58 Australia Banned Names List

09:43 Name Roast Side Hustle

10:34 Hot Art Hospitalization

14:17 Stendhal Syndrome Explained

18:26 Hacking AI Agents

20:41 Prompt Hacking Agents

22:59 Ethical AI Sabotage

23:20 Nutrition Study Pitfalls

24:25 Genes As Diet Proxies

27:40 Onion Gene Surprise

30:22 Ice Cream Taste Debate

30:59 Button Sewing Fails

32:03 Kayaking To Australia

39:54 Just Do Stuff Mindset

41:30 Wrap Up 

 

SOURCES:

https://bsky.app/profile/caesarion10.bsky.social/post/3mnxix4uu7k2r

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220110-stendhal-syndrome-the-travel-syndrome-that-causes-panic

https://maritimeheritage.org.au/documents/MHA%20September%202007%20journal.pdf

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.24245

https://www.404media.co/it-is-trivially-easy-to-use-reddit-to-manipulate-ai-search-research-suggests/?_bhlid=efba6cdec7cbc45e0cd89dc96464988b2cd3bdd2

https://www.parents.com/banned-baby-name-in-germany-8779188

https://www.smh.com.au/national/todd-carney-wants-to-call-his-son-king-daryl-problem-is-it-s-one-of-89-banned-baby-names-20260225-p5o596.html

https://www.sciencealert.com/your-taste-for-onions-may-reveal-something-about-your-future-health

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelian_randomization

Australia has a list of baby names you are not allowed to use, a church once removed a devil statue for being distractingly hot, and one German bloke accidentally kayaked from Europe to Australia. This week, Will and Rod bounce between naming laws, scandalous art, and a seven-year adventure that sounds fake, but absolutely wasn&rsquo;t.
We start with banned baby names and why governments step in when a name looks like it could cause harm, invite ridicule, or create a lifelong admin headache. Then we hit art history, where the Geefs brothers made the devil too handsome for church, plus Stendhal syndrome which is the idea that beauty can literally make you dizzy.
Finally, we follow Oskar Speck&rsquo;s kayak trip that escalated wildly, seven years, malaria, dangerous crossings, and prison camps, all because he was trying to outrun a collapsing economy. This week is a wild ride.&nbsp;
CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 Banned Baby Names Setup
00:33 Germany Name Ban Game
01:50 Lucifer And Other Forbiddens
04:13 New Zealand Weird Bans
05:52 US Rules And Santa Claus
06:58 Australia Banned Names List
09:43 Name Roast Side Hustle
10:34 Hot Art Hospitalization
14:17 Stendhal Syndrome Explained
18:26 Hacking AI Agents
20:41 Prompt Hacking Agents
22:59 Ethical AI Sabotage
23:20 Nutrition Study Pitfalls
24:25 Genes As Diet Proxies
27:40 Onion Gene Surprise
30:22 Ice Cream Taste Debate
30:59 Button Sewing Fails
32:03 Kayaking To Australia
39:54 Just Do Stuff Mindset
41:30 Wrap Up&nbsp;
&nbsp;
SOURCES:
https://bsky.app/profile/caesarion10.bsky.social/post/3mnxix4uu7k2r
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220110-stendhal-syndrome-the-travel-syndrome-that-causes-panic
https://maritimeheritage.org.au/documents/MHA%20September%202007%20journal.pdf
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.24245
https://www.404media.co/it-is-trivially-easy-to-use-reddit-to-manipulate-ai-search-research-suggests/?_bhlid=efba6cdec7cbc45e0cd89dc96464988b2cd3bdd2
https://www.parents.com/banned-baby-name-in-germany-8779188
https://www.smh.com.au/national/todd-carney-wants-to-call-his-son-king-daryl-problem-is-it-s-one-of-89-banned-baby-names-20260225-p5o596.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/your-taste-for-onions-may-reveal-something-about-your-future-health
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelian_randomization

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