Impolite Society: Exploring the Weird, Taboo & Macabre - How Does My Body Tell if it's a Fart or Poo?

How Does My Body Tell if it's a Fart or Poo?

09/27/21 • 53 min

Impolite Society: Exploring the Weird, Taboo & Macabre

Each day, your body makes the high-stakes decision that holds together the very fabric of our society… “is that just a fart, or am I about to shit myself?” And with the average person releasing nearly a half gallon of gas a day, your body is making this decision all the time.

Turns out, this impressive ability all comes down to how we developed as an embryo.

We explore biology behind farts to uncover how society as we know it is held together by a few centimeters of tissue in our anus, all while answering even more fart questions along the way. That’s what you’re in for today, on Impolite Society.

Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.

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Sources:
Fart vs Poop in under 2 mins!
This Is How Your Butt Can Tell a Poop From a Fart, According to Science
Insights into human colonic physiology obtained from the study of flatus composition
Explainer: The chemistry of farts
What happens when you hold in a fart?
Everybody farts. But here are 9 surprising facts about flatulence you may not know.
What's a Fart?

Turns out, this impressive ability all comes down to how we developed as an embryo.

Previous Episode

Why is My Naked Body a Crime?

Hey there, your fly is down! We put so much effort into covering our bodies, that the idea of exposing ourselves in public, even inadvertently after a trip to the loo, is enough to make us blush. Nudity is a taboo that’s so ingrained that being in the buff has become the cliché stress dream.
But it’s more than that. In many places, your naked body is against the law.
So how did our birthday suits go from our natural state to being a crime? We expose the history of clothing and get to the naked truth of why nudity is so taboo in today’s episode of Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Sources:
BBC - Earth - We did not invent clothes simply to stay warmNudity and Public Decency Laws in America - HG.orgWhy is public nudity illegal? The offense principle, the Bible, and taboos. Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991) (cornell.edu)
Sex and Reason on JSTOR

Got your own thoughts? Text them to Impolite Society!

Text Rachel and Laura or email us at [email protected]. Visit our website for info about the show and your hosts.

Next Episode

Does Being Rich Make You a Jerk?

Scrooge. Montgomery Burns. Lex Luther. These and many other great antagonists have something in common... they’re filthy stinking rich. Throughout literature, pop culture and Hollywood, wealth is often linked to villainy, but are the rich really as cold and heartless as they're portrayed?

Join us as we dig into the series of studies that examine the behavior of the elite and explore why they act so different than we do. All to get to the bottom of whether we’re just jealous or if being rich really does make you into a big mean jerk. Are rich people mean? That’s the question we explore today on Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
SOURCES:
Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior | PNAS

Paul Piff: Does money make you mean? | TED Talk

Higher in status, (Even) better-than-average (nih.gov)

Signs of Socioeconomic Status: A Thin-Slicing Approach - Michael W. Kraus, Dacher Keltner, 2009 (sagepub.com)

Got your own thoughts? Text them to Impolite Society!

Text Rachel and Laura or email us at [email protected]. Visit our website for info about the show and your hosts.