NO SUCH THING

On today's episode, the boys discuss the many various goings on in AI music generation. Manny "creates" a few different versions of the NO SUCH THING theme song (that he actually produced without AI) using generative AI, and asks Noah and Devan to compare and contrast original songs with their AI cover counterparts. Finally, we hear from Charlie Harding, audio engineer and host of the Switched on Pop podcast, to learn just how much AI is being used in the music industry today, and where he sees it all heading in the future. Be sure to check the feed this Friday for Part 2 of this episode, whe

Today’s episode is all about Flock, the controversial nationwide network of artificial-intelligence roadside cameras. Drew Harwell, a tech reporter at The Washington Post, explains his reporting on cops using the technology as a tool for stalking and the victims and advocates fighting for change. Check out Drew’s reporting:  How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking Police departments weren’t looking for officers abusing Flock. We did it for them. Flock unveils changes after Post report on police misuse of vast camera network 404 Media has also don

On this week’s episode, we're revisiting one of our favorite questions: Are suburban dogs happier than city dogs? To find out, we spoke with one of the leading dog cognition experts, Alexandra Horowitz. She heads the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard and is the author of Inside of a Dog. We'll be back next week with a new episode. The credit song is Big Dog by Maurice featuring Kenny Ning and Certain Self, who also provided additional music for this episode. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or lea

In a special live-taped episode, the boys discuss Manny's new book "Colored People Time: A Case for (Casual) Rebellion, a collection of humorous essays about the way time wraps itself around all of our lives. If you like this podcast, you'll love this book, and buying it will mean that Manny can finally pay back Devan and Noah in approximately $7 million in sports betting debt. Buy Manny's book here. For more, subscribe to our newsletter. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva

NO SUCH THING is looking for questions for an upcoming LAUNDRY MAILBAG. Leave us a voicemail by calling (860) 325-0286 or email us at [email protected] We're taking a quick break for August to work on upcoming episodes, so this week we're sharing an episode of Smart Girl Dumb Questions. The show is hosted by our friend Nayeema Raza, who listeners might remember from episode #60: Is recycling a complete scam? This episode is a lot of fun, we hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Nayeema sits down with evolutionary biologist Dr. Justin Garcia, Director of the world-famous Kinsey Institut

This week, we present a remixed and remastered version of our third ever episode. Do you think you’d be able to successfully land a plane, with no prior pilot experience and relying only on air traffic control assistance? A YouGov survey found 13% of people are “very confident” that they could. In this episode, we explore why some people (like Manny) are prone to overconfidence, with help from social psychologist and professor David Dunning. And then, the boys take a trip to the Manhattan Flight Club to play around with a flight simulator. Stream Nothing Ever Happens by Darry Rahn  For more,

This week, we unpack the moral chaos of air travel. When flying, is it ever acceptable to recline your seat and claim those precious extra inches of space? Is there an ethical argument for reclining? Ergonomically, what is the most comfortable position? Why do we act like completely different people when we’re up in the air? And is this all a distraction from the real villains, greedy airlines?  Our guest this week is Joshua Rothman, staff writer at The New Yorker.  Read Josh’s New Yorker column: Should you recline your airplane seat? Travel + Leisure: Then vs. Now: The Evolution of Airfa

For this edition of Devan Design Week, Devan Design Week II, we're going deep on bathrooms. We'll explore why hotels are getting rid of bathroom doors and walls, the movement to Bring Back Doors, whether bathroom sensors are actually racist, and if they're better for the environment and cleaner. Finally, we'll rank our favorite and least favorite bathroom locks. Our guests this week are: Sadie from Bring Back Doors Katie Deighton from The Wall Street Journal, who reported on hotels removing bathroom doors earlier this year Charlotte Gartenberg from the upcoming podcast Welcome to

This week, we unpack what makes a generation. From the Silent Generation to the Zoomers and beyond, are these groupings only useful to stir up competition and resentment? How did Gen Z become more conservative, more pessimistic AND more empathetic than their predecessors? We also explore recent research on a troubling trend of declining IQ scores. Does this back up an argument that millennials are the group most well-equipped for life in the modern age?  Our guests this week are researcher Elizabeth M. Dworak from Northwestern University and Jean M. Twenge PhD, author of Generations: The Real

This week, we're presenting a remastered version of our VERY FIRST EPISODE. Take a walk down NST memory lane, or visit for the first time, and stick around until the end to hear a quick conversation looking back on one of our earliest arguments. What began as an innocent debate soon devolved into accusations of deception and trickery. Is it misleading to say you read a book if, in actuality, you listened to it as an audiobook? And do you absorb information the same way when listening compared to reading? With some help from Dr. Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Associate Professor at University of Nor

It's the World Cup episode. Manny, Noah, and Devan, are joined by two of the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast — Stefan Szymanski and Ashish Malhotra — to discuss the overlap between Soccer, economics, and culture. Is soccer a form of human trafficking? What's the real reason why the English hate the word soccer? Why does the US men's soccer team struggle, historically? All of that and more.  Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-

On today’s episode, a special collaboration with Kate Lindsay from ICYMI, we discuss how payment apps like Venmo have changed our relationship with money. We talk through how to navigate different money situations with friends and answer your money etiquette questions. Our guests this week are: Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute and co-host of the Awesome Etiquette Podcast and Emily Post's Wedding Stories podcast. Beth Pinsker, a columnist at MarketWatch, Certified Financial Planner, and author of My Mother's Money. Listen to ICYMI with Kate Lindsay. Check out Kate’

On today’s episode, we dive into the health effects of diet sodas like Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and Diet Pepsi. Trump has said that Diet Coke actually kills cancer, while other studies have linked these drinks to dementia and one of their artificial sweeteners, aspartame, to cancer. Noah also takes on the Fat Joe challenge, attempting to drink 30–40 Diet Pepsis in a single day. Our guests this week are: Michael Easter, diet soda head, journalist, and creator of the Two Percent podcast and newsletter. Adam Chandler, food columnist at The Wall Street Journal. Giles Yeo, author of Why Calories

You can hardly go for a drive, take a walk in the neighborhood, or turn on a television without being bombarded by ridiculous ads for personal injury lawyers. Are these flamboyant characters legitimate legal representation or scammers? This week, we find out how personal injury firms work, why they advertise so heavily, and how to discern a legit lawyer from a scammy "settlement mill" looking for a quick pay-day.  Our guests this week are personal injury lawyer John Morgan (Morgan & Morgan), Stanford legal scholar Nora Freeman Engstrom and journalist Jose Martinez from The City Reporter.  Re

On today's episode, Manny asks whether Noah and Devan want kids, as a part of a conversation about the declining birth rate around the world. They hear from Anna Louie Sussman, author of the upcoming book "Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty," about what's actually causing the birth rate to decline, and then Manny has a heartfelt conversation with writer (and fellow dad) Derek Thompson. Preorder Anna's book here, and check out Derek's Substack here. Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show. Have a question you

Today’s episode was inspired by a question from a listener who goes by Santa: What’s the deal with First Amendment auditors? We trace the history of people who film the police, from the Black Panther Party to Berkeley Copwatch and the rise of auditor culture on YouTube. We also explore the methods and influence of some of the movement’s biggest creators, from Philip Turner (The Battousai) to Jeff Gray of HonorYourOath Civil Rights Investigations and Christopher Ruff (Direct D). Our guests are Robert Klemko, an investigative journalist at ESPN who previously reported on auditors and cop watche

On today's episode of NO SUCH THING, we’re talking about so-called “Super Agers,” the term used to describe people who are at least 80 years old, but are still sharp as a tack. Maury Povich. Joy Behar. Anthony Fauci. Bernie Sanders. Martha Stewart. There are a ton of octogenarians who are cognitively impressive. Of course, there are many who… aren’t. What differentiates these two groups? A groundbreaking new study endeavors to answer that question, and in today’s episode, we talked to one of the study’s authors, and to one of the super-agers in question. Check out our newsletter here. Have

New data shows that less than half of American newborn boys are circumcised, a major decrease from around 90% in the 1960s. But how and why did circumcision become so common here in the United States? This week, we speak to an epidemiologist, a sociologist, and an anti-circumcision “intactivist” to explore the origins of the procedure, its health impacts, and why attitudes around it are changing.  Our guests this week are Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Dr. Kate Grabowski, Vanderbilt University associate professor of sociology Laura Carpenter, and Intact America founding executive Georganne Chap

On today’s episode, we’re tackling a question from a listener named Joel: Why do singers lose their accents when they sing? Our guest this week is New Yorker writer Kelefa Sanneh. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore identity in country music, why Taylor Swift stopped singing with a twang, how Drake changed the way people think about authenticity in hip-hop, and why Adele and Harry Styles don’t sound British when they sing. Want to hear all the music from this episode? Check out our newsletter for a playlist. Check out Kelefa’s book Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven

This week’s topic came from a listener who asked if micromanaging is a more productive work-style than a more “free range” approach. We talk about our own work experiences, and answer a few other miscellaneous work questions about performance improvement plans (“PIPs”), handling an incompetent boss, office odors, and more. Our guest this week is Erik Baker, historian at Harvard, editor at The Drift, and author of Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America, who walks us through the history of the corporate work structure and evolution of management styles.  Check

Growing up, we were told to always recycle plastic to save the planet. But does recycling actually do anything? In this special two-part investigation, we explore the history of recycling, the rise of “disposable” plastics, and find out how effective recycling actually is.  In part one (with the help of Nayeema Raza, host of  Smart Girl Dumb Questions), we hear from Davis Allen, PhD, Senior Investigative Researcher at the Center for Climate Integrity, who alleges that plastic recycling is a deceptive story engineered by fossil fuel and petrochemical companies to make us feel guilty for using

Growing up, we were told to always recycle plastic to save the planet. But does recycling actually do anything? In this special two-part investigation, we explore the history of recycling, the rise of “disposable” plastics, and find out how effective recycling actually is.  In part one (with the help of Nayeema Raza, host of  Smart Girl Dumb Questions), we hear from Davis Allen, PhD, Senior Investigative Researcher at the Center for Climate Integrity, who alleges that plastic recycling is a deceptive story engineered by fossil fuel and petrochemical companies to make us feel guilty for using

Are we in the midst of a reading crisis? News outlets are constantly reporting on the death of reading. School test scores by measures like the “Nation’s Report Card” say math and literacy levels are down to their lowest rates since the early 1990s. Schools aren’t even assigning full books in class anymore. We talk to children’s book author Jason Reynolds, an active teacher in Chicago public schools, and a professor who’s looked into the actual research and says the literacy crisis doesn’t even exist.  Our guests this week are author Jason Reynolds (buy his new book Soundtrack here), professo

On today's episode of NO SUCH THING, Manny, Noah, and Devan, jump into the mailbag. Should you keep your eggs in the fridge? Why do some people sneeze so loudly? Where did we get the 24 hour day from? Why and how does medicine expire? And what's the traditional jelly in a PB&J: grape or strawberry? ICYMI: Manny wrote a book and you can check it out here! It's called Colored People Time: A Case for (Casual) Rebellion, and it's a collection of essays about the ways that time wraps itself around our most personal moments. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected]

This week we’re answering a question from a listener named Emma: What do those smiley-face customer-satisfaction buttons you see in airport bathrooms actually do?  We track down the Finland-based company behind them, HappyOrNot, and uncover a hidden world of analytics, cameras, and AI.  Our guest this week is Scott Erickson, HappyOrNot’s VP of US Sales and Global Channels. For links to research and more, check out our newsletter. Like this episode? Check out Is your phone listening to you ... and should you care? DEV-ITORS NOTE: After the interview, HappyOrNot clarified that cameras are st

Manny wrote a book and you can check it out here! It's called Colored People Time: A Case for (Casual) Rebellion, and it's a collection of essays about the ways that time wraps itself around our most personal moments. If you're around NYC, the boys will be discussing the book in a live event on March 29th, order tickets here. Now, on today's episode, Manny, Noah, and Devan discuss the sports betting takeover happening in the United States and around the world, and are joined by Danny Funt, the author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling. They also debate whether

We know Benjamin Franklin as a founding father, crucial in the establishment of the United States, discoverer of electricity, kooky writer of almanacs, and inventor of much, much more. But is it possible that good old Benny is actually a complete scammer? We investigate a conspiracy theory that Mr. $100 is not all he’s cracked up to be.  Our guest this week is Claire Aubin, historian and host of This Guy Sucked, with a special thanks to our instigating debaters Kelsey and Rich.  Buy Manny's Book, Colored People Time, and see NO SUCH THING in conversation about the book on March 29 in NYC. F

On today’s episode, we tackle a question we’ve all wondered: Are dentists scamming us? We dive into the dark history of dentistry, find out why dental insurance sucks, hear from someone who uncovered a dentist drilling teeth for profit, and talk to a startup founder who’s looking to upend the whole industry.  Lilly Kaplan — licensed therapist and Reality Test newsletter author — sits in for Manny this week. Listen to: Do you need therapy? (ft. Lilly)  Our guests this week are:  AJ Jacobs, journalist and New York Times bestseller.  Dr. Sarah Stuefen, general dentist in Iowa and spokesper

On this week's episode, the boys chat with Chris and Lizzie, the hosts of the What Went Wrong podcast about why Hollywood produces so many "twin films," movies that have very similar concepts and that release within a year of each other. They also debate whether A Bug's Life or ANTZ is the better movie, and talk through some controversial Hollywood development rumors. For links to research and more, check out our newsletter.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

Why is it such a hassle to deal with internet service providers? Spotty service, hidden price increases, and only one company servicing my neighborhood. Am I up against a local monopoly? And what’s the deal with 5G home internet? I’ve been battling my ISP for years, and it’s time to find some answers. Our guest this week is Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Business Insider. Also featuring guest co-host Rachel Askenazi, journalist and founder of Throwing Spaghetti Media.  For links to research and more, check out our newsletter.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mann

Is AI actually coming for your job? This week, we take a peek under the hood of autonomous AI tools. What they do well, where they still fall short, and how much we can expect them to improve in the future. Investigative reporter and Shell Game host Evan Ratliff joins us alongside AI researcher and Shell Game technical advisor Maty Bohacek to break it all down. Listen to Shell Game >>  Check out our newsletter and follow us on Instagram. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.com/listener for privac

What happens to our brains and bodies after a breakup? Semafor media reporter and Mixed Signals co-host Max Tani joins the pod to unpack “Divorced Guy Energy,” from Justin Trudeau and Kanye West to Breaking Bad’s Walter White — and what psychology and sociology say about how men change after divorce. Our guests this week are psychologist and YouTuber Maika Steinborn and sociologist Jessica Calarco, author of Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net, we dig into the science, sociology, and cultural forces behind divorce, masculinity, and midlife reinvention. The Cut: The Most

This week, Kate Lindsay—ICYMI host, Embedded author, and proud cat lover—sits in for Manny, and we go deep on everything you’ve ever wanted to know about cats. Our expert this week is Dr. Mikel Delgado, a cat behaviorist, scientist, and author of Play With Your Cat! Listen to: • Are suburban dogs happier than city dogs? • Why can’t adults order from the kids’ menu? For pics of Kate’s very cute cats, check out our newsletter — and follow us on Instagram for video clips and behind-the-scenes moments. Have a question you want us to answer or have feedback for the show? Email us at mannynoahd

Why are there so many celebrity clone conspiracy theories? Is there really a Melania Trump body double? Have scientists actually tried to clone humans? And, how does cloning actually work? We hear from an alleged clone himself, and talk to a biosciences expert to find out how feasible these theories actually are. This week features Chelsey Weber-Smith, whose show American Hysteria covers all sorts of strange hoaxes, moral panics, and odd misunderstandings. Also featuring Hank T. Greely, director of Stanford University’s Center for Law and the Biosciences.  For links to research and more, ch

We’ll be back next week. In the meantime, check out the first episode of a show we’re super excited about. Listen to Mind Games Check out our newsletter. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's episode, Manny, Noah, and Devan chat about the use of humor in politics. Using Gavin Newsom's recent mocking of Donald Trump as a jumping off point, the boys assess how effective humor can be as a political strategy. They hear from humor historian Mark Rolfe, of the University of New South Wales in Australia, and then Manny talks to Mike Birbiglia, host of the Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out podcast, to get thoughts from an actual comedian. Be sure to check our website for more about each episode, and if you have a question you'd like us to answer, email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.

2025 is coming to a close, which means it’s time for our second annual end-of-year wrap-up. Here are our favorite music, movies, TV shows, and NST moments of the year. Head to nosuchthing.show where you’ll find links to everything we reference in this episode, along with an NST-curated playlist in Devan–Noah–Manny order. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we're throwing a NST classic back in your feed. This time remastered. What if this ONE thing we’ve always been told about horses isn’t true at all? What if it’s a lie we’ve told ourselves so that we can enjoy our horseback riding vacations and Kentucky Derbies without guilt? To answer this question we speak with Ren Hurst, a former professional horse trainer and author of “The Wisdom of Wilderness.” And we venture to New Jersey to spend some time with horses at the Bergen County Horse Rescue. The end credits music is "I’ve Always Been the First (to Say I Love you)" by Certain Self.

This week, the boys grapple with the big questions: Is there a God? What happens after you die? Does bowling make you happier than Catholic Mass? We speak to a researcher who’s studied health outcomes of faith-based practices to find out if religious people are happier than others, and what it means for worldwide wellbeing when religiosity is on the decline overall.  Our guests this week are Dr. Harold G. Koenig, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University, and Rabbi Jason Klein of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.  For more, check out our newsletter. Have a question y

On today's episode of NO SUCH THING, it's the NST Hotline. Listeners have called in to the show asking for advice, and the boys hand out some sage wisdom. Is it bad to send B-list wedding invites? Should you side with your family or your spouse in a conflict? Is it okay to store things in the hallway outside of your apartment? That, and more, followed by the NST Holiday Gift Guide for 2025. For more, check out our newsletter. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information

Welcome to Devan Design Week, a one-episode celebration of the stuff Devan cannot stand the design of. From Tesla’s confusing door handles, to microwaves with too many buttons, and sad modern couches. Our guests this week are: WIRED’s Aarian Marshall, Kill Switch host and part-time microwave engineer Dexter Thomas, and design expert and Snake newsletter writer Sami Reiss. We reached out to Tesla about the claims that its electronic door handles are dangerous, but we haven't heard back. Head over to nosuchthing.show to see some of the visuals from this episode and follow us on Instagram. Have

Why do men have so much trouble finding everyday items in their own homes? It’s a common sitcom trope, but is there actually something to it. This week, for the sake of the women in our lives, we dig into the research to find out if “male refrigerator blindness” is real, explore if it dates all the way back to our hunter-gatherer roots, and find out what we can do about it.  Our guest this week is Dr. Albert Postma, leader of the Memory & Space Lab at Utrecht University. For more, check out our newsletter. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave

Nearly half of homicide cases go unsolved in the US, and in today's episode, the boys try and get to the bottom of why that is. Joining NO SUCH THING this week are criminologist Dr. Brian Forst and homicide detective Chris McDonough. After learning about the importance of "community policing," Manny makes Noah and Devan concoct plans to whack each other, and presents said plans to the detective to see if they might get away with it. For more, check out our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail

By popular demand, we answered all of your laundry questions: Do you really need to separate lights from darks? How much detergent should you use? Are front-loading machines better than top-loading? What do dry cleaners actually do? And much, much more.  Our guest this week is Patric Richardson, author of Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore. For more, check out our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this week’s episode, we collaborated with Ryan Broderick and Grant Irving from Panic World to go deep on three middle school rumors. We’ll investigate the false rumor that Ciara announced she was intersex, the “jenkem” panic of the 90s, and the rumor that Marilyn Manson had a rib removed so that he could…you know.   Listen to Panic World and subscribe to Garbage Day. Head over to nosuchthing.show to see some of the visuals from this episode and follow us on Instagram. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286. See

For this episode, we make our way back into the bathroom as we go deep on showering. How often should you actually shower? What’s the proper way to do it? Do you actually need to wash your legs every time? How long should your shower last? Should you be using a loofah — or are they actually bad for you? Our guests this week are Katherine Ashenberg, author of The Dirty on Clean: An Unsanitized History and board-certified dermatologist Dr. Lisa Akintilo. For more, check out our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.  Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected]

On today's episode, we're putting on our true crime hats to get to the bottom of what happens to properties after high-profile murders occur inside of them. We talk to journalist Catherine Fenollosa, who shared with us her interview with Randall Bell, A.K.A. the “Master of Disaster.” For decades, it’s been Randall’s job to manage and help sell the property where these kind of tragedies happen. From Nicole Brown Simpson’s condo, to the “Heaven’s Gate” mansion, to the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Randall has seen it all, and shared some incredible insights into this kind of work. This episode wa

So everyone knows Taylor Swift is one of the most popular musicians of all time, but how does she stack up to giants of the past like Michael Jackson and The Beatles? No matter how many reports of new chart records, we can’t shake the feeling that someone like MJ just had a larger cultural impact worldwide. This week, we crunch the numbers to see the true size of the Swiftdom we live in. Our guest this week is Chris Dalla Riva, author of Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. For more, check out our newsletter and follow us on Instagram.  Have a

Hey, folks. This week, NO SUCH THING is hosting Origin Stories, a new podcast from Campside Media. Each week, veteran journalist Matthew Shaer talks to a different writer or director about the creation of a work close to their own hearts, and this episode is the perfect example. Palestinian filmmaker Yousef Srouji is the creator of the critically-acclaimed documentary "Three Promises," which uses his mother’s old home video footage to tell an intimate story of life during the Second Intifada. Srouji talks to Matthew about coming to documentary film as a newbie and learning the tools of the tra

This week, we’re asking: what do you do when your favorite artist becomes a self-proclaimed N*zi? And we dive into the new documentary In Whose Name?, which claims to show Kanye in a new light.  Don't forget to cast your votes for the Signal Awards. We've been nominated for: Best Buddy Podcast and Activism, Public Service, & Social Impact for our episode about Online Pedophile Hunters.  Follow us on Instagram and sign up for our newsletter at nosuchthing.show. Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 See omnystudio.co