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Surprisingly Awesome

Surprisingly Awesome

Gimlet

A show that delves into topics that seem mundane, annoying and sometimes downright boring - to reveal that they're surprisingly awesome.

2 Listeners

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Top 10 Surprisingly Awesome Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Surprisingly Awesome episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Surprisingly Awesome for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Surprisingly Awesome episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Surprisingly Awesome - #17.5 Untangling Flossgate 2016

Is it really true that you never need to floss again?

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is “How We Do” by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Andrew Dunn and Austin Thompson mixed this episode. This episode was edited by Annie-Rose Strasser and produced by Rachel Ward and Christine Driscoll.

Sponsor

Spotify Discover

Learn More

Read the AP article that everyone is talking about.

Read the systematic review that no one is talking about.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it really true that you never need to floss again?

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is “How We Do” by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Andrew Dunn and Austin Thompson mixed this episode. This episode was edited by Annie-Rose Strasser and produced by Rachel Ward and Christine Driscoll.

Sponsor

Spotify Discover

Learn More

Read the AP article that everyone is talking about.

Read the systematic review that no one is talking about.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

08/05/16 • 9 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #23 The Wedding

#23 The Wedding

Surprisingly Awesome

Something borrowed, something blue, something that explains why weddings look the way they do.

The Facts

Our theme music is by Nicholas Britell and our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Christine Driscoll, Elizabeth Kulas, and Rikki Novetsky. Sylvie Douglis and Nick Fountain field produced at the wedding.

Thank you to Sue and Austin’s friends and family for letting us ask so many questions and bother you during the whole wedding.

Thanks to Jorge Just -- and sorry we forgot to thank you last time, and to our beloved mix engineer Andrew Dunn. ANDREW DUNN MIXED THIS EPISODE, he always mixes our episodes, and we have not been great about remembering to tell you that!

Additional production assistance came from Jacob Cruz, Emily Kennedy, Melanie Kruvelis, Sarah Melton and Sarah Stoddard.

Thank you to Karen Klaiber Hersch, Gayle Strege, Patrick O’Neil, Jennifer Gellmann and Sharon Boulani.

And finally, stay posted with us as we report the next season. You can follow us on Twitter, subscribe to the newsletter, or subscribe to us on your podcatcher for all our cool updates!

See you in 2017!

Learn More

If you want to learn more Folk-Lore of Women you can access it via the wonderful Project Gutenberg at this link.

Did you like learning the value of the garter industry in 1952? What a rebel - you probably need Dr. Vicki Howard's book at this link or your local library.

There are a lot of wedding traditions out there! We obviously didn't cover them all! There's a great history about women changing their last names by Dr. Sophie Coulombeau at the BBC. For some funny and insightful thoughts on the prevalence of Corinthians in wedding vows, check out this essay by Kate Braestrup at Huffington Post.

Our Sponsors

Blue Apron – Delivering all the fresh ingredients you need to create home-cooked meals. Click now to get your first three meals for free.

Casper – Get $50 towards any Casper Mattress purchase by visiting casper.com/awesome and using the offer code “AWESOME”.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Something borrowed, something blue, something that explains why weddings look the way they do.

The Facts

Our theme music is by Nicholas Britell and our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Christine Driscoll, Elizabeth Kulas, and Rikki Novetsky. Sylvie Douglis and Nick Fountain field produced at the wedding.

Thank you to Sue and Austin’s friends and family for letting us ask so many questions and bother you during the whole wedding.

Thanks to Jorge Just -- and sorry we forgot to thank you last time, and to our beloved mix engineer Andrew Dunn. ANDREW DUNN MIXED THIS EPISODE, he always mixes our episodes, and we have not been great about remembering to tell you that!

Additional production assistance came from Jacob Cruz, Emily Kennedy, Melanie Kruvelis, Sarah Melton and Sarah Stoddard.

Thank you to Karen Klaiber Hersch, Gayle Strege, Patrick O’Neil, Jennifer Gellmann and Sharon Boulani.

And finally, stay posted with us as we report the next season. You can follow us on Twitter, subscribe to the newsletter, or subscribe to us on your podcatcher for all our cool updates!

See you in 2017!

Learn More

If you want to learn more Folk-Lore of Women you can access it via the wonderful Project Gutenberg at this link.

Did you like learning the value of the garter industry in 1952? What a rebel - you probably need Dr. Vicki Howard's book at this link or your local library.

There are a lot of wedding traditions out there! We obviously didn't cover them all! There's a great history about women changing their last names by Dr. Sophie Coulombeau at the BBC. For some funny and insightful thoughts on the prevalence of Corinthians in wedding vows, check out this essay by Kate Braestrup at Huffington Post.

Our Sponsors

Blue Apron – Delivering all the fresh ingredients you need to create home-cooked meals. Click now to get your first three meals for free.

Casper – Get $50 towards any Casper Mattress purchase by visiting casper.com/awesome and using the offer code “AWESOME”.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

10/19/16 • 40 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #18 Yoga

#18 Yoga

Surprisingly Awesome

This week, we found many surprising twists, turns, and holds in the story of modern yoga.

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s Theme Music is “This is How We Do” by Nicholas Britell and our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Rachel Ward, Christine Driscoll and Elizabeth Kulas. Andrew Dunn mixed the episode.

Jacob Cruz, James T. Green, Emma Jacobs, Rikki Novetsky, and Benjamin Riskin provided production assistance.

Additional music in this episode is "Santoor and Tabla at Assi Ghat, Varanasi" by Samuel Corwin and "Electronica Tanpura 9" by sankalp.

Learn More

If you want to learn more about Wendy Doniger’s banned book, you can check out its page on Amazon here -- Christine is in the middle of reading it and highly recommends it, and we are linking through Amazon so you can check out the reviews and get a window into the controversy surrounding it.

Or if you just wanna hear more about Indra Devi (and who wouldn’t?!) you can read more about her and get a copy of Michelle Goldberg’s book here. Adam “can’t recommend it enough!”

And if you're like, "no way, take me to the science!" You can read more about the current research on the health benefits of yoga, by checking out UCLA’s longer interview with Dr. Helen Lavretsky, or a super informative article from Julia Belluz at Vox -- "I read more than 50 scientific studies about yoga. Here's what I learned."

Finally... Flossgate continues! You can head to our show page at www.gimletmedia.com/surprisinglyawesome to hear an extra interview and read some of the studies we looked at while building our flossing show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we found many surprising twists, turns, and holds in the story of modern yoga.

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s Theme Music is “This is How We Do” by Nicholas Britell and our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser, and produced by Rachel Ward, Christine Driscoll and Elizabeth Kulas. Andrew Dunn mixed the episode.

Jacob Cruz, James T. Green, Emma Jacobs, Rikki Novetsky, and Benjamin Riskin provided production assistance.

Additional music in this episode is "Santoor and Tabla at Assi Ghat, Varanasi" by Samuel Corwin and "Electronica Tanpura 9" by sankalp.

Learn More

If you want to learn more about Wendy Doniger’s banned book, you can check out its page on Amazon here -- Christine is in the middle of reading it and highly recommends it, and we are linking through Amazon so you can check out the reviews and get a window into the controversy surrounding it.

Or if you just wanna hear more about Indra Devi (and who wouldn’t?!) you can read more about her and get a copy of Michelle Goldberg’s book here. Adam “can’t recommend it enough!”

And if you're like, "no way, take me to the science!" You can read more about the current research on the health benefits of yoga, by checking out UCLA’s longer interview with Dr. Helen Lavretsky, or a super informative article from Julia Belluz at Vox -- "I read more than 50 scientific studies about yoga. Here's what I learned."

Finally... Flossgate continues! You can head to our show page at www.gimletmedia.com/surprisinglyawesome to hear an extra interview and read some of the studies we looked at while building our flossing show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

08/10/16 • 44 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #17 Flossing

#17 Flossing

Surprisingly Awesome

The Facts

This week, we're joined by comedian Maeve Higgins.

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is “How We Do” by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Andrew Dun mixed this episode.This episode was edited by Annie-Rose Strasser, and Peter Clowney and produced by Rachel Ward, Christine Driscoll, and Elizabeth Kulas.

Jacob Cruz, David Pitman, and Laura Varela provided production assistance.

Thank you to New England Public Radio and KQED in San Francisco.

Learn More

Impress us and Punmaster Gary Roma with your best #flossipher puns and send them to us at @SurprisingShow

Did you like our incredibly fast description of biofilm? You can read a very approachable primer about the biofilm in your mouth here.

Not enough floss, hoss? You can get more flossing fix in the ebook - The Joy of Flossing, which we read for this episode. It's just 42 pages and it you'll even find some philosophy in there, too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Facts

This week, we're joined by comedian Maeve Higgins.

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is “How We Do” by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Andrew Dun mixed this episode.This episode was edited by Annie-Rose Strasser, and Peter Clowney and produced by Rachel Ward, Christine Driscoll, and Elizabeth Kulas.

Jacob Cruz, David Pitman, and Laura Varela provided production assistance.

Thank you to New England Public Radio and KQED in San Francisco.

Learn More

Impress us and Punmaster Gary Roma with your best #flossipher puns and send them to us at @SurprisingShow

Did you like our incredibly fast description of biofilm? You can read a very approachable primer about the biofilm in your mouth here.

Not enough floss, hoss? You can get more flossing fix in the ebook - The Joy of Flossing, which we read for this episode. It's just 42 pages and it you'll even find some philosophy in there, too.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

07/27/16 • 38 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #3 Concrete

#3 Concrete

Surprisingly Awesome

From the dawn of human civilization, to the end of days: Concrete will outlast us all. The Facts The Reverend John DeLore and Michael Garafalo mixed this episode. John performed music for this episode, along with his bandmates, Jordan Scanella, Sam Merrick, Isamu McGregor, Jon LaDeau, Dominic Fallacaro. Thanks to Matthew Nelson for production assistance. Our theme music is “How We Do,” written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?! – This week, we featured PC Carlos Arteaga, a 7th grader at Lighthouse Community Charter School.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the dawn of human civilization, to the end of days: Concrete will outlast us all. The Facts The Reverend John DeLore and Michael Garafalo mixed this episode. John performed music for this episode, along with his bandmates, Jordan Scanella, Sam Merrick, Isamu McGregor, Jon LaDeau, Dominic Fallacaro. Thanks to Matthew Nelson for production assistance. Our theme music is “How We Do,” written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?! – This week, we featured PC Carlos Arteaga, a 7th grader at Lighthouse Community Charter School.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

11/17/15 • 25 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #1 Mold

#1 Mold

Surprisingly Awesome

Mold giveth, and mold taketh away. The same not-quite plant, not-quite animal that causes cancer can also cure infections and unite long-lost family members. The Facts Original music for this episode by Mark Phillips and Elori Kramer Our theme music is "How We Do," written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell Our ad music is by Build Buildings Further Reading “Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds” by George Hudler Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?! Thanks to Geromy Moore Justin Trosclair of the St. James Cheese Company David Nally

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mold giveth, and mold taketh away. The same not-quite plant, not-quite animal that causes cancer can also cure infections and unite long-lost family members. The Facts Original music for this episode by Mark Phillips and Elori Kramer Our theme music is "How We Do," written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell Our ad music is by Build Buildings Further Reading “Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds” by George Hudler Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?! Thanks to Geromy Moore Justin Trosclair of the St. James Cheese Company David Nally

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

11/03/15 • 30 min

1 Listener

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Surprisingly Awesome - #15 Extinct Hockey

#15 Extinct Hockey

Surprisingly Awesome

John Hodgman learns that the advantage of extinct hockey is that it can't break your heart.

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme song is by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser. We were produced by Kalila Holt and Rachel Ward.

Isabel Angel, Misha Euceph, Piers Gelly, Elizabeth Kulas, Kyle McAuley, and Rikki Novetsky provided production assistance. Additional music for this episode came from Podington Bear and Lux Finite.

Andrew Dunn mixed the episode.

Notes

After you listen to the episode, take a look at John's new logo, designed by Peter Good.

If you're curious, here's the article that helped us track down the hipster.

Sponsors

eBay

Squarespace

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Hodgman learns that the advantage of extinct hockey is that it can't break your heart.

The Facts

Surprisingly Awesome’s theme song is by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. We were edited this week by Annie-Rose Strasser. We were produced by Kalila Holt and Rachel Ward.

Isabel Angel, Misha Euceph, Piers Gelly, Elizabeth Kulas, Kyle McAuley, and Rikki Novetsky provided production assistance. Additional music for this episode came from Podington Bear and Lux Finite.

Andrew Dunn mixed the episode.

Notes

After you listen to the episode, take a look at John's new logo, designed by Peter Good.

If you're curious, here's the article that helped us track down the hipster.

Sponsors

eBay

Squarespace

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

06/15/16 • 48 min

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Surprisingly Awesome - #4 Tubthumping

#4 Tubthumping

Surprisingly Awesome

A 1990s pop hit reveals how the Adams feel about capitalism. The Facts Our theme music is “How We Do,” written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 1990s pop hit reveals how the Adams feel about capitalism. The Facts Our theme music is “How We Do,” written, performed, and produced by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. Sponsors Audible.com PC Does Whaaaat?!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

12/01/15 • 29 min

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Surprisingly Awesome - The Hide Rug of the Plant World

Every Little Thing, hosted by Flora Lichtman, is a show about the joy of finding things out. In this episode, learn about where office plants come from and what they're secretly communicating.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every Little Thing, hosted by Flora Lichtman, is a show about the joy of finding things out. In this episode, learn about where office plants come from and what they're secretly communicating.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

04/25/17 • 11 min

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Surprisingly Awesome - #5 Interest Rates

#5 Interest Rates

Surprisingly Awesome

Just because it has the word "interest" in it doesn't mean it's interesting to a teenage girl. The Facts: Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is "How We Do" by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. This episode was edited by Alex Blumberg and Peter Clowney and produced by Chris Neary and Rachel Ward, with help from Julia Kumari Drapkin. It was mixed by Michael Garofalo. Sponsors: Ministry of Supply Audible.com Squarespace

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just because it has the word "interest" in it doesn't mean it's interesting to a teenage girl. The Facts: Surprisingly Awesome’s theme music is "How We Do" by Nicholas Britell. Our ad music is by Build Buildings. This episode was edited by Alex Blumberg and Peter Clowney and produced by Chris Neary and Rachel Ward, with help from Julia Kumari Drapkin. It was mixed by Michael Garofalo. Sponsors: Ministry of Supply Audible.com Squarespace

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

play

12/15/15 • 31 min

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FAQ

How many episodes does Surprisingly Awesome have?

Surprisingly Awesome currently has 32 episodes available.

What topics does Surprisingly Awesome cover?

The podcast is about Comedy, Podcasts and Education.

What is the most popular episode on Surprisingly Awesome?

The episode title '#3 Concrete' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Surprisingly Awesome?

The average episode length on Surprisingly Awesome is 32 minutes.

How often are episodes of Surprisingly Awesome released?

Episodes of Surprisingly Awesome are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Surprisingly Awesome?

The first episode of Surprisingly Awesome was released on Oct 29, 2015.

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