Jackets! (Bonnie J. Heath Photography)

It was another busy week at HowStuffWorks, full of multiple podcast recording sessions, piles of research and more work on “How Frankenstein’s Monster Works” and “How Ghouls Work.” Ah, but I did not forget about you, dear Stuff to Blow Your Mind blog readers.  Here’s a quick run down of the episodes that published this week.

Splendid Isolation: Do you ever want to live alone in the desert, or does the prospect of an afternoon alone give you the chills? Either way, humans are an undeniably social animal and isolation can have a profound influence on our brains and overall health. In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and I wade into their respective isolation chambers to sort it all out.

The Science of Pet Peeves: Can science explain why other people’s phone calls are so intensely annoying? Or why Julie hates the smell of fake lavender and I fly into a rage when other drivers fail to signal a turn? Indeed, science has a theory or two and in this episode your hosts discuss why everything is the worst and what we can do to cope with it all.

Up next week: You’ll learn why the crowd doesn’t care about you, even if you happen to have your lucky underwear on.

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