I’ve listened to this podcast for years, I remember the original host and writer. Lauren is absolutely a real person, all you need to do is listen years back before AI voices became ubiquitous. I’ve always loved her speaking voice, but if you want to hear her more conversational speaking she has a food podcast called Savor. Her co host is.. fine. I know, the ads are a lot, but it’s a short show and prob has the same costs as longer ones. Just skip past!

Yeah, she pronounces things weird sometimes. So do lots of podcasters- have you heard podcasts?

Screw the complainers- it’s a nice short pod.

Where else can you find a fun fact podcast that takes only a few minutes to listen?

There is interesting information presented here, but I have to question the credibility of some the podcasts. Especially when the host uses the non-existent word irregardless. Also I’m hearing words being mispronounced.

I agree with other comments about the amount of ads at the beginning and end. But I guess that’s how they keep the podcast free to listeners.

Half the podcast is ads.

Good,interesting, short form podcast; but WAY too many ads.

Nice podcast, but the ads stink. I’m writing this just to protest the amount of stupid ads you have here.

It feels like half the length of the podcast is ads.

4 ads at the start, 2 min of content, more ads at the end!!

Worst ad-load in the podcast industry!

Why so greedy and disrespectful to listeners?

Also, many episodes have constant gasping and sudden intakes of air sounds like someone is drowning. The air gasping makes it consistently painful and annoying to listen to.

Deleted.

Unlistenable due to ads.

I used to love this podcast. Now it’s 2 mins of ads to get to 2 mins of content. It makes listening to episodes back to back impossible due to the aggravation. Also the old host’s voice was nice. The new one puts an “uh” at the beginning of every word. I hate to criticize someone’s tick but it quickly gets very distracting.

PLEASE ITS ABSOLUTELY AGONIZING TO LISTEN TO THE AI GENERATED HOST!

At least the first two minutes of this podcast are ads. The podcast in total is only 10 minutes. That’s not counting ads at the end too

Too many ads. Is the host just an AI robot reading from Wikipedia? Hire some 8th grader who has done a school report and they could get two stars.

I just attempted to listen to the episode on seahorses, and I can only assume it was an AI generated voice. Not here for it.

This podcast is a good listen to anyone who wants an information packed podcast in under 10 minutes.

However, the ads have gotten more frequent and longer over the years and really take away from the otherwise information packed episodes.

The bottom line:

if you like info packed nuggets of a podcast and don’t mind the frequent ads, this is for you. If you hold a grudge against advertisements, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

I really want to love the podcast but the speaker and the speaking style is extremely annoying. Not only the voice is highly pitched, her way of delivering speech is very interrupted with a “a” every now and then. It feels like some AI is delivering the podcast. Make it more human like.

I find this very difficult to listen to. When I first started listening, I thought that the voice was synthesized. The speaking style of the host is very unnatural and I can’t believe this is the way she actually talks.

It’s not the first time I’ve heard something on this pod that wasn’t fully discussed, to say the least- but when making definitive statements, and especially citing research/journals, I’d like the source. The dairy and inflammation episode (they just limit it to upper respiratory mucus for some reason) for example, it’s wholly accurate. Maybe adding an additional person to perform oppo research would bring balance the the Force.

I’ve listened to this podcast for years but the ads are getting to the point where there are more ads than the content of what is being shared. Not sure how much longer I will be subscribed.

If you are a binge podcast listener like I am, this is NOT for you. The amount of advertisements and non related content is MORE than the actual content of the episode. I gave this podcast a very good try. But I just can’t be constantly fast forwarding through ads on my commute to work.

The episode on conception didn’t recognize the remarkable fact that only women can conceive. The resource article did reference women, but the podcasters vacated science, in favor of foolishness.

One star only because I couldn’t give a negative rating.

I don’t like the commercials - it’s how Clear Channel Communications killed AM radio. And in Manifest Destiny, calling out racism without mention of LGBTQ and animal rights in is bias.

First of all, I’ve listened to this podcast for years. Contrary to what some reviewers would have you believe, I have heard zero change in its content and the idea that there is “bias” in the content is laughable. How is there bias in learning about coconut crabs, the phenomenon of not feeling joy, or whether or not it is safe to bathe during a thunderstorm? That there could be bias in the question whether Bugs Bunny was a hare or a rabbit sounds like some cooked up by Q-anon. I gave them only 4 stars because of the significant amount of advertising which gets old if you’re catching up on several episodes.

I love this podcast! I’m someone who loves learning and I feel so smart after each episode that I listen to 😁 I love how the episodes are so short and easy to fit into your day! Also, this podcast is great for all ages and for anyone wanting to learn something new and expand their knowledge of the world. Give it a listen! ;)

Edit: My only request is for the host to not talk in a reading/teacher voice, like others have mentioned in the reviews. I find podcasts like these more interesting and engaging to listen to when the host talks in a more conversational and casual tone. Other than that, no complaints! Thanks

I have been listening to this podcast for several years and have really enjoyed it. Yes on occasion there is an episode that I’m not interested in, but I simply move on to the next episode and don’t make a big deal out of it like some of the other reviewers on here. For those complaining that Lauren talks too fast/slow you can always adjust the playback speed in your podcast app. The only issue I have with this podcast is it’s supposed to be a daily podcast, yet they will go over a month at times without releasing a new episode, then all of a sudden release like 25 episodes all on the same day. This is kind of annoying because I feel like I have to play “catch up“. I’d rather they just release one episode a day like they used to, instead of dumping an entire months worth of episodes on us all at once.

I like the topics and the short, digestible pod lengths. My only issue is that I don't like the host's reading voice. I wish it wasn't a reading voice.

I like it but they speak so fast for me to digest the information. Could you please speak a little slower? Thank you

It's all right to listen to. Although the repeats are frequent.

This used to be a nice format for interesting science questions to be answered. It was low-key and you could listen to it with kids and everyone understood it. THINGS HAVE CHANGED drastically. Now it is nothing more than another biased outlet for political views. The host changed and the whole show followed. I'm cancelling my subscription; I can listen to the news if I want to hear rhetoric and bias.

What could be a non-biased platform for nerdy information has become a laughably ridiculous propaganda podcast, pushing false information.

I’m out.

To begin with, this podcast takes themes and explains them in a Progressive bias. So there's too much opinion and far less objectivism in their particular brand of explanations (which is why I nixed this podcast's parent "How Stuff Works"). Second, it's definetly a stuff, since, out of nowhere, I'll suddenly receive a whole month's worth of this "daily" podcast's episodes all at once, and that's also maddening; it's not so much as a pleasure to subscribe and listen to as a burden, so I'm out.

I like this show because it’s short and informative. And since it’s short, I can just quickly listen to it. But the title usually has a question about a topic which usually piques my interest and makes me intrigued. But i’ve noticed they rarely answer the question in the title. They just talk about that particular topic.

If you would keep things neutral you would be more believable

I like the short episodes and have found quite a few that I wanted to listen to but after the first two I had to stop. The narrator has a nice voice but the cadence and speed are very hard to understand. I think if she slowed down and worked on cadence/inflection she would sound really nice.

I love random facts and factoids but the delivery is absolutely horrible. This is a robot not a human being. Too many easy syntax and pronunciation errors that a person of average intelligence and familiarity with the English language would never make.

Vogelbaum’s voice is perfectly understandable and lovely. I don’t hear any biases that people talk about. Love to hear something amazing. Great job!

I enjoy this podcast for its range of topics in short bites I can listen to each morning.

Where did it go in March 2021?

Please, Lauren Vogelbaum, check your pronunciation. Emphasis on wrong syllables, nonstandard vowel sounds, etc. undermine the authority of your claims, which may feed into some of the dissatisfaction I read in other comments.

The host uses a very strange cadence when she talks that I find extremely annoying. Reminds me of Captain Kirk on Star Trek, but worse. Her voice is fine, and I just wish she would talk normally! I generally get too frustrated after a single episode and have to take a break.

This used to be a cool podcast that would give lots of good information. However it has become way too politically-based and not science-based. I will miss it

A lot of ads. Doesn’t actually teach you anything or explain the details well. A lot of bias and skewing of facts.

Am I the only person who thinks that she talks way too fast? I mean I feel exhausted just by trying to keep up listening and paying attention.

Stop the ads!

I wanted to hear about cats and dogs perception of time. Instead I got a woman in a sing song voice talking f about racial disparities.

I love the tidbits of information and the presenter does a good job. Commercials are an important part of podcasting and they are what keep these podcasts coming to us free of charge.However, with this one, it’s gotten to the point that it feels like commercials with a podcast break in between instead of the other way around.

Chuck has made it ABUNDANTLY clear that he doesn’t want ANYBODY that thinks differently than him to listen to any of the shows on the network, so I unsubscribed to the entire network. He’s so ignorant that he wants to exist only in an echo chamber of his own thoughts. It’s really sad and pathetic. Good thing there are over 330,000 other podcasts to listen to.

3 full minutes of adds in a 7 min podcast is too much. Like the content though.

I had to give this show up. To much liberal propaganda.

too many mistakes. the errors are forgiven up to a point. then i just can’t trust the info. i think you rushed too many times. and pronouncing the t in valet and the LL in guillotine as L instead of a Y sound, that is just lazy.

i gave it a good try. i listened to a few hundred episodes. but it never got better.

I love this information, it’s so short concise yet very informative.