Part-Time Genius
@parttimegenius.bsky.social
Fascinating facts and curious corners of the world, from Will and Mango, the guys who started Mental Floss. New episodes weekly, in all the podcast places. Call our hotline with questions, ideas, and/or puns: (302) 405-5925.
At the @nychistory.bsky.social for the reenactment of the toppling of the statue of George III by New Yorkers who’d just listened to the Declaration of Independence. T minus 20. Historically accurate “getting pumped by listening to a drum and fife” is happening.
Would it be nice to relax on an idyllic Greek island? Yes. Will doing so make you live forever? Probably not. This week, PTG teams up with Mangesh's other show, Skyline Drive, to investigate the story behind Blue Zones. omny.fm/shows/part-t...
What Are Blue Zones?
omny.fm
This week: a deep dive into milk! Food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson tells the terrible story of swill milk, producer Mary chugs three glasses of A2 milk in the name of science, and we discover the surprising auteur behind the first Got Milk ads. Plus: potato milk?? omny.fm/shows/part-t...
We Got Milk… But Why? - Part-Time Genius
When did humans develop a taste for other animals’ milk, and how did dairy go from being a public health threat to a daily cereal topping? Why are some people lactose intolerant, while others chug mil...
omny.fm
🚨Research alert! For decades, scientists have puzzled over an evolutionary mystery: Why are bird eggs so large? A new study led by researchers at the Museum and Princeton University suggests that the key lies not in body size, but in brain size. Read more.👇
Why Do Birds Lay Such Big Eggs? | AMNH
New research finds that birds, the only living dinosaurs, evolved larger eggs as their brains got bigger.
amnh.link
The English alphabet! You're looking at it right now, but do you know where it came from? We sat down with the wonderful @dannybate.com to talk about his new book, "Why Q Needs U"! omny.fm/shows/part-t...
Where Did the Alphabet Come From? with Danny Bate! - Part-Time Genius
Why is Z the last letter of the English alphabet (and why do British people insist on calling it zed)? Who stuck a tail on C and called it G? And is there a reason why the I in ‘child’ and ‘children’ ...
omny.fm
Nobody does it like Belgium, the country that put Tintin and the Smurfs on its passports
Doug Mack@douglasmack.bsky.social · 2mo agoJust need everyone to know that the Belgium men's soccer team has new jerseys based on the art of Rene Magritte and this is the official photo shoot
Not an astrophysicist, but I'm going to say the answer to this question is clearly yes
Space Telescope Science Institute@stsci.edu · 2mo agoDid a giant space cat step in some x-rays? 🐾 This image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula shows infrared data from #NASAWebb and X-rays from Chandra (in pink). A patch of pink at the center reveals young stars tucked behind thick rings of dark orange cosmic dust: https://bit.ly/4shXmWk
The brilliant @xkcd.com, Randall Munroe, is guest editor for this year's BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE AND NATURE WRITING from @marinerbooks.bsky.social, and folks, it's a beauty lithub.com/here-are-the...
Here are the new covers and guest editors for the 2026 Best American Series.
For decades, Mariner Books has stewarded The The Best American Series®, a literary institution that began in 1915 with Best American Short Stories, to your bookshelves. But just in case you’re stum…
lithub.com
This is so delightful!
Internet Archive@archive.org · 3mo agoIt's microfiche in the digital era 📄💻 Want to see how microfiche is preserved digitally? You can! Check out the Democracy’s Library #livestream, 7:30 AM–Midnight PT, scanning & preserving public records in real time — all to mellow #lofi vibes. 📡 www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9h... #LiveNow
May the Fourth be with you! #StarWars I proudly present: Darth Vader, Ben Kenobi, Princess Sia, an Ewok and a Wookie. #DogsOfBlueSky
If you need to see a tiny snail today, meet the black gloss snail. 🐌 Found across the Northern Hemisphere, this gastropod's shell typically reaches ~0.2 in (.5 cm) in diameter—smaller than a penny. It feeds on decaying leaves, fruit, and mushrooms. Photo: elwinham, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist
ICYMI: On Sundays we're sharing episodes from Mangesh's other show, Skyline Drive. (Not to brag, but Apple called it one of their favorite shows of all time!) It's about astrology. Kinda. It's also about family, grief, identity, and yes, it's funny too. Check it out! omny.fm/shows/part-t...
Skyline Drive: It’s Supposed to Be Fun - Part-Time Genius
Hey PTG fans, Mangesh (aka Mango) has another show, Skyline Drive! On Sundays we’ll be sharing episodes from season 1 right here, so you can get excited for season 2, which drops in June. Skyline Dri...
omny.fm
We have some burning #milk questions for an upcoming episode: -Do you, or did you ever, drink straight-up dairy milk with meals? -If you don't do dairy, what's your preferred plant milk and why?
Trash grabber enthusiast/producer Mary here: this is so delightful, and as I've said before on the show, get yourself a trash grabber! They cost $15ish and the payoff is endless. I bet there's some trash on your block or in your local park right now, just waiting for you.
Elizabeth Preston@inkfish.bsky.social · 4mo agoMy sister @akpresto.bsky.social's latest Lego-art-and-data-visualization newsletter is a lovely meditation on picking up trash: aangles.ghost.io/picking-up/?...
asking the big questions in my ornithology course
Today on the show: the difference between plaid and tartan, and other surprising facts from Scotland. omny.fm/shows/part-t...
How to Make a Scottish Tartan (Without Going to Scotland!) - Part-Time Genius
What unique title do you earn if you climb Scotland’s tallest mountains? How is the Scots language being preserved? What’s the deep, dark secret behind bagpipes? And most important, do you support Wil...
omny.fm
For #FossilFriday a little pinecone still preserved in 3D after 125million years. Early Cretaceous Wessex Fm #IsleofWight
after much deliberation and giving AI the benefit of the doubt, Wikipedia editors have had enough of AI slop. New policy bans LLM generated content, periodt www.404media.co/wikipedia-ba...
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content
“In recent months, more and more administrative reports centered on LLM-related issues, and editors were being overwhelmed.”
404media.co
Today we're uncovering the secrets of The Legend of Zelda, from the real-world inspirations to the technical breakthroughs that helped bring the games to life. Plus: Why IS Link so darn handsome? #legendofzelda omny.fm/shows/part-t...
Is The Legend of Zelda the Perfect Video Game? - Part-Time Genius
Strap on your sword and grab your ocarina, because today we're celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda! Join Mango and Gabe as they uncover the secrets of Nintendo's landmark fantasy s...
omny.fm
🗃️ If it doesn't already exist, someone needs to do a comparative cultural analysis of cow names through the ages
Chuck Groenink@cgroenink.bsky.social · 5mo agoFinally found this list of 15th century Italian names for cows I had saved ages ago and lost, but don't remember where I first got it from.
Heisenberg & Schrödinger get pulled over for speeding. Cop: D'you know how fast you were driving? Heisenberg: No but I know exactly where I am. Cop: It was 118mph. H: Thanks, now I'm lost. Cop [inspects car, opens boot]: Were you aware there's a dead cat back here? Schrödinger [angrily]: We are now!
Nature@nature.com · 5mo agoA chemist, physicist, and biologist walk into a bar go.nature.com/3PfmrDS
Interestingly, many of these principles also apply to spreadsheets (and spreadsheet-like apps) used for podcast production management.
Darren Dahly@statsepi.bsky.social · 5mo agoEvery day is a good day for sharing one of the most useful papers about research data ever written. PLEASE get your people to understand and follow this advice. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
These are the winning images of the 2026 British Wildlife Photography Awards. trib.al/r5SWXve
Striking Scene of a Toad Swimming Across a Pond Wins the 2026 British Wildlife Photography Awards
Each image is a reminder of why woodlands, wetlands, and other ecosystems are vital.
trib.al
Not sure what this says about me, but my first thought was that the bird was delicately cleaning the wolf's teeth, because wolves can't floss.
Surprised Eel Historian, PhD@greenleejw.bsky.social · 5mo agoA drawing from this evening. A wolf and a bird in conversation. Or the wolf is about to eat the bird. Or the bird is picking the wolf’s nose. Something like that.
Tag yourself, I'm top row middle. #DolphinAwarenessMonth
Whale Tales@whaletalesorg.bsky.social · 5mo agoIt's #DolphinAwarenessMonth! Although we tend to picture the ocean when we think of dolphins, there are currently thousands of dolphins swimming in major river systems in both South America and Asia.
