Tell Me Something I Don't Know

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know is like the best dinner party you can imagine — except without the food. But it’s got all the sparkling conversation you can handle. In each episode, audience contestants get on stage and tell us something fascinating (or earth-shaking, or just plain weird) while a panel of three experts tries to sort out what’s worth knowing and what’s not.

(Photo: Lucy Sutton)

The panelists are drawn from an eclectic group of wise people — like Barnard College president Debora Spar; New York Public Library president Tony Marx; former White House economist Austan Goolsbee; the Jesuit writer and thinker James Martin; bioethicist Zeke Emanuel; former White House chef Sam Kass;  Microsoft researcher danah boyd; the heart surgeon and TV doctor Dr. Oz; poker champ Annie Duke; the linguist John McWhorter; the Grit author Angela Duckworth; and the happiness guru Gretchen Rubin.

(Photo: Lucy Sutton)

We also have plenty of comedians and humorists, including Keisha Zollar, Chris Gethard, Frank Delaney, Andy Zaltzman, and Hannibal Buress. And occasionally a globetrotting adventurer like author Simon Winchester.

It’s all hosted by Stephen J. Dubner, host of Freakonomics Radio, who is accompanied each night by a real-time human fact-checker to keep everyone (mostly) honest.

So please enjoy this amuse-bouche. And subscribe today so you don’t miss a single course. Our first full episode will be out on November 7th. Season 1 will run six episodes — and we’re already taping Season 2 in New York City (in December and January), so come be a contestant or get tickets to see the show. Also, follow TMSIDK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Food in the White House, why you can feel okay about drinking more, and a little mouth music. Our panel of smart people includes:

Zeke Emanuel, medical doctor and chief architect of the Affordable Care Act, who was once thrown in jail for not drinking.

Sam Kass, former White House chef, nutrition activist, and entrepreneur; recovering sugar addict.

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, host of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast; recovering lawyer.

Our Real-Time Human Fact-Checker is Sean Rameswaram, who produces podcasts for WNYC Studios, including Radiolab’s Supreme Court spinoff, More Perfect.

Off-Broadway actress, producer, and Guinness Record-holder Catherine Russell has played the same off-Broadway role for three decades. What’s more impressive than the play itself? She’s never called in sick.

Stephen Dubner and A.J. Jacobs are joined by Russell.

Join us in one of America’s oldest urban centers for a show about cities, including ruins, sewage and ghost towns. Our panelists are:

Ed Glaeser, Harvard economist and author of Triumph of the City, who doesn’t know when to quit.

Amy Glasmeier, professor of economic geography and regional planning at MIT and creator of the Living Wage Calculator, who loves to run as a write-in candidate.

Eugene Mirman, comedian and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers, who is kind of a big deal in Boston.

Our real-time fact-checker is Mike Maughan, head of global insights at Qualtrics.

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know  Season 2 is coming! We’re putting out 10 new episodes — as fresh and sparkling as the contestants and panelists — starting Feb. 19. The fascinating facts you love will be back, of course, with a few fun surprises each episode. For now, here’s something to whet your appetite.

Some of this season’s panelists: self-improvement guru Tim Ferriss, Hearst editor Joanna Coles, SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan, Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead, The Gist host Mike Pesca, MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte, author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, sports reporter Katie Nolan, NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith, Billions producer Brian Koppelman, investor and writer James Altucher and Thinx creator Miki Agrawal.

And we have comedians aplenty: Eugene Mirman, Maeve Higgins, Faith Salie, Tami Sagher, Hari Kondabolu, Tami Sagher, Aasif Mandvi, and a few surprises.

(Photo: Lucy Sutton)

Of course host Stephen J. Dubner (of Freakonomics Radio) is back, and accompanied each night by a real-time human fact-checker to keep everyone (mostly) honest.

So please enjoy this taster, and subscribe today so you don’t miss any of your future top-10 favorite podcast episodes. Our first full episode of Season 2 will be out on February 19, with a new episode each week for 10 weeks. And we’re already taping Season 3 in March and April in Washington, D.C, Boston, Chicago and our home New York City, so come be a contestant or get tickets to see the show. Also, follow TMSIDK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We’ve gathered amazing and surprising facts from the world of Collections. We’re not talking baseball cards and Beanie Babies—we’ve got: glucose, gamma rays, brainwaves, fake art and some very blue Russian. Our panelists:

Tim Ferriss, best-selling author and host of the Tim Ferriss Show, collects antique Japanese saddles for “special occasions.”

Anne Pasternak, director of the Brooklyn Museum, once collected a stomach full of cat food.

Eugene Mirman, comedian and voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers, collects small failures.

Our real-time fact-checker is A.J. Jacobs, host of Twice Removed, who has some holes in his encyclopedic knowledge.

From medieval times through the French Revolution, rosé ruled the wine world — and now it’s staging a comeback.

Stephen Dubner and A.J. Jacobs are joined by actress (and rosé fan) Miriam Shor and wine writer Katherine Cole.