Episodes

The world has gone crazy for wordle. People set their alarms just to get up early enough to solve the wordle before their friends. There is a “sharing” er “competing” culture of proving one’s intelligence by getting the word in fewer guesses than others. And, with the boom, it has spawned quordle, octurdle, worldle, hurdle, nerdle, etc. Jon and Kurt delve into this phenomenon and try to explain or dissect it in their own smart drivel way.

Following up on last week's "Underrated Inventions Part 1" comes the expected "part 2". In this classic episode, Jon and Kurt continue waxing poetic about seemingly mundane inventions that have had outsized impact on society. Some you would expect, some are interesting interpretations by our opinionated co-hosts.

Dipping into the vast repository of Smart Drivel content, Jon and Kurt offer up a classic two part series. From toilet paper to Neil Diamond and lots in between, they discuss the advances in civilization we can’t live without. They may not get the headlines as say the wheel or penicillin, but these underrated inventions punch way above their weight.

Tune in to another classic episode as Jon and Kurt spend a full episode discussing fun phrases and how they came to be. “Mind your Bees Wax,” “One for the road”, and “Freezing the balls off a brass monkey” are just a few sayings they take on, masticate over, and share.

Enjoy a classic Smart Drivel episode as Jon and Kurt set out to find the truth behind certain “givens” that we have always been told: is it safe to swim right after eating? Is the earth round? Did Vikings have horns on their helmets? Was there an apple in the Garden of Eden? Were the pyramids of Egypt built by slaves? Is Everest the tallest mountain on earth? And what the hell does Chuck Yeager have to do with all of this?

Stretching their word retrieval abilities, Jon and Kurt have fun in this episode by coming up with words that have ‘art’ embedded within them. Art means one thing on its own (the beautiful category of expressionism–be it paintings, sculptures, poetry, novels, music, dance, etc.), but take that word and stuff it into another, and it takes on a whole new life.

Finding humor, joy, and moral intrigue in select words, Jon and Kurt play a little game. One of the co-hosts comes up with a favorite or interesting word and explains the reasoning behind his choice. The other co-host then has to come up with a compelling entry of his own – but it has to start with the last letter of the other’s word. Of course, this being Smart Drivel, they seldom stay on task or on topic. The conversation that ensues is entertaining, if nothing else. Jonathan Ellenthal: I like...

You are moving to a foreign country. You don’t know where. You don’t know for how long. All you are told is that you can bring 5 things with you. Jon and Kurt share what they would take along as they go far afield from home. Not surprisingly, they have quite different answers and rationales for their choices. Which leads to some fun back and forth. What would you bring?

Jon and Kurt re-release an all-time favorite as they wax poetic about places they would love to visit for vacation. However, the twist is that they can go anywhere in any time in history. They discuss being in ancient Greece for the invention of the shower, ancient Alexandria for the books, England during King Arthur’s reign, seeing Jackie Robinson score his first MLB run, and other smart-drivelly places.

Throughout history, humankind’s competitive spirit has led to inventing and mastering a wide array of sports. Basketball, Soccer, Football, Baseball, Hockey, Tennis, etc. get all the air time and all the headlines, but what about the outrageous and bizarre sports? The ones like toe wrestling or bog snorkeling or eel peeling or….yup, Jon & Kurt in their 101st episode explore some of the more ridiculous sports that have attracted committed athletes over the years. We’ll see you in the dung spittin...

That’s right, a milestone in smart drivelry has been attained…Jon and Kurt have recorded their 100th episode. That means they have given listeners over 40 hours of content over which to laugh, yell, sneer, learn, and, mostly, shake their heads at the ridiculous conversation they are hearing. The two hosts use the centennial episode to give us new thoughts on previous topics: they celebrate their 100th with a new origin of a fun phrase, more pet peeves, a new God’s mistake, a cool oxymoron, anoth...

The boys are at it for a second week in a row…they just can’t get enough of trying to stump one another with esoteric, tantalizing, and thought provoking facts. If you ever find yourself in the midst of boring folks with nothing to say, you will be happy you listened to this episode to give you conversation starters. You are welcome; we hope.

In this episode, Jon and Kurt try to stump one another with arcane, bizarre, weirdly fascinating trivia questions. Some are down right funny while others are great fodder for your next dinner conversation. Listen, remember, and then be seen as an icon of knowledge.

We all did it. We all went to school with open minds, excited to learn new things. We, here in the U.S., learned a lot about our country’s history. Interestingly, with the lens of current knowledge, we now know that a lot of what we learned was not exactly correct. In this episode, Jon and Kurt unearth some of these discrepancies and attempt to set the record straight.

Office life has changed so much in the last thirty years–we saw the coming and going of the fax machine, the thumb drive, the inter-office memo, to name just a few–and now, with remote working, the office doesn’t even have people. In this episode, Jon and Kurt take a look at how the office has changed and they even wax poetic about some of the lost objects (name plates) and lost traditions (the office prank).

Ben Franklin is deeply embedded in the American ethos. He was a Founding Father, an inventor, a printer, an author, a diplomat, a man about town, to name just a few of his talents. He was prolific to say the least and was a true Renaissance man. In this episode, Jon and Kurt marvel at his successes and share some of his lesser known accomplishments.

Medicine and medical treatments have, thankfully, evolved over the years as these procedures and cures always aim to stay on the cutting edge. WIth the luxury of being able to look backwards in time, we can safely laugh at some of the more questionable healing practices of the past. From looking to tame the wandering womb to blistering the skull to farting in a jar and many others, Jon and Kurt open the metaphoric medical textbook and share some of the craziest ways we tried to heal people.

In the development of the English language, we have created some words that are just plain funny. A word, when heard, elicits snickers, laughter, and general bemusement. Jon and Kurt can’t contain themselves from their childish glee as they share some of the words they find most humorous. Most times, of course, these words are far more benign than they sound. But, oh man, there are many that will tickle and amuse. Like winklepicker, for example. Gardyloo!

We’ve all been there: you are having a really good time at the party and imbibe just a wee bit too much. Enough too much that the following morning you feel like crap. So you try all sorts of things to mitigate the pain. To no avail. The hangover persists. Humankind has been searching for a solution to this for 10,000 years–ever since that first accidental beer was brewed. In this episode, join Jon and Kurt as they discuss some of the more creative, oldest, and just plain odd hangover remedies. ...

If you think your job is a little bizarre sometimes, think again. There are people out there who have incredibly unique professions--human dog food taster, professional cuddler, worm collector, train pusher–-to name just a few. Jon and Kurt have fun unearthing some of the most bizarre of these jobs and sharing them with their listeners.

Over time, words take on new meanings. Interestingly, often the new definition is the exact opposite of where the word started off. This somewhat boggling phenomenon is the subject of this week’s Smart Drivel episode. Jon and Kurt share the current and then the original meanings of words and wonder at the journey these words have taken. It can be said that this episode is truly awful.

Ever have this happen to you…you are sitting at a beautiful table in a nice restaurant, you peruse the menu, you see something that sounds delicious even though you haven’t had it before, you feel bold, and you order it. Only to find that it is made of and tastes nothing at all like what it sounds? This happens way more than you would think. Leaving folks stunned, frustrated, and a bit queasy sometimes. In this episode, Jon and Kurt identify a bunch of these menu items and unveil them for the im...

You are on a great vacation. One you have saved up for and planned for years. You leave the friendly confines of the U.S. and head overseas. While in the MidEast, you wish to show your appreciation for good service and, since you don’t know the language, you give a hearty thumbs up to your waiter. Who promptly spits in your soup because you just gave him, what amounts to in his country, the middle finger. This horror scenario happens more than you would think as different countries have differen...

The last 60 years have brought an onslaught of evolutionary and technological advances that have drastically re-shaped humanity. And speaking of re-shaping, boy these last six decades have had a huge impact on the shape of things--as in the body. In this episode, Jon and Kurt look at how the average American has changed since 1960. Height. Weight (spoiler alert--it’s not a pretty stat). Connubial patterns. Average age. College educated. Etc. It is a shockingly fun episode to see the changes and ...