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Festival of the Spoken Nerd


Looking for a science comedy podcast that doesn't skimp on the details? We've got you. Join us once a month as three different science stories are dissected every month by the trio behind comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd. 


Stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, experiments maestro Steve Mould and geek songstress Helen Arney are experts at investigating things that might not seem particularly interesting on the surface, but become fascinating when you get down to the nitty and / or gritty.


Check out festivalofthespokennerd.com/tickets for details of our live shows in the UK and streamed across the world. 


Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 


 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail

Series 2 coming soon! Don't forget to subscribe for new episodes.

Looking for a science comedy podcast that doesn't skimp on the details? We've got you. One starting point sets off three different science stories from the trio behind comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

Stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, experiments maestro Steve Mould and geek songstress Helen Arney take a single word or phrase and use it to investigate things that might not seem particularly interesting on the surface, but become fascinating when you get down to the nitty and / or gritty.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email us on podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Trailer Of Unnecessary Detail

In this episode, Helen talks fuel for your body, Matt talks plane fuel (or lack of it…) and Steve talks origin theories for a particular fossil fuel. Plus a song from Helen about the ultimate source of Earth’s fuel:

- Matt's bit (01:10)

- Helen's bit (10:30)

- Steve's bit (22:30)

- Helen's Sun Song (33:50)

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Fuel episode page to see everything.

Corrections and clarifications:

- Since we recorded this episode in 2020, Timothy Jarman tells us that his Google Maps *does* give an option for the most fuel efficient journey now - amazing!

 - 02:55 - Matt mentions Boeing 787 instead of Boeing 767. He blames it on a slip of the plane! Thanks @kaapi_croissant.

- 08:22 - Our Formula One knowledge is out of date! F1 haven't allowed refuelling during pit stops since 2009... but other races still allow it, and the problem of vehicle weight vs. refuelling stops still exists. @Thexscha was the first to point this out, but many many many more of you have since then... 

- 20:41 - This CO2 decaffeination method uses supercritical CO2. That means CO2 at a temperature above boiling point and a pressure above atmospheric pressure, giving it the unique properties of both a liquid and a gas. It's not simply liquid Carbon Dioxide. Cheers @amypeace for being the first to chemical engineer to listen and flag this.

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fuel

In this episode, Steve tries to measure distant stars with his thumb, Matt talks black holes & plot holes and Helen plays some of her favourite space sounds. Plus a song from Helen that may provide useful information for your future interstellar travel needs:

- Steve's bit (01:00)

- Helen's bit (12:30)

- Matt's bit (24:40)

- Helen's Cryonic Love Song (38:50)

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Interstellar episode page to see everything.

Corrections and clarifications:

- 12:09 - Helen uses the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" which - as Lynda Goldenberg rightly points out - not actually a complement, but rather a heinous insult used by Isaac Newton to describe Robert Hooke. We'll pull this apart properly in a future episode. 

- 20:49 - Anaesthetists @brisgasdoc and @mjtb1987 have confirmed that they use the blood oxygen level tone all day, every day with their patients. This paper is an interesting investigation into attention and sonification in the operating room, and does mentions how surgical colleagues prefer to keep the oximeter volume down low. 

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interstellar

In this episode, Helen investigates a curious ring that lives in the sea, Steve contemplates the meaning of life itself and Matt brings along some bagels: 

- Helen's bit (00:45)

- Matt's bit (11:05)

- Steve's bit (19:55)

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Rings episode page to see everything in once place.

Corrections and clarifications:

- 03:18 - Clemens Jusner wrote in to clarify that chitin is a polymer, which makes up squid beaks only in combination with cross-linked proteins. More on cephalopod beaks here.

Thanks for listening! 

 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rings

In this episode, Steve talks about a sticky effect, Matt gets us tangled up in stick knots, and Helen gets stuck into sticky numbers: 

- Steve's bit (00:45)

- Matt's bit (10:15)

- Helen's bit (22:05)

For live shows, merch, mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Stick episode page to see everything in once place.

Corrections and clarifications:

- None, so far... 

Thanks for listening! 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stick

Steve goes to war against rote learning; Matt tells us how ancient numbers affect what we can and can't name our dogs; and Helen's bit is elementary, my dear listener:

- Matt's bit (00:50)

- Steve's bit (11:15)

- Helen's bit (22:00)

- Helen's bonus brassy song (37:05)

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Table episode page to see everything in once place.

Corrections and clarifications:

- Regular listener Paul has pointed out that not ALL phone numbers can actually be used as phone numbers. The system connects on the first valid match, so phone numbers longer than 4 digits cannot start with emergency services number 999, or 111, or anything like that. The actual numbers depend on which country you're in, of course. 

- Not every IV is written as IV... @DavidDanaci sent in several examples of watchmakers who use IIII instead of IV on their watch faces: Patek Philippe, Breguet and Alange & Soehne. One large scale counter-example is the Great Clock of Westminster, aka the Elizabeth Tower clock, aka, the clock that houses Big Ben aka the massive clock in London colloquially known as Big Ben. Yes, Big Ben is the bell, not the clock or the tower. But you knew that already, right? 

- Benedikt Gocht emailed to point out that we won't be waiting for another 18 elements to reach the next noble gas, but more like 50 or 54, depending on which model you use to predict the properties of elements after 118. There go Helen's dreams of an element called "Hanon" in her lifetime...

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Table

In this final episode of Series 1, Steve talks about how plants transmit their genes, Helen eavesdrops on whales and Matt decodes spacecraft transmissions. Plus a song about the bravest little transmitter in the known universe:

- Steve's bit (00:45)

- Matt's bit (13:40)

- Helen's bit (26:15)

- The Philae Song (39:15)

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the Transmission episode page to see everything in once place.

Corrections and clarifications:

- Steve repeatedly refers to the Oak Tree as an "Acorn Tree" - which is taxonomically and linguistically incorrect, but as we only spotted the mistake in the final edit we left it as it is. You're smart enough to work out what he meant, right? ;)

- Several people got in touch to say they've consumed a cashew apple! Our pal Simon Watt has tried it in a "caju" smoothie, and Christa Norton tells us that if you mix it with chilli powder it's a great alternative to lemon when you're doing tequila slammers. 

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transmission

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes as soon as they are released!

Looking for a science comedy podcast that doesn't skimp on the details? We've got you. One starting point sets off three different science stories from the trio behind comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

Stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, experiments maestro Steve Mould and geek songstress Helen Arney take a single phrase and use it to investigate things that might not seem particularly interesting on the surface, but become fascinating when you get down to the nitty and / or gritty.

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter @FOTSN, Facebook, Instagram or email us on podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail is back!

In this episode, Steve discovers the greedy cup siphon hiding inside your loo, Matt delves into Joseph Bazalgette’s calculations for London’s sewer system and Helen teaches everyone how to flush a toilet, through the medium of song:

- Steve's bit (00:48)

- Helen's bit (11:48)

- Matt's bit (28:03)

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the episode page to see everything.

Corrections and clarifications:

- None, so far. But we have been sent some fantastic sewer tour suggestions, and a range of toilet flush photos from around the world, so we've updated the episode page with all of that.

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: http://festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

 

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Flush and Forget

In this episode, Matt finds his portrait in a Prime Number, Helen sings about the biggest Prime Number ever discovered (at the time of recording) and Steve discovers the hot new trick that wild honey bees are using to defend themselves:

- Steve's bit (00:52)

- Matt's bit (13:33)

- Helen's bit (26:12)

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the episode page to see everything.

Corrections and clarifications:

- None, so far...

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Primed and Ready

Matt, Helen and Steve introduce more favourite moments from their recent live shows, performed at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre. With comedian Rachel Wheeley talking about the Greenwich Time Signal, biochemical engineer Michael Sulu on the potentially fatal difference between tubes and pipes, and zoologist Hana Ayoob sharing the Honey Badger love. Plus Matt on fast food, bad maths and McCombinations, and Helen with a song about losing love at the circus:

- Matt's bit (1:27)

- Rachel's bit (15:09)

- Michael's bit (24:02)

- Hana's bit (34:45)

- Helen's bit (44:00)

SHOW NOTES: 

Unfortunately our show notes are too big for Acast's margins to contain... head to the episode page to see everything.

Corrections and clarifications:

- The original version of this episode contained a naughty word that wasn't beeped out - oops! We've fixed it now.

For tickets to live shows, nerd merch, our mailing list and more, visit: festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com. 

Come for the Unnecessary Detail. Stay for the A Podcast Of. 

Thanks for listening!

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Live And Kicking Part 2

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