PODCAST · science
Weird Things
by Andrew Mayne
How would you fight a Yeti in hand to hand combat? Would you attempt to sell your soul to the devil in the interest of science? How can you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? Find out all of this and more every week on the Weird Things podcast, where your hosts, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young and Brian Brushwood probe the most challenging questions about the paranormal, supernatural and fringe.
Episodes
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Starlink Expansion, Plague Fears, And AI’s Physical Future
Starlink’s latest moves lead into a bigger conversation about what cheap access to space actually enables, from direct-to-phone satellite service to more speculative ideas that sound better to Wall Street than they do to physics. Andrew, Justin, and Brian then pivot into reports of a possible...
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A Thousand Episodes Of Weird Things, AI, And Space
The hosts celebrate what is probably the thousandth episode of Weird Things by reflecting on how the show started as a pushback against mean-spirited debunking and grew into a long-running space for curious, skeptical conversation about the unknown. They revisit old Weird Things territory like...
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AI Agents Escape the Sandbox and Hunt for Answers
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood look at what would most shock their past selves from 20 years ago, from modern iPhones and reusable rockets to today’s AI systems, while also noting how some expected breakthroughs like VR adoption still feel unfinished. They revisit old tech...
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AI Agents, Fly Brains, and the Future of Interfaces
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore how fast AI tools are changing creative work, from generating 3D game pieces and fixing models inside design software to using computer-use systems for audio production, presentations, and rapid prototyping. They argue that the real...
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Astra, Foldables, And The Real AI Risk Debate
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood spend the episode on the practical and philosophical edges of current AI. They start by talking through Apple’s new foldable Duo and why a better form factor, remote computing, and voice-first workflows could matter more than raw on-device...
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Ghost Cities, Invisible Drones, and Wormholes
Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood range from economics to space weirdness, starting with Malaysia’s nearly empty Forest City and what a failed megadevelopment says about speculative housing, demographic pressure, and whether abandoned infrastructure can be repurposed for art, events, or other...
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AI Models, Apple Lawsuits, and Productivity Without Tedium
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood cover the latest wave of AI releases by comparing OpenAI’s 5.6 model, Anthropic’s Fable, and the new Chinese Kimi model, arguing that the most interesting shift is not just raw capability but how differently these systems now behave in...
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AI Filmmaking Tools, Robot Liability, and GLP-1 Ripple Effects
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore how new AI video tools are changing filmmaking by making real footage more editable and steerable, letting creators keep human performances while using AI for sets, lighting, costumes, and polish. They compare that shift to earlier...
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Using AI To Find Waste And Hidden Costs In Your Business
Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood dig into one of the most immediately useful applications of AI agents: hunting down waste, friction, and forgotten costs in everyday business operations. Brian explains how connecting ChatGPT to his finances helped him uncover orphaned subscriptions, duplicate...
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Aliens, Boltzmann Brains, and Codex Automation
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood dig into the latest UFO-file buzz and explain why alien discourse so often feels like an endless build with no bass drop. They talk through why so much recent evidence comes down to misunderstood thermal imaging, camera artifacts, cropped…
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Artemis Returns, AI Compute Wars, and Codex Control
Artemis gets a victory lap as the crew celebrates the mission’s safe splashdown and talks about how a future moon landing would dominate the internet in a way Apollo never could. From there the conversation turns into an extended AI state-of-the-industry check-in, focusing on Anthropic’s reported...
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AI Compute Crunch, Vibe Coding, And Pocket Game Hardware
OpenAI’s shutdown of the Sora app kicks off a broader discussion about how AI companies are being shaped less by hype cycles than by raw compute limits, with Disney deal fallout, Anthropic’s work-hour throttling, and rumors of even bigger next-generation models all pointing to infrastructure…
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Real-Time AI Speeds, Code Models, Bio Hacking, And Movie Picks
The episode surveys an accelerating AI landscape where new hardware like Cerebras and Groq enables near real?time model responses, making voice and agent interactions feel instantly conversational. The conversation covers the rise of code models (Codex, Claude Code), practical tips for using...
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Moon, Mars, and Missteps: A Space Saga
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young tackle the latest in space exploration drama. They start with NASA’s Art Two mission facing delays due to a pesky hydrogen leak in their much-mocked SLS rocket. The conversation then shifts to Boeing’s embarrassing blunders...
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Moon Missions and AI Battles: A Space Odyssey with a Side of Silicon Valley Drama
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young gather to discuss the latest in space exploration and AI developments. They express concerns over the Artemis missions’ delays and technical challenges, particularly focusing on the SLS rocket’s issues and the ambitious plans for lunar…
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Space Shenanigans and the Future of Human Spaceflight
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a discussion about a medical emergency that led to an astronaut’s early return from the International Space Station, sparking rumors of the first space pregnancy. They then shift gears to the Artemis...
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Bear Evictions and Genetic Tinkering: A Peek into the Future
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore the curious incident of a Californian homeowner, Kenneth Johnson, who discovered a 550-pound bear living under his house and the challenges he faced in evicting it. The conversation then shifts to the broader...
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AI Models and the Dog Man Mystery
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick off the episode with a discussion on the latest AI model updates, including Google’s Nano Banana and OpenAI’s GP 5.1. They explore the implications of AI personality and its impact on user experience. The conversation shifts to a group...
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Robots, AI, and the Future of Work: A Deep Dive
In this episode, Andrew shares his experience attending a robot demo by 1X, highlighting the challenges and advancements in robotics. The hosts delve into the broader implications of AI and robotics on the workforce, discussing both the potential benefits and the anxieties surrounding…
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The Handful Chronicles: Gravy, AI, and the Future of Content Creation
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through the conceptualization of Handful, a fictional restaurant where gravy is served directly into patrons’ hands. The discussion evolves into the realm of AI-generated content, exploring the implications of AI in…
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The Unending Gravy Train of AI Creativity
In this episode, Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood embark on a philosophical journey through the realms of storytelling, AI’s burgeoning role in creative processes, and the enigmatic app SO’s contribution to communal humor and creativity. They explore Stephen King’s insights on storytelling, the...
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The Sora App Saga: A Tale of AI, Cameos, and Unexpected Marketing Genius
The episode is largely a deep dive into OpenAI's Sora app, with the hosts describing it as more than a video model and instead a new social-media modality built around short generated clips, personal cameos, remixing, and highly shareable strange or funny scenes. They discuss its rapid rise in…
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Martian Microbes and Robotic Ruminations
The episode opens with a discussion of NASA’s Perseverance rover and a Nature paper about a Martian sample with tiny chemical patterns that, on Earth, are often associated with microbial interaction. The hosts emphasize that NASA is being careful and calling it a possible biosignature rather than...
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AI, Dependence, and the Future of Work
The episode centers on how rapidly improving AI models are changing the shape of computing, with Andrew, Justin, and Brian discussing local models, embedded assistants, and AI as a general-purpose layer rather than just a chatbot. They argue that AI is becoming cheaper, more capable, and more...
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AI, Podcasts, and the Future of Creative Writing
The episode opens with the hosts reflecting on how quickly AI is changing and pushing back on the idea that it will simply replace human roles. They argue that teaching, parenting, preaching, customer service, banking, and restaurant work still involve human presence, trust, empathy, and cultural...
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Navigating the AI Revolution with a Touch of Human Magic
The episode opens with discussion of Grok 4, the Humanities Last Exam benchmark, and how AI model performance is getting harder to measure cleanly as benchmarks saturate. The hosts compare xAI’s rapid progress with OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent and note that the new systems are trading benchmark leads...
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AI’s Latest Whirlwind and Hollywood’s Future
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young tackle the whirlwind of AI news, starting with Google’s I/O announcements, particularly their impressive V O 3 image generation model. They then shift to OpenAI’s advancements and discuss the intriguing, yet mysterious,...
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AI, Dinosaurs, and the Future of Entertainment
Andrew opens by demoing Replicate's Trellis model, which turns a 2D image into a 3D mesh. He uses a ChatGPT-generated Blade Runner-style car image, shows the model producing a 3D asset in a little over a minute for about seven cents, and the hosts discuss how accessible 3D asset generation could...
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Quantum Leaps, Human Cannonballs, and AI Evolution
The episode opens with a discussion of a possible biosignature on exoplanet K218b, with Andrew explaining that dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide were reported in the planet's atmosphere and are associated on Earth with marine microorganisms, while stressing that instrument error or unknown...
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Of Mammoths and Mice: The Weird Science of De-Extinction
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a nod to the anniversary of GPT-4, reflecting on its impact and the rapid pace of AI development. The conversation takes a historical detour to the Ramree Island crocodile attack during World War II, with...
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Nano Arcade and AI Musings
The episode opens with Andrew describing a workflow automation he built in n8n to collect story ideas and email him a pre-show list, then moves into a discussion of a research team creating the world's smallest shooting video game with nanoscale technology. The hosts react to the demonstration,...
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Asteroids, Quantum Computing, and Disneyland Adventures
The episode opens with the hosts discussing asteroid 2024 YR4, whose Earth impact odds have dropped, and quickly turns to the less certain but more interesting possibility of a lunar strike. They talk through the visible flash, dust, crater formation, and whether any ejecta could reach Earth…
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Asteroids, AI, and the Art of Avoiding Armageddon
The episode opens with a discussion of asteroid 2024 YR4 and its reported 2.2% chance of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032. The hosts discuss its estimated building-sized range, possible blast-wave, thermal, seismic, and tsunami effects, and compare the event to Tunguska and Chelyabinsk as...
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The AI Frontier: Deep Dive into DeepSeek, O3, and Beyond
The episode opens with a long discussion of DeepSeek, its V3 and R1 reasoning models, and why the release caused such a big reaction in AI circles and on Wall Street. Andrew says DeepSeek appears to have made real efficiency gains in training and hardware use, while Justin argues the market...
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AI’s Latest Leap: Operator and the Future of Internet Browsing
The episode opens with a discussion of DeepSeek's V3 and R1 models, which the hosts describe as highly capable and unusually efficient. They frame the reaction as part of a broader open-source versus closed-source AI debate, while also noting uncertainty and controversy about whether some of...
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The AI Frontier: Hitting Walls and Vaulting Over Them
The episode opens with a discussion of rapid recent AI releases and whether AI has "hit a wall." Andrew points to OpenAI's O3 and Google video models as evidence that capabilities are still advancing, while Justin uses the ARC Prize and AGI as the lens for asking how quickly systems are improving...
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A Timeless Dive into the Future and Past of Entertainment
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood take listeners on a fascinating exploration of entertainment’s past, present, and future. They kick off with a nostalgic look at how theme parks like Universal Studios have evolved, highlighting the technological advancements...
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The AI Frontier: Robotics, Simulators, and the Future of Labor
The episode opens with a discussion of OpenAI's Shipmas announcements and a comparison with Google's recent AI releases. The hosts focus on OpenAI's o3 model, describing it as a real, usable research milestone and noting that it scored highly on the ARC Prize benchmark and coding evaluations…
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Magic, AI, and the Future of Video Generation
The episode opens with the hosts talking about new live multimodal AI features in ChatGPT and Google Gemini, including Andrew's demo of showing ChatGPT a card trick over live video. They note that these features had been demonstrated earlier and are now shipping, but emphasize that backend…
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The Future of Robotics and Sky Quakes
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a brief chat about the latest addition to Justin’s family and the implications of raising a child in today’s tech-saturated world. The conversation quickly shifts to Elon Musk’s recent showcase of Tesla’s...
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Space Catchers and the Future of Robotics
The episode opens with a long discussion of SpaceX successfully catching the Starship booster with Mechazilla. The hosts focus on the scale of the tower and booster, the surprise and delight of the SpaceX team, and what the feat implies for fully reusable rockets. They also broaden the…
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The AI Revolution Marches On
The episode opens with Andrew detailing OpenAI's Dev Day announcements, especially the real-time API for continuous text or audio conversations and demos aimed at customer support and phone ordering. The hosts then debate AI as a replacement or augmentation for customer service, with Brian and...
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Augmented Reality, VR, and the Quest for the Perfect Hologram
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a chat about the weather before diving into the world of augmented reality and virtual reality. They discuss the limitations of Apple’s Vision Pro and the potential of Facebook’s Project Orion, comparing...
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The Quest for a Silent Burrito Delivery
The episode opens with the hosts joking about wanting burritos immediately and turns into a discussion of faster delivery systems. Andrew introduces Zipline's drone-delivery model, describing how it keeps the aircraft high above the ground and lowers cargo by line to avoid noise and…
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The Matrix Adventure and AI Revelations
The episode opens with a long discussion of OpenAI's Strawberry / O1-style reasoning models. Andrew Mayne explains that these models seem to work better when asked to break problems into steps, use tools, and reason through tasks in a more structured way than ordinary one-shot chat models. The...
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From Space Mazes to Aquatic Apes: A Weird Things Journey
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young (eventually) take us on a journey from the depths of space to the mysteries of our ancient past. They kick off with space news, discussing the return path for astronauts via SpaceX, not Boeing’s Starliner, and delve into the grounding of…
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SpaceX Oopsie and Genetic Frontiers
The episode opens with Justin and Brian discussing a New York Times story about a SpaceX Starlink launch that experienced an upper-stage problem. They note that the first stage landed normally on a drone ship, but the second stage did not reach the intended altitude to deploy the satellites...
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Aviation Innovations and Misadventures
In this episode of Weird Things, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through the evolving landscape of aviation technology. They discuss the myriad of companies attempting to develop next-generation aerial vehicles, including those adding excessive…
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Apple’s AI Ambitions and Privacy Paradox
Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young dissect Apple’s approach to integrating AI into its ecosystem with a strong emphasis on privacy. They speculate on the implications of Apple’s strategy to handle AI processing on-device as much as possible, while also offering cloud processing with user...
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The Curious Case of 3D Printed Knives and AI-Generated Games
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young embark on a technological odyssey, starting with Andrew’s recent acquisition of a Bamboo A1 3D printer. The excitement is palpable as Andrew shares his adventures in 3D printing everything from knives to whirligigs, showcasing the printer’s...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
How would you fight a Yeti in hand to hand combat? Would you attempt to sell your soul to the devil in the interest of science? How can you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? Find out all of this and more every week on the Weird Things podcast, where your hosts, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young and Brian Brushwood probe the most challenging questions about the paranormal, supernatural and fringe.
HOSTED BY
Andrew Mayne
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Weird Things have?
Weird Things currently has 1000 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Weird Things about?
How would you fight a Yeti in hand to hand combat? Would you attempt to sell your soul to the devil in the interest of science? How can you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? Find out all of this and more every week on the Weird Things podcast, where your hosts, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young and...
How often does Weird Things release new episodes?
Weird Things releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 1000 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Weird Things?
You can listen to Weird Things 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 Weird Things?
Weird Things is created and hosted by Andrew Mayne.
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