Learn It from a Layman

We walk you through the process of buying a home. How do you get the best mortgage? How do property taxes work? What is an adjustable rate mortgage? What are the most important things to consider when buying? Should you pay off your home early? Is a vacation home or a rental property worth buying? Come find out with us.

We discuss car maintenance. How often should you change your oil? Is buying higher octane fuel worth the cost? What is knock and how does it affect engine performance? What type of tires should you buy? What does a tire alignment actually do? How do you tell what are necessary repairs vs. optional repairs if you don't think your mechanic is being honest? When and how should you replace an old vehicle and what's the best way to go car shopping?

We continue our history series. Who were the biggest names in music in the 1930s and how does Justin Bieber measure up? What happened in Nanjing and why do we need to know? What caused the Great Depression? What did Einstein originally think about researching the atomic bomb? Who were the Flying Tigers? What is Blitzkrieg and how does it work? Did Germany really start World War 2?

Come find out what phonetics is all about. What is the IPA? What is an allophone and could it hurt me? How does speech recognition software work? We discuss the basics of machine learning and why masks make listening hard.

What are some American holiday traditions and their origins? Where did Thanksgiving come from? Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? What is the Miracle on 31st street? Is The Man Who Knew Too Little a Christmas movie? What is the best Christmas music and other traditions?

We discuss Suriname, one of the least known countries in the Western Hemisphere. What is the culture of Suriname? What languages do they speak there? What's a creole language vs. a pidgin language? How many times can Carl say "by and large" in one podcast? What do grubs taste like? We give you the highlights and some of the lesser-known facts about Suriname. 

We have former physics teacher and soon-to-be dentist Peter Vogel on to discuss quantum physics. What does quantum mean? What are the different types of quarks? What is the Higgs Boson? How much energy does it take to split a proton? What does Schrödinger's cat actually teach us about quantum mechanics? Are there multiple universes and is Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse a documentary? Is Mars bigger than a boson?

We talk the science and the business of solar panels. What makes up a solar cell? What are all the elements necessary to generate usable electricity? How do you store additional power? What is net metering?  How much of a difference does it make to the environment? What is the future of solar panels?