/tags/but-why But Why en-US ¿ªÔÆÌåÓý Fri, 21 Mar 2025 15:20:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-03-21/who-invented-tacos Do you love tacos? Then you’re not alone! Tacos originated in Mexico but they’re popular worldwide and they are ever evolving. Kids have a lot of questions about this favorite food so we visited Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas to learn more! Who made the first tacos? And where? What’s the deal with crispy shells vs. soft tortillas? Why do tacos have sauce? Why does corn come in so many different colors? And are there rules about what makes a taco…a taco? Fri, 21 Mar 2025 15:20:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-03-21/who-invented-tacos Jane Lindholm, Sarah Baik /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-02-21/are-tapeworms-sticky Fleas, lice, tapeworms and ticks - these are all examples of parasites, living organisms that live on or in a host species and need this other organism to complete their complex life cycles. Sounds bad, but parasites are essential to a healthy ecosystem! And our guest for this episode says they’re also fascinating and even beautiful. Parasite ecologist Chelsea L. Wood, author of Power to the Parasites, tackles all your parasitic questions in this episode! They include: Why are there worms in our stomachs? Why do fleas bite cats and dogs? Where did head lice come from? Why do lice make you itch? Why do ticks suck our blood? Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-02-21/are-tapeworms-sticky Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-02-07/why-do-trains-run-on-tracks How do trains work? We went to Union Station in Washington, DC to answer a whole wagonload of questions with Amtrak's Patrick Kidd.A few years ago, we left our studio in Vermont to hop on the Amtrak Acela train that runs multiple trips per day between Washington, DC, New York City and Boston. But don't worry; we got off before the train departed! It was so much fun, we wanted to bring you that journey again!Questions we're answering in this episode: How do trains work? What about electric trains? Steam trains? Bullet trains? Why do they have to go on tracks? How can trains go so fast even though they're so heavy? And why don’t trains have seat belts? Fri, 07 Feb 2025 15:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-02-07/why-do-trains-run-on-tracks Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-01-24/how-do-you-whistle How do people whistle? How does whistling make a sound? Why does your tongue change a whistle higher or lower? Can you get a trophy for whistling? Can people with laryngitis whistle? Get ready, we learn all about whistling with musician and champion whistler Emily Eagen and musician Yuki Takeda. And who whistles our theme song? We'll hear from musician Luke Reynolds, and a kid whistling chorus from our listeners! Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-01-24/how-do-you-whistle Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-01-10/are-wild-cats-afraid-of-water Are all cats afraid of water? Do wild cats bury their poop? How are the cats that live in your house related to lions and tigers roaming in the wild? We take a walk in the woods with wildlife biologist Emily Carollo. She works with a conservation and research organization called Panthera that’s dedicated to helping all 40 species of wild cats in the world. Why do cats live in different habitats? What do cats eat? Why do they chase mice? Why do cats' eyes glow in the dark? Why do some cats roar and some purr? Do cats have their own language? Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2025-01-10/are-wild-cats-afraid-of-water Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-12-27/what-would-your-superpower-be If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpower to be–and what would you call yourself? That’s what we asked kids for this special end-of-year episode, and we got some amazing answers! Some kids want to fly. Some want to go back in time. One wants to be able to draw everything perfectly the first time. And a surprising number of kids want a super ability to do math!Stories about humans with special abilities have been around for as long as humans have been telling stories. But the word superhero is only about 120 years old. The first known use of the word was in 1899, but the term became more mainstream in 1930s comic books and movies. Now, superheroes are all over the pages of books and both the small and big screen. Give this episode a listen and think about what YOUR superpower might be! Fri, 27 Dec 2024 14:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-12-27/what-would-your-superpower-be Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-12-13/who-decides-what-robots-look-like Who decides what robots look like? How do robots work and move? How are they controlled? And are robots alive? We tackle all your robot questions in this episode, and we’re taking a field trip to a local factory that uses hundreds of robots to help humans do their jobs. GlobalFoundries, in Essex Junction, Vermont makes microchips that go in all kinds of electronics. In fact, if your adults have a smartphone, more than likely it has a chip made at this very facility. Engineers Adrien Plouffe and Lucy White work with the robots at GlobalFoundries and answer your questions about robots, including: Why are robots made of metal? Why do people like robots? Do robots cry? Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-12-13/who-decides-what-robots-look-like Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-29/why-cant-animals-talk-to-us Why can’t animals talk to us? Are humans the only animals that can talk? Can different species of animals communicate with each other? We learn about animal communication with Arik Kershenbaum, author of Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication. He studies wolves, gibbons, dolphins and hyrax to learn how they communicate. Also in this episode: why are parrots able to speak human words but other birds can’t? Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:15:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-29/why-cant-animals-talk-to-us Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-15/how-does-food-turn-into-poop Why do we have to poop? Why does fiber make you poop? Why is poop brown? Why does it smell so bad? Why do farts smell bad, too? Yup, we’re going there! In this episode, Mary Roach, author of Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, answers your questions about those things that we’re told not to talk about in polite company: poop and farts. We learn how astronauts use the bathroom in space and how many germs are in one ounce of poop. Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:30:00 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-15/how-does-food-turn-into-poop Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-01/why-do-we-have-anxiety Why do we worry and how can we deal with it? Why do we get anxious? Where does anxiety come from? Anxiety or worry is a hard feeling to overcome, but it’s a universal human emotion. In this episode, we explore anxiety with clinical psychologist Eileen Kennedy-Moore, also known as Dr. Friendtastic. She helps us understand why moderate anxiety is useful and necessary. But too much worry can prevent you from learning new things or doing activities that could be fun. And she has some tips for how to overcome anxious feelings. Fri, 01 Nov 2024 17:04:40 GMT /podcast/but-why-a-podcast-for-curious-kids/2024-11-01/why-do-we-have-anxiety Jane Lindholm, Melody Bodette