Everything Is Interesting -With Keera & Kira
by Kira Klingenberg Keera Lindenberg Xray.fm KXRY
Through the lens of science, hosts Kira Klingenberg & Keera Lindenberg (yes, really) explore surprisingly fascinating topics - like hive minds, sea monkeys, & lactose intolerance, in a way that everyone, despite their inherent level of nerdiness, will enjoy. All episodes recorded live at KXRY studios in Portland, Oregon.
Episodes
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Female Scientists You Should Know – 2021
Happy International Women’s Day, 2021! Keera Lindenberg introduces you to some of the female scientists, both living and dead, that have paved the way for women in STEM, and changed the course of history along the way.
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Season 2: Invasions – Pregnancy
Trust me, every single available photo of a placenta is horrifying. Here’s an adorable newborn baby instead. Human pregnancy. A sweet symbiotic relationship between 2 beings? Or a BODILY INVASION?? Depends on which of your cells you ask. In this episode, K+K explore the role of the Placenta, the...
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Season 2: Invasions – A Cure for HIV: How We Cured the London Patient
Although we’ve had great breakthroughs in pharmaceutical treatments for HIV, the virus remains one of the scariest diseases out there, because as of yet, there is no surefire cure. But as of this month,we have found a cure… for exactly 2 people in the history of the world. Can the experimental...
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Season 2: Invasions – A Cure for HIV: One Formidable Foe
Although we’ve had great breakthroughs in pharmaceutical treatments for HIV, the virus remains one of the scariest diseases out there, because as of yet, there is no surefire cure. But as of this month,we have found a cure… for exactly 2 people in the history of the world. Can the experimental...
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Season 2: Invasions – Body Snatchers
If you’re a nature documentary fan like we are, you’re probably already familiar with Ophiocordyeps, the species of fungus that turns ants into zombies, using mind control to coerce the ant to attach itself to a treetop, just before a mushroom bursts Alien-like out of its head. K+K looked into…
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Season 1: Loops – Is Time a Flat Circle? Part 2
How many times has the universe exploded in a great Big Bang? And if the answer is ‘more than once’ then that poses an even more important question: does Time stop and start over with every Bang? To answer this, we have to go back to the very beginning of the universe (if indeed there was a...
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Season 1: Loops – Is Time a Flat Circle? Part I
What is time? A line? A loop? A figment of our imaginations? Spoiler alert… no one knows. But we can use what we know about physics, biology, and Einstein’s ideas about Relativity to take our best guess. Join K+K on this 2-part journey into the center (if there is such a place) of time (if there…
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Re-Release: 6th Grader Questions, Part II (edited & updated)
The kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington sent us so many excellent science questions, we had to take 2 whole episodes to answer them all! This week K+K tackle: -How the Earth was formed -Why the Earth’s axis is tilted -Where Earth’s first...
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Re-Release: 6th Grader Questions, Part I (edited & updated)
In a special “Listener Question” episode of Everything is Interesting, K+K answer some excellent inquisitions, sent in by the kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington. The science ladies tackle: -The physics of flying in a V-formation -Why...
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Season 1: Loops – Thought Loops & Habits
Its a new year! That means its time to make some resolutions about picking up new, healthy, shiny habits! Habits that will definitely become part of your routine right away and you’ll do them every day and you’ll never break them even when you get super stressed out at work because of that one…
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Season 1: Loops – Life-cycle Loops
All living creatures on earth reproduce themselves in some way or another. But there are so many different ways to make a baby, virtually the only commonality is that DNA inside one organism is copied and then passed on to an offspring organism. And usually, the offspring will grow, reproduce…
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Season 1: Loops – Wild Wolves & Feedback Loops
Kira and Keera are trying something new: seasons! With themes! In Season 1, they’re exploring the idea that in nature, many processes happen in reoccurring patterns, or more specifically, loops. In today’s episode, K+K dive into how important, and also difficult, it is to keep ecosystems in...
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Re-Release: The Science of Love (Edited & Updated)
Love. Some would say its the reason for being alive. So why does it make you feel sweaty, shaky and nauseous, like someone’s forcing you to jump off a bridge at gunpoint? Join K+K to discover what’s happening inside your body when you fall in love, why we give out little candy hearts on…
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Re-Release: LAVA!! (Edited & Updated)
Kira & Keera explore the immense geological forces that help to shape our planet, and then share some of the places you can go to see them, right here in our own National Parks. LAVA! The discovery of plate tectonic theory The Cascadia Subduction Zone MORE LAVA! Crater Lake Yellowstone geysers…
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Re-Release: The Santa Species (Edited & Updated)
If you’re an avid pursuer of rare and unique species, this is a very exciting time for you. Christmas Eve is when you have the best chance of catching a glimpse of the elusive Santius Clausadae, more commonly known as the Santa Claus.
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62. Hot-Topics Debate: GMOs and CRISPR
What do you get when you take 2 science nerds & 3 radio producers, and put them in a small room to discuss a hotly debated topic like Genetically Modified Organisms and their role in agriculture? Apparently you get today’s episode of Everything is Interesting. After reading recent news stories...
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Re-Release: Hard Labor (Edited & Updated)
Your body is almost always using energy, whether you’re going hard labor, or just sleeping. Play along with our Labor Quiz to see if you know the answers to questions like: True or False: When you sleep your body consumes the caloric equivalent of 1 tablespoon of ketchup. Thinking requires…
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Re-Release: Science Fiction Movies, In Spaaaaace! (Edited & Updated)
Science Fiction movies are great. But for us, half the fun of watching them is how blatantly they misrepresent the actual science behind their plots. Its ridiculous, it’s inaccurate, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun to pick apart. On today’s show, we listen to a few clips from some of our favorite...
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Re-Release: Metallic or Metallica?! (Edited & Updated)
Is it a metal? Or is it METAL?!? (Like, the music. You have to say it with a growl to get the joke.) In today’s show, K+K attempt to stump the XRAY DJs with phrases that might describe an actual scientific element and its metallic properties, or might be the name of a Metallica song. Think you…
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61. All I Wanna Do Is… Bicycle! Part II
On part 2 of this series about bicycles, K+K answer: How do you build a frame that won’t snap in half when you’re doing sick bike tricks? What is Carbon Fiber, and why is it all the rage? How are air molecules like a McDonald’s ball pit, and why are they a cycler’s biggest nemesis? Plus, tricks…
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60. All I Wanna Do Is… Bicycle! Part I
Here in Portland, we love our bicycles! But what is it about these seemingly ordinary machines that makes us so energetically efficient? Join Kira & Keera (and Keera’s mom!) to learn how the pedals, tires, and gears of a bike work together to propel you 3x as fast as walking, without you having…
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59. Fat & Ashes – The Science of Soap and Bubbles
Based on the way it gets your dishes sparkling clean, and makes all those fanciful rainbow-colored bubbles, one could be forgiven for thinking that soap is actually magic! But like pulling the curtain back on the Great Wizard of Oz, K+K explain how all of soap’s greatest tricks work, like: How…
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58. Sauer Power! (The Joys of Fermenting Cabbage)
So you’re ready to take the big leap, and start fermenting your own vegetables at home. Congratulations! This is an important time in any person’s life, and K+K want to make sure you have the support you need. In this episode, you’ll learn: A fast, easy, and SAFE method for making sauerkraut How…
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57. Qualitative Analysis of a Dank Nug – Revisiting Weed Science
Back when they were young, nervous, and pressed for on-air time, Kira & Keera did an episode of Everything of Interesting about the science of cannabis and its constituent chemicals. Today they revisit the subject, armed with a lot more knowledge and far more confidence. In this episode, K+K…
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56. The Science Behind Old Wives Tales
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. What can i say, sometimes its just easier to follow advice when it’s delivered in a rhyme scheme. On today’s show, K+K & guest host Emily Gilliland explore some of the more modern Old Wives Tales, and discuss the...
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55. Telepathy & Other Fun Party Tricks You Can Do With A Computer In Your Brain!
Have you ever moved things with your mind? How about communicated a thought telepathically, from your brain, directly to someone else’s brain? If you’ve used Brain-Computer Interface technology, (or if you’re a Jedi) the answer is probably… yes! But if there were wires and a computer involved…
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54. Artisanal Bug Soup – the Life of Carnivorous Plants
Science Fact or Science Fiction (the quiz game™) is back! On today’s episode, K+K test Keiren Bond on her carnivorous plant knowledge, with questions like: Can a Venus Fly Trap count? Would any plant eat bugs if you mushed them into an artisanal organic soup? Would a pitcher plant prefer to eat a...
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53. Black Holes Part 2 – Slow Motion Somersaults in Space
In part 2 of their exploration of these space oddities, K+K talk to guest host Emily Gilliland about what would happen if our sun spontaneously imploded, how anyone falling into a black hole would turn into spaghetti, and what it means to exist in time, but not in space. They even attempt to...
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52. Black Holes 1 – Infinite Gumballs in the Frosting of Spacetime
Have you ever been falling into a black hole and thought, “how did this infinite curve in spacetime even get here, anyway?” Well, the next time you’re hurdling towards the infinitely dense Singularity, which exists only in time but not in space and is possibly a hole in the 4-dimensional…
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51. The First Life on Earth
It’s 4.5 billion years ago. The Earth is a hot, bubbling sphere of lava & hostile gases. And then suddenly… THERE IS LIFE! But how did this first Earthly organism show up on our planet? And who was (s)he? A Giant Virus? An archaea cell? Meet your Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great,...
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50. Hibernation: sleep ’til the pizza trees bloom
We’ve all been there: winter gets dark and cold, and the urge to curl up in bed and sleep through the harshest of seasons grows strong. Unfortunately, if that’s how you tried to cope, you’d go from cold as a stone, to stone cold dead. Human biology just isn’t cut out for the task. Bears on the...
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49. Una-peel-ing Produce, Lettuce Help You
Are you afraid to admit to your friends that you don’t REALLY like kale? Do you only eat tomatoes once they’re boiled into a sauce? We’ve all come across tough, bitter vegetables and flavorless, mealy fruits. No matter how dedicated you are to getting all your vitamins, you just don’t want to eat...
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48. DMT & Dying -with Dr. Rick Strassman
Many years ago, Keera almost died. We’re glad she didn’t, but we have always been curious about the biological basis of what she experienced. Was her “journey outside of this reality,” really real? Or was it a vivid hallucination caused by DMT, the psychoactive molecule theorized to flood your...
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47. Death: La Frontera Final (Part I )
Yes ladies, he is single! Today is a day about Death. It’s Día de los Muertos, the Latin American holiday that honors the souls of loved ones that have passed away, and celebrates death as an essential and natural part of life. For a science show, death is a tricky subject to tackle, because no…
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46. You Myoclonic Jerk! (The Hiccups Episode)
When’s the last time you experienced a synchronous diaphragmatic flutter? Or your diaphragm underwent a myoclonic jerk? On today’s show, K+K take a look at hiccups: why we get them, what’s happening in our bodies when we do, and what the scientific reasoning is behind those crazy cures that seem…
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45. Polyamorous Progeny – Can a Baby Have 3 Biological Parents?
We’ve all learned about the birds and the bees at some point: when a man and a woman reeeaally love each other, they deposit chromosomal genetic material into a recipient egg cell to create another, smaller human. But what happens when THREE humans decide to make a baby? Is it possible to possess...
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44. Disc-World
A scientist’s greatest dream is to change the way humans understand reality, by deriving new theories and debunking old ones. But for this dream to come true, the theories have to be backed up by a lot of measurements & evidence, and also be mathematically provable. NASA’s most accurate depiction...
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43. He’s One Fungi
They’re not animals, they’re not plants, and they’re delicious in stir-fry. Despite the fact that mushrooms have been used in medicine for thousands of years, they still remain a bit of mystery to us humans. The more research we do, the more we realize that fungi might be our greatest tool in the...
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42. When a Wolf Swallows the Sun (The Solar Eclipse)
Chances are you’re just as excited as we are for the Total Solar Eclipse coming up on Monday, August 21st. So, here’s some handy science knowledge to help you make the most of the experience: How does an eclipse happen? Here’s a super zoomed out visual of what will be happening in space during...
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41. It’s A Gas, Gas, Gas
It’s all around you, in your lungs, inside that balloon, it even comes out of your youknowwhere… It’s gas! The invisible, but incredibly important, substance that makes life on Earth possible! Kira makes a cloud! But what exactly is a gas? So glad you asked! K+K have the background story on why…
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40. Did We Start the Fire? If Not, How Long HAS It Been Burning?
Humans love fire, in the form of BBQ or combustion engines. A raging forest fire, however, can be devastating for our flimsy wooden human houses. Why then, is it so important that we let them burn? In this episode, the Science Ladies uncover: How fire has been shaping ecosystems since long before...
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39. The Placebo Effect
It’s not just conjecture: placebos work. The question is… how? Why is it that many diseases and physical ailments can be cured just as well with a sugar pill as they can with clinically tested medicine? K+K examine a case of mysteriously healed Parkinson’s Disease, talk about a doctor curing...
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38. The Eyes Are The Window To The Retina.
Human eyes are pretty impressive, but let’s be honest, our ocular organs don’t hold a candle to the eyes of animals like owls, mantis shrimp, cats, eagles, dragonflies, octopuses, bees, parrots, goats, chameleons… Ok, maybe human eyes aren’t all that impressive after all. They’re eyeballs. Today...
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37. I Used to Call You On My Cellphone.
Isn’t it wonderful that we can own cellphones, use them to call our mothers and look up photos of dogs in hats and locate the Chipotle nearest to us, and we never even need to know how they work? (Spoiler alert: we’ll tell you how they work in this episode.) Do you get it yet? Join K+K to…
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36. Human Evolution (A Brief Overview)
We humans are pretty fortunate. Our intelligence and physical features are a result of the evolutionary hand we’ve been dealt, and are what have allowed us to build an advanced society with sophisticated infrastructure. Get it?? The HAND we’ve been dealt?? Despite what you may have learned from...
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35. 6th Grader Questions, Part 2
In a special “Listener Question” episode of Everything is Interesting, K+K answer some excellent inquisitions, sent in by the kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington. The question writers brought up some super interesting topics, and we…
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34. 6th Grader Questions, Part 1
In a special “Listener Question” episode of Everything is Interesting, K+K answer some excellent inquisitions, sent in by the kids from Mrs. Pace’s 6th grade class at Pleasant Valley Middle school in Vancouver, Washington. The question writers brought up some super interesting topics, and we…
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33. Bad Science Fiction Movies #2
If there’s one thing we love, its ruining movie night for everyone by informing them of all the horrible science in wonderful movies. Play along with our 2nd Bad Science Fiction Movies Quiz, and see if you can pinpoint the scientific slip-ups in Transformers, The Core, Spider Man, and The Matrix.
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32. Allergies
Are you suffering from a stuffy nose? Itchy eyes? Endless sneezing? Overall-dear-god-why-won’t-it-stop-misery? It could be the flu… or it could be allergies! On today’s show, K+K explore our immune system’s response to airborne pollen, the specific mechanisms inside the body that make those of us...
About this show
Through the lens of science, hosts Kira Klingenberg & Keera Lindenberg (yes, really) explore surprisingly fascinating topics - like hive minds, sea monkeys, & lactose intolerance, in a way that everyone, despite their inherent level of nerdiness, will enjoy.
All episodes recorded live at KXRY studios in Portland, Oregon.
Hosted by
Kira Klingenberg Keera Lindenberg Xray.fm KXRY
Categories