Barely Reasearched Facts
Season 2 - ‘Goldilocks’ episodes (not too long, not too short - just perfect)
-
BRF Season 2 Recap
Welcome back to Barely Researched Facts. And it’s time for the great recap episode! We’ve done our best to keep things interesting – which wasn’t very hard to do considering the world and indeed humanity’s ability to be downright weird. Here’s what we got up to this year!
-
BRF Episode 34 - "Holidays"
We talk about the legend of Krampus, a horned beastly figure from central and eastern Alpine folklore and go hunting for the history of holidays on the Indian subcontinent and its many inhabitants.
-
BRF Episode 33 - "Number"
In this episode, we talk about the Fibonnaci sequence and its magic, the golden ratio, Pythagoras and a surprising cult connection and a conspiracy of Prime numbers!
-
BRF Episode 32 - "Chill"
We discuss the Etymology of Chill, Piloerection and Stoners Frustrating Anaesthetists Everywhere! Plus Ragini gets piloerection and mydriasis.
-
BRF Special Episode - 'Hunger'
The second part of our Audio Drama Day special series. ‘Hunger’ is another short story by Shar and narrated this time, by Vidyuth Gargi.
-
BRF Special Episode - 'Homecoming'
We're celebrating World Audio Drama Day, with our own little tribute through storytelling. 'Homecoming' is a short story written by Shar and narrated by Yuki Ellias.
-
BRF Episode 31 - "Sun"
We discuss the importance or lack thereof of perineum sunning - which is the scientific term for sun’s out, bums out folks! We talk about that time North Korea landed the first man on the sun. And we discuss the James Webb Telescope - and its superhero cape.
-
BRF Episode 30 - "Ferment"
Part of our collaboration with the amazing Kobo Fermentary - Shar and Ragini bring you the usual bizarre, amazing facts this episode, and Ragini makes the best pun of her life! Even though she may say so herself
-
BRF Episode 29 - "Moon"
In this episode we discuss the scientific implications of plonking a werewolf on the moon, before we spend some time deciding what makes an organisation a cult. We then chat about Mooning - the gift of the bare posterior. Lastly, is the moon drifting away from Earth a problem?
-
BRF Episode 28 - "Revolution"
Our word this episode is an Independence Day special. We’re going with revolution - expect all things revolutionary and all things revolving. There’s also some things space, some things science and all things fun!
-
BRF Episode 27 - "Prank"
This episode had us punning on the fly, talking about a poltergeist from our (and your) collective childhoods, morbid humour in a dictatorship, Rick Astley and little known mathematician, Pythagorus and his prank cup.
-
BRF Episode 26 - "Telegram"
In this episode, we talk about the last telegram ever sent, communicating telepathically and telegraphically with big-eared Martians, and why in the world the unstoppable telegram had stops in it.
-
BRF Episode 25 - “Power”
In this episode, we talk about a gun toting shrimp, a broken circle and a vertical stroke, the tapestry of 80s, 90s pop culture that is the Powerpuff Girls and how Iceland heats …. literally everything!
Season 1 - Long Episodes (for a leisurely listen to pack you up with information)
-
BRF Episode 24 - “Speed”
We’re fast approaching an important date, so we thought this word was perfect!
-
BRF Episode 23 - “Roof”
Conspiracies, intrigue, politics and an anthropological gem - what more does an episode need!
-
BRF Episode 22 - “Mummy”
Self mummification, mummies as appetisers, mummies as medical cures, cursing mummies and directing curses at mothers.
-
BRF Episode 21 - “Angel”
What would happen if human beings could really fly? So many questions and one episode to answer them all!
-
BRF Episode 20 - “Pop”
We know how to mark big occasions. Our 20th episode has a segment about popping bubblewrap, but it’s not just satisfying - it’s more!
-
BRF Episode 19 - “Whisper”
Ragini and Shar talk about whispering in every form - from whispering to ghosts to whispering to the Gods! Humans are strange, aren't they?
-
BRF Episode 18 - “Signal”
There's a lot in here about ancient systems of signaling in times of war and peace - which we found super fascinating!
-
BRF Episode 17 - “Beard”
This episode is hairy. A lot of facts to comb through. The long and short of it is that we get to the root of the word!
-
BRF Episode 16 - “Fire”
What lies within, you ask? Pyrokinesis, scary 3 year olds, abusive bosses, a Fire God, some farty dragons and more!
-
BRF Episode 15 - “Fairytale”
From the real-life Bluebeard to how far tales from the Panchatantra travelled, fantasy and reality crash into each other satisfyingly in this episode!
-
BRF Episode 14 - “Pasta”
Not just pasta in this one. Dive in to the amazing worlds of Creepypastas, pasta wars and punny pasta religions. Delish!
-
BRF Episode 13 - “Cake”
Our first episode alongside a guest host! Kerrie Cheetham, who runs a baking business in Derbyshire, joins us for this very well-suited episode about all things cake!
-
BRF Episode 12 - “Palm”
From experts who predicted their own death to Ragini's newly acquired palm-reading skills, to Los Angeles and its infamous arboreal mascot, this episode is short but packs a punch!
-
BRF Episode 11 - “Dream”
In this episode, dreams were a royal road indeed - to super interesting facts! Our chosen word for this episode took us from the supernatural to the surreal!
-
BRF Episode 10 - “Octopus”
A listener suggested word takes us on an unforgettable foray into the adventurous, glamorous, tragic and interesting histories and lives of Octopuses!
-
BRF Episode 09 - “Riddle”
Luckily we don’t take riddles as seriously as the Sphinx…
-
BRF Episode 08 - “Mirror”
In this episode, we take listeners through the history of the mirror and ponder the magpie-like nature of humans in their obsession for shiny things.
-
BRF Episode 07 - “Memory”
This one's going to be a hard one to forget…
-
BRF Episode 06 - “Geek”
Bite the head off a chicken and get ready for a "galloper" of an episode!
-
BRF Episode 05 - “Ash”
Some content in this episode could understandably be disturbing to some audiences. Please listen with discretion. An interesting episode nonetheless!
-
BRF Episode 04 - “Echo”
Echoes turned out to be a great starting point for some super interesting facts that took us to mythology, ancient Mayan temples and right into the center of the Big Bang!
-
BRF Episode 03 - “Mask”
We tried to find the lighter side of the word and succeeded - mostly! This episode takes you careening through the centuries as you unmask interesting information about this now-everyday word.
-
BRF Episode 02 - “Hat”
Hats have been integral to utility, ceremony and fashion for centuries. We dive into some of the more interesting, amusing and fascinating stories with the word for this episode - “Hat”.
-
BRF Episode 01 - “Pepper”
Our word for our pilot episode of our spanking new podcast is 'Pepper'.
BRF Shorts On Us! (for that trivia bump on a hectic day)
-
BRF Season Finale
One full year since we started BRF! And as we step away for a bit to take some time to reflect and renew, we leave you with the final word for this season.
-
BRF Shorts on Us! 14: "Confetti"
It's the end of the year and it's our favourite time and we're jumping right on to that festive wagon with our last short of the year!
-
BRF Shorts on Us! 13: "OK/Okay"
Hopefully, it's lucky number 13 for us and this episode isn't just "okay". We cover the origins and the sauciness of the word OK, or is it Okay? Find out in the episode!
-
BRF Shorts on Us! 12: "Bling"
We might have lost the Kohinoor, but we’re not completely at a loss! Find out more about the bling owned by rappers, nizams and then let’s talk burglaries. Yay!
-
BRF Shorts on Us! 11: "Traffic Signal"
It's really a fascinating history - they've been around longer than we thought btw (think traffic signals for horses - cute!). Also, dyk traffic signals in Japan are (an absolutely lovely) shade of blue?
-
BRF Shorts on Us! 10: "Cake"
Trial by combat, an extremely important day of international political significance, war - all things that very obviously describe cake! Quite a tasty little short, we must say.
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 09 - “Charkhas and Chick Flicks”
On Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we also celebrate another auspicious day - Mean Girls Day! This episode smooshes two very interesting, very different topics together making a super-quirky short! Enjoy!
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 07 - “Dude”
The origin of dude, the coolest dude, all things dude! From religions to leather boots, this short will make you have a long think about what dude actually means to YOU. What does it mean to us?
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 06 - “Idioms”
What does an 'Indian Summer' actually mean? Where does the phrase 'Raining Cats And Dogs' come from?
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 05 - “Whisk(e)y”
Welcome to another episode of BRF Shorts on Us! From women in whisk(e)y-making to recommendations in the world of whisk(e)y to lexicography, this episode is a short but has it all! There's also a surprise announcement at the end that you're not going to want to miss.
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 04 - “Pastafarianism”
We loved our episode Pasta so much, we wanted to give you more! This short tells you more about our holiest saviour, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the devoutness of his followers. Ramen to that!
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 03 - “Birthday”
Happy Birthday to Ragini! We decided to do a fun little short on birthdays right from the history of these special days to birthday traditions around the world.
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 02 - “Fairytale”
The disturbingly dark true stories behind our much loved fairytales and a hoax that two little girls captivated the world with for close to 65 years!
-
BRF Shorts On Us! 01 - "Pride"
Our first ever BRF Short episode is here. And we couldn’t have chosen a more relevant, important word for it!