Completely Optional Knowledge





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EPISODES


  • Why Do Frozen Lakes and Rivers Sound So Creepy?

    Episode 1

    Minnesotan Brigitta Green has a question for us about ice. After a late-night howling sound aroused curiosity on the streets of St. Paul last winter, she wants to know how frozen bodies of water produce such eery noises. Chris Polashenski, Arctic researcher and expert on all things cold, has our answer.


  • What Do Tornadoes Smell Like?

    Episode 2

    New Yorker Alex Kapelman has never seen a tornado, and he’s curious: what do they smell like? With more than 20 years of storm chasing under his belt, extreme weather documentarian Warren Faidley has our answer. And no—he didn’t have to enter the eye of the storm to get it.


  • What Does the Sun Sound Like?

    Episode 3

    Space camp alumnus Avery Trufelman from Oakland, California wants to know what the sun sounds like, and so do we! NASA sound and space expert Robert Alexander has our answer, delivered through the wondrous technology of sonification.


  • What’s the deal with raining spiders?

    Episode 4

    Vancouver meteorologist Kristi Gordon had a not so fortunate on-air experience with an arachnid guest descending on her from above, so she asked us to find out where this “raining spider” came from. Australian naturalist Martyn Robinson explains that this phenomenon isn’t actually as farfetched as it sounds.


  • Why Do Touch-Me-Not Plants Recoil?

    Episode 5

    On a recent vacation to Costa Rica, Indianapolis-based nurse Amy Gastelum did what we all would if given the chance: she touched a touch-me-not plant. Now, she wants to know why the plant recoiled at her touch. Evolutionary ecologist Monica Galiano has our answer.


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ABOUT

Completely Optional Knowledge is the podcast that answers the questions you never knew you had. Some things in life are #CompletelyOptional—satisfying your curiosity doesn’t have to be one of them.

Completely Optional Knowledge is produced by multimedia whiz Andrew Norton, our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. We’re brought to you by Greenpeace, proud to be working for a more green and peaceful future.