PODCAST · comedy
Mark and Toddcast
by Mark and Toddcast
A weekly comedy, science, and culture podcast for the endlessly curious. Need an escape from the algorithm and the daily outrage cycle? For over a decade and 300+ episodes, two Portland friends have been serving up comfort food for your brain.If you love deep dives into weird history, psychology, and strange science without the anxiety or hot takes, pull up a chair. We sit down with a drink and explore the fascinating stories you wish you were talking about with your smartest friends.No politics. No anxiety fuel. Just genuine curiosity and laughs about topics like:• Why we absolutely hate the sound of our own voices• The secret origin of the biohazard symbol• America’s classified, Cold War plan to nuke the moon• The Stanford Prison Experiment (and why it was actually kind of BS)• Portland’s infamous Barbie-hacking culture jammers• The unsolved mystery of the Toynbee Tiles• The actual science of fartsWhat’s in an Episode?• The Catch-Up: Life banter and comedy from two long-ti
Episodes
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Threat Level: AI
There has been some recent terrifying whistleblower and internal document warnings about the true, catastrophic harm we are headed for if and when AI escapes its confines, and we wish we could say it's all overblown media panic. But there is a lot to be concerned about. In this episode Mark takes...
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The End of Lloyd and other stories
The Unipiper celebrates the closing of the iconic Lloyd Center by being kicked out, finding sugar in space, public backlash against AI data centers while the EPA removes pollution limits from them, a meteorite literally solves the mystery of life on earth, Portland's "Wildwood" crow tour,...
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We're Going Bananas
This week we're back in the saddle to discuss some of the amazing things that have been happening, including our trip to see the Savannah Bananas baseball game, as well as the history of the Banana Ball league. Come for the Bananas, stay for the review of the bananas-good new Madonna album...
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Du Bist Gut Genug
In this episode, you'll learn that you really are enough. You'll also learn about quantum computing, Wenatchee, Todd and the Unipiper's trip to see "Back to the Future: The Musical," how wi-fi routers can identify people with 95% accuracy, and Grandma goes street racing.
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JESSICA?!
Does anyone even read these descriptions? You'll figure it out when you listen.
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This Episode Stinks: The Fascinating Feat of Finding the Facts of Flatulence
This week we take a look, um, "inward" with a discussion about the very real science of finally figuring out flatulence -- and more specifically, just *how* they do that, and what we can learn. Also, we take a trip to the small town of Dildo, Canada (located in Conception Bay), then to space with...
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The Most Sold Product of All Time
This week we take a rollicking journey through Mark's gluten and boat news, the rise of Clavicular and LooksMaxxing, how much clouds weigh, Mark's ChatGPT humiliation fetish, hacking the French language, Ohio tries to steal Sasquatch glory, and finally, digging into the biggest selling product of...
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Birthdays, Bowels, and Beyond
tbh so much goes on in this episode there's no way to summarize it.
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Meaningless + Memorable: the Biohazard Symbol
Creating a new symbol to reflect the deadly consequences of something completely undetectable required two essential components: the symbol had to be meaningless enough to carry zero current meaning to any culture on earth, yet had to be memorable enough for people to remember what it means. This...
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Mark Goes to CES
Let's go to Las Vegas, CES, and the Sphere with Mark!
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Why We Hate the Sound of Our Own Voice
There's a lot more happening when we hear our own voice than you'd think. We've all heard "it's because the bones in your head are conducting sound," but that's only part of it. Find out the rest of the reasons in this week's show. I won't be listening, because I hate the sound of my own voice.
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Ugly Laws
"Ugly Laws" were ordinances across the United States disallowed anyone who was “diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object” for appearing in public places. Not shockingly, this was used to discriminate and dehumanize the poor, needy, disabled,...
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3i Atlas and Locating Yourself on the Moon
This week we take a look into space by discussing the weird interstellar object known as 3i/Atlas, conspiracy theories about what the object may be, and how the original Apollo astronauts figured out their exact location on the moon without the aid of any GPS.
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The TikTok-ification of the Mark & Toddcast
We're finally back after a two month hiatus, and we threw out the format of the show to see where the conversation took us. The discussion veers from drying off after a shower to AI cats to what g-force actually is, to our final hero of the week: the teacher fired for using fart spray. Enjoy!
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A Chlamydia-Free Summer Wrap-Up
It's been a minute, but Mark and Todd are back for an end-of-summer news wrap-up, including great news for promiscuous koalas! (And for those looking for a break from last week's big news story, we don't discuss that here at all, so we're a nice escape from that particular news cycle.) Come hear...
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Portland at the Movies: "Blast!" (2000)
The Unipiper noted that this movie begins like "Stand by Me," but ends up like "Reservoir Dogs." While not exactly right, he's not far off describing this 2000 movie with some legitimately shocking twists and compelling turns. But because this is a movie made around Portland (Vernonia, to be...
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Portland at the Movies: "Raising Flagg" (2006)
Our Portland at the Movies server is having issues, so in the meantime, here's the latest episode of PatM, which looks at the 2006 Alan Arkin film "Raising Flagg." "This month we head out to the Oregon countryside (and St. Helens!) for this family comedy (?) drama (?) about a cantankerous old man...
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Mining for Neutrinos in South Dakota's Black Hills
A mile underground under the tiny city of Lead, South Dakota -- a former gold mining town -- is home to one of the most sensitive scientific measurement systems ever created, all to find and measure one of the most abundant and mysterious particle in the universe. So what is a neutrino, and how…
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What We Did On Summer Vacation and All the News We Missed
After graduations, sicknesses, hospitalizations, travel, and more, we're finally back in the saddle catching up on all the news we missed while we were out. Come for the measles, and stay for a bath!
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Hetero Awesome Fest Warms Our Cockles
In this exciting all-news episode, we take a look at the dozens of attendees at Idaho's "Heterosexual Awesome Fest," asbestos is back, Washington State's proposed speed laws, Idaho brings back the firing squad, baseball might be coming to Portland, a Star Wars experience at Lloyd Center, a...
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Oops! All News
Our planned interview fell through for this week, but that gives us an opportunity to catch up on all the news we've been putting off. Come with us as we meander through 250 million bees on the loose, acid leaks and new venues in N. Portland, no more thicc plastic bags, what happens in your brain...
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Top 5 Aliens Living Among Us
With so many so-called "alien encounters" throughout history, has there been any consistency in people's descriptions? This week we dive into the top 5 most recounted alien types who may be living among us right now. Yes, there are lizard people (two kinds!). In the news, Oklahoma forces schools…
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So Much News We May Be Arrrested
This week Todd is joined by Dave Baehler from the NotNerd podcast to plow through the giant pile of news accumulated since our last show. Join us as we dive into AI police robots, RIP Alpenrose Dairy and artificial coloring, Minnesota Republicans introduce vaccine bill written by a hypnotist,...
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Aum Shinrikyo - The Japanese Doomsday Cult
Aum Shinrikyo was an active doomsday cult in Japan throughout the 1990s, and were responsible for the Sarin gas attacks on the Japanese subway, and threatened attacks around the world -- including Disneyland, which is where our story intersects with one Dr. RIP VHS. FInd out all about them on…
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The Ingenuity of Ingenuity
Many of us know about the Mars Opportunity rover currently on Mars, but some may not know about a self-piloting helicopter called Ingenuity that traveled with Opportunity. Designed for 5 flights, it ended up making over 70, collecting all sort of data as well as a proof of concept that a drone...
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The Cult of Pythagoras
Most of us know his theorum: a2 + b2 = c2. But few of us knew Pythagoras was the leader of his own cult/religion that lasted centuries -- and BOY did they hate fava beans. Find out more on this week's show. In our news segment: Oregon Children's Theater fails, the measles thrive, the…
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The Power (Consumption) of A.I.
As tech companies keep convincing us A.I. is the way of the future, we stop to take a look at what that means for the power consumption necessary to produce results nobody really cares about and wants to avoid anyway. Dust off those nuclear power plants, because A.I. is here to stay regardless of...
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Sensory-Consumer Science
We all know prepared foods and snacks are highly researched and studied to give us exactly what we want, but how do they do that? Are there measurements? When did it all start? Is that why we're all fat now? We'll answer those questions and so much more about the process of "Sensory-Consumer...
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How We Know the Ages of Things
One of the push-backs we often hear from critics of evolution is how unreliable the method of Carbon-14 Dating is. Which is correct. Sort of. But Carbon-14 Dating is far from the only method we use to figure out how old the earth and galaxy around us is, and this week we explore the many…
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The Zoot Suit Riots (Not the Cherry Poppin' Daddies one)
Many of us remember the late 90s ska-fueled song "Zoot Suit Riots," but many may not know the song is based on a real event, in which racial tensions in 1940s Los Angeles exploded into a series of attacks on Mexican-Americans by Navy servicemen, culminating in a 5-day riot. This week we dive into...
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Wheel of Wikipedia (or was it "War of Wikipedia"?) with special guest Cara!
This week we celebrate Todd's birthday by welcoming our wonderful friend Cara from Ohio. She joins us for the news, then takes on the role of judge as Mark and Todd go head-to-head for 5 rounds of "Wheel of Wikipedia" (which I'm now realizing is actually called "War of Wikipedia," but whatever)....
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A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
As we close out one year and face down another one, we clear out the news and go for a wild ride involving crystals, "brainspotting," "Severence," Todd's favorite documentary, Clackamas Town Center and Washington Square malls, Dr. Pamplin steals from his employees, the Belmont Goats, "brain rot,"...
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The Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group
It's one last stocking stuffer from the Mark and Toddcast! Enjoy our final show of the year - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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The Long and Short of It
For a Christmas treat, we recorded an extra long episode....which our recorder stopped recording at 32 minutes in for some reason. So while we didn't get to all of our stories or Mark's great topic about quantum measuring for GPS, we did manage to get in a few stories. And aren't a few stories...
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The Science of Corruption w/ Dave Baehler
Dave Baehler of the NotNerd Podcast joins Todd this week to plow through the news pile, which includes the Willamette Valley Ornament Hunt, freezing your corpse for a monthly fee, life in the most inhospitable place on Earth, Mattel's "Wicked" mistake, Portland's Yelling Choir, the dangers of...
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This $h!t Is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States, as well as all over the world. But banana-flavored candy sits at the bottom of our candy taste list - probably because it tastes nothing like bananas. Find out the weird history of both banana flavoring, as well as how we got to the bananas...
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Would You Like to Play a Game Theory?
This week we look at something called "Game Theory," which is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions, and has applications in many fields of social science, economics, logic, systems science, computer science, and more. We've also got an action-packed news segment, including...
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Nate's Millions and Other News
Mark is out sick, so Todd is joined by NotNerd's very own Nate - who just had one of his Instagram posts hit a million views. Find out what it's like to go suddenly viral, as well as a news roundup that you have to listen to to the very end. I promise.
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Joyce vs. The $64,000 Question vs. the Senate
The $64,000 Question" was one of many 1950s game shows that was caught up in cheating scandals. We tell the story of the show, the senate hearings, and a woman named Joyce who defied everyone.In our news segment, we chat about a neo-Nazi falling to his death on Hitler's favorite mountain, Mt.…
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Mt. Tabor is Dead, Boring
Along with the grand volcanic dames of Mt. Hood, Rainier, St. Helens, and Adams, there are many extinct volcanoes and lava fields dotting the entire Portland area. This week we take a look at Mt. Tabor in specific, and the Boring Lava Field in general. In our news segment, we cover the end of...
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Spy Whales, Plastic Brains, and See-Through Mice
It's a world-wind tour around the news from the last couple of weeks, including Todd and the Unipiper's trip to Celtic Fest, Portland's stolen (or not) cat statue, the WNBA expansion, billboards hacked by furries, pickleball in Lloyd Center, our brains are now .5% plastic, Doritos make mice...
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E.C. Waters: The Biggest A-hole in All of Yellowstone
This week we recap Todd's trip to Yellowstone, and focus on one of the earliest businessmen to set up shop in the new National Park: Steamboat owner/operator E.C. Waters, who was such a legendary a-hole that he was eventually completely banned from even entering the park. And in our news segment…
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The Church vs. The Lightning Rod
"How dare one interfere with the mighty judgement of God and His wrath?!" Who knew the lightning rod was such a, well, lightning rod of controversy? Benjamin Franklin gave a gift to the world, and much like the still relevant battles pitting science against (a person's own definition of) God, not...
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"Dark Oxygen," the OshKosh Airshow, and the great Roseburg Blast of 1959
After a trip through our news stories, including the creation of "dark oxygen" by lumpy nodules on the bottom of the ocean, stuck astronauts, Amazon's WalkOutShops super don't use humans in India to run their stores, more record heat, escaped turtles, and cocaine sharks, we take a closer look at…
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Esperanto - The world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language
Esperanto is a language created in the late 1800s as a way for everyone in the world to have an incredibly easy-to-learn and standardized secondary language, and has had enough success that it's still used for some government, military, and wikipedia translations today - and even spawned a movie...
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Stanislav Petrov Saves the World
After a hefty portion of news, including plans for Lloyd Center, the Portland Pickles' THC drink, the Herman the Sturgeon conspiracy, the deletion of MTV News's entire back catalog from the internet, a man with 175 children, and much, much, much more, we focus on a man called Stanislav Petrov, a...
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The Taco Bell Art Heist
After a hefty dive into our news pile, which includes stories about sinking Panama islands, a look at what's happening in Cannon Beach, Baker City, and Oaks Park, a steer taller than Hollywood beefcake Jason Mamoa, bilingual AI brain implants, PSU vs. Boeing, the death of InfoWars and other...
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The Triumphant Return of the Unipiper and other news
This week we chat with special guest the Unipiper about his return to playing the National Anthem at the Portland Timbers game, after muffing it the first go-around. He also stays to chat about our news roundup, including the advancement (or not) of AI political ads, the language of sperm whales...
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The Barbie Liberation Organization
In 1993, TV news studios started receiving calls from kids who opened their Barbies and GI Joe dolls for Christmas only to discover Barbie shouting militaristic slogans and GI Joe talking about shopping. Later parodied on The Simpsons, this bit of "culture jamming" has its origins right here in...
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The Library of Babel
It's nice to find a library that has every book. But what if there's a library with every book ever printed, but also every sentence, paragraph, and page that could ever be written in the future? It's a heady concept, and it's called "The Library of Babel," which has more "books" than atoms in…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A weekly comedy, science, and culture podcast for the endlessly curious. Need an escape from the algorithm and the daily outrage cycle? For over a decade and 300+ episodes, two Portland friends have been serving up comfort food for your brain.If you love deep dives into weird history, psychology, and strange science without the anxiety or hot takes, pull up a chair. We sit down with a drink and explore the fascinating stories you wish you were talking about with your smartest friends.No politics. No anxiety fuel. Just genuine curiosity and laughs about topics like:• Why we absolutely hate the sound of our own voices• The secret origin of the biohazard symbol• America’s classified, Cold War plan to nuke the moon• The Stanford Prison Experiment (and why it was actually kind of BS)• Portland’s infamous Barbie-hacking culture jammers• The unsolved mystery of the Toynbee Tiles• The actual science of fartsWhat’s in an Episode?• The Catch-Up: Life banter and comedy from two long-ti
HOSTED BY
Mark and Toddcast
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Mark and Toddcast have?
Mark and Toddcast currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Mark and Toddcast about?
A weekly comedy, science, and culture podcast for the endlessly curious. Need an escape from the algorithm and the daily outrage cycle? For over a decade and 300+ episodes, two Portland friends have been serving up comfort food for your brain.If you love deep dives into weird history, psychology,...
How often does Mark and Toddcast release new episodes?
Mark and Toddcast has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Mark and Toddcast?
You can listen to Mark and Toddcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Mark and Toddcast?
Mark and Toddcast is created and hosted by Mark and Toddcast.
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