Josh Clark

Like most inveterate readers, from childhood I read whatever I could lay my hands on. Not just fiction, I also read the back of cereal boxes, entire encyclopaedia volumes, trivia pursuit game cards, brochures, and my grandparents stash of Reader’s Digest magazines, among other things. This habit exposed me to a rather random selection of nonfiction topics, some of which piqued my interest more than others, and occasionally sent me ‘down a rabbit hole’, an indulgence that was show more considerably more difficult in the decades before the Internet (yes, I’m old). All of this preamble goes some way to explain my interest in Stuff You Should Know.

Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things originates from the popular podcast of the same name founded by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant in 2008. Admired for their enthusiasm and their sense of humour, the duo indulge their sense of curiosity delving into the weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected pieces of any given subject. The book contains new content, though there are often links to previous podcast episodes, so old fans and new readers alike should be satisfied.

It’s fair to say that not everyone will feel they need to know, or care, how Murphy Beds came to be, where the Scotland Yard Crime Museum is, or why Cyanide Pills are so popular among spies, but I found almost all of the random topics explored in Stuff You Should Know to be interesting (I couldn’t care less about Income Tax). Josh and Chuck explore a mix of history, psychology, cultural relevance and trivia germane to each specific subject, complemented with charts, graphs, illustrations and additional asides in a concise yet playful manner.

Whether you are a trivia buff, in need of new conversational topics, a game show hopeful (especially for The Price is Right), or just insatiably curious, Stuff You Should Know will both inform and entertain. show less

I found the book interesting, but not super engaging; the topics are scattershot (which can be fun, or can feel a little off balance) and the tone is very . . . well, as one might expect, given the source, the tone of the whole thing is very Dudes Who Have A Podcast. (Not in a negative way, just very identifiable. Funnily, because I don't actually listen to podcasts, and yet I had that feeling immediately.)

Some of the topics are silly, some serious, some painful or depressing to dig into, show more and of course there's no telling what you might come across with the next turn of the page - and that can be fun, if you're in the mood! show less

Love these guys but it really needed an editor. Their asides work on the podcast, but are a terrible thing to have in a book like this.

Just like an episode of SYSK without any ads or unrelated background conversations. This was kind of my dream.