Unschooling with Kai: Recent Episodes
Kai and Dan
After many car rides filled with episodes of the Stuff You Should Know podcast with the famous Chuck and Josh, Kai said, "Hey, we should make our own podcast!" Being fresh unschoolers ourselves, we decided to dive right in and start exploring topics of Kai's interest. Each episode is a different interest of Kai's. We figure out what we already know, research and answer our questions using the library, YouTube, museums, and the internet. Then we organize our findings and present them to you! Feel free to contact us at unschoolingwithkai@gmail.com with any feedback or episode suggestions.
Listen in about some of the physics behind what makes the back of the bus bumpier. We talk about the wheelbase, the bounce amplification, and the suspension. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
What’s the deal with those little black plastic tire valve caps? Do they actually hold air in the tires? Do you even need them? Find out in this episode of Unschooling With Kai!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
After just having witnessed the recent solar eclipse, we started talking about speed and distance and this question popped up. Join us as we jump into some updates from previous episodes and then break down the distances of a light second, light hour, light day, and light year.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
When should you use a brush versus a comb? Does it depend on your hair type? Listen in while we try to get this tangle of an episode all straightened out. 🤭--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
We talk about wax sealing and get a little into the history, the significance of certain wax colors, and the possibility of counterfeiting wax seals. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
The short answer? No. And Yes. Tricky, huh? Guess you’ll have to listen to the episode to learn more about the ootheca, the mantid life cycle, and some unrelated updates on pathogens, antigens, and black holes!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
We dive into an interesting discussion about the immune system’s role in collateral damage (AKA pain) to our body. We highly recommend you check out Philip Dettmer’s book called Immune or the Kurzgesagt channel to dig deeper into our body’s immune system.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
We talk about horse and donkey offspring and what genetically stops them from reproducing!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
How about that question? Is it a mouthful? Well the science behind it is not as complicated! Join us on another episode of Unschooling with Kai!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
Are you an older person without knee pain? Or a young person with knee pain without a history of injury or other explanation? Let us know at unschoolingwithkai@gmail.com !!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
Today we talk about Ebenezer Scrooge’s exclamation in Charles Dicken’s 1843 book A Christmas Carol. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
We talk all things video game size from some of the largest Steam games to some of the smallest Nintendo games. We also explain kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
Welcome to Season Five of Unschooling with Kai! This is our first question we’re answering in this new format. Let us know what you think! Also, feel free to share any questions you want answered at unschoolingwithkai@gmail.com. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
We talk about MWDs and the Gear they use, their History, Rehabilitation after service, and some Dog Tales. Also, we have a big announcement at the end!!
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This episode we dive into the Military Working Dogs and figure out what they can do, what kind of dogs they are, which forces uses them, and what their specific training is. Stay tuned for part two!--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unschoolingwithkai/message
In the this second Amtrak episode, we talk about: what it’s like to ride on an Amtrak train, specific train equipment, the future of Amtrak, and our own personal experience. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unschoolingwithkai/message
It’s been awhile but we’re back with a short but sweet episode on Amtrak. We talk about what it is, what routes they have, and some of the difficult history. Enjoy!--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/unschoolingwithkai/message
The end of this series includes some discussion on the science of the sonic boom. We also get into the secret Bell X-1 flight in 1947 and the Thrust SSC ride 50 years later. Enjoy!
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We’ve arrived at season 4 of Unschooling with Kai and decided to kick it off with Sonic Booms! Here we explain what they are, how they happen, and give some everyday and some not-so-everyday examples. Enjoy!
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This is our last episode in the bee series and possibly the last in this season. We talk about queens and their brood, bee communication, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and bee swarms. Enjoy! … Cover photo provided by: Melanie Mason. Melanie is an unschooling mom of two living in West Chester Ohio. She is a musician by trade, and teaches violin & viola private lessons in addition to playing viola professionally in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Just within this past year, Melanie has become fascinated with macro photography and has been taking pictures with her Olympus camera since Christmas. Prior to that time, she was taking pictures with a macro lens on her iPhone 12, which she actually bought to share the joy of looking at insects with her kids! She, however, quickly realized her passion for the art of macro photography, and the rest is history! You can find her on Instagram under her account: melaniemason. Prints of her work can be purchased on her website: https://melaniemasonmacro.myshopify.com/
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In this third installment, we talk about that various things that bees produce. Then we discuss the various facets of domestication and human intervention including migratory beekeeping and (gasp) killer bees! …Cover photo provided by: Melanie Mason. Melanie is an unschooling mom of two living in West Chester Ohio. She is a musician by trade, and teaches violin & viola private lessons in addition to playing viola professionally in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Just within this past year, Melanie has become fascinated with macro photography and has been taking pictures with her Olympus camera since Christmas. Prior to that time, she was taking pictures with a macro lens on her iPhone 12, which she actually bought to share the joy of looking at insects with her kids! She, however, quickly realized her passion for the art of macro photography, and the rest is history! You can find her on Instagram under her account: melaniemason. Prints of her work can be purchased on her website: https://melaniemasonmacro.myshopify.com/
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In this episode we discuss the various jobs a bee cycles through in their lifetime and then get deep into foraging and pollination! Video of vibrating bumblebee: https://youtu.be/SZrTndD1H10 **** The cover art (for this episode and the rest in the bee series) was provided by Melanie Mason. Melanie is an unschooling mom of two living in West Chester Ohio. She is a musician by trade, and teaches violin & viola private lessons in addition to playing viola professionally in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Just within this past year, Melanie has become fascinated with macro photography and has been taking pictures with her Olympus camera since Christmas. Prior to that time, she was taking pictures with a macro lens on her iPhone 12, which she actually bought to share the joy of looking at insects with her kids! She, however, quickly realized her passion for the art of macro photography, and the rest is history! You can find her on Instagram under her account: melaniemason. Prints of her work can be purchased on her website: https://melaniemasonmacro.myshopify.com/
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Wow it’s been a while since our last episode, but we’re back with Bees! We discuss some bee basics, and then talk about some of their history, and cover “wintering.” This is definitely just the first in a longer bee series. Videos: mesopredators - https://youtu.be/G4K2oBhewFA … drone eviction - https://youtu.be/3gQTtudYUiQ Link: Bee Swarm Simulator on Roblox - https://www.roblox.com/games/1537690962/Bee-Swarm-Simulator **** The cover art (for this episode and the rest in the bee series) was provided by Melanie Mason. Melanie is an unschooling mom of two living in West Chester Ohio. She is a musician by trade, and teaches violin & viola private lessons in addition to playing viola professionally in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Just within this past year, Melanie has become fascinated with macro photography and has been taking pictures with her Olympus camera since Christmas. Prior to that time, she was taking pictures with a macro lens on her iPhone 12, which she actually bought to share the joy of looking at insects with her kids! She, however, quickly realized her passion for the art of macro photography, and the rest is history! You can find her on Instagram under her account: melaniemason. Prints of her work can be purchased on her website: https://melaniemasonmacro.myshopify.com/
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In this second part of the immune system, we cover Murder University (the thymus), Gut Microbiome, Coronavirus and Vaccines, and finally Bacteriophages. Enjoy! Also, check out the Kurzgesagt videos we reference throughout The Immune System Minicasts: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFs4vir_WsTyY31efyHdmtp9l7DpR0Wvi
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In this episode, we tackle our love for Kurzgesagt and their accessible explanations of the complicated immune system. We cover the innate and adaptive systems and what all of their cells and proteins do to protect our bodies! Check out the Kurzgesagt videos on the immune system in their Medicine & Biology Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFs4vir_WsTyY31efyHdmtp9l7DpR0Wvi
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We talk about Kai’s favorite ants: the Weaver Ants and get into some specifics of Nests and Queens, Battle and Defenses, and Food and Drink. Enjoy! Also, here is the must-see video on how ants stick to surfaces: https://youtu.be/hd5upt3IrWM
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We talk about Kai’s second favorite (and currently Dan’s favorite) type of ants: the Marauder Ants. We discuss their species as well as their extreme Polymorphism, Trails & Food, and Raids & Fighting. Enjoy!
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We talk about Kai’s 3rd favorite kind of ant—the Army Ant! We specifically describe their bivouacs, raids, and their queens/reproduction. Enjoy!!
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We talk about how ants communicate, about queens and reproduction, and about polymorphism (Kai’s favorite!). Hope you enjoy this episode!
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For this episode and next well cover some general (yet still quite interesting) facts that pertain to the majority of ant species. In this episode we cover What Are Ants, Body Parts, and some Special Ants and their interesting abilities/sizes.
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Wow, dive even deeper into black holes and talk about gravity, spacetime, and then Hawking Radiation and other quantum weirdness. Phew! Check out the following videos as recommended in this episode: Kurzgesagt Dinosaurs https://youtu.be/xaQJbozY_Is … VSauce Brachistochrome https://youtu.be/skvnj67YGmw … Kurzgesagt Information Paradox https://youtu.be/yWO-cvGETRQ
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We dive deeper into black holes and discuss Andromeda’s central black hole, how light works, the picture of M87’s central black hole, as well as the biggest and smallest black holes. Stay tuned for the the third and final episode in this series!
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We get our feet wet in this first installment of Black Holes discussing the first observed black hole, the formation of black holes, and the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Check out our inspiration here: https://youtu.be/0FH9cgRhQ-k
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We continue to discuss sauropods and in this episode we hit on their diet, why they got so big, their reproduction and young, as well as detailing a handful of the record-holders. See these Kurzgesagt videos for help understanding the size of life: https://youtu.be/f7KSfjv4Oq0 and https://youtu.be/MUWUHf-rzks
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We intro sauropods—the biggest land animals to have ever lived. We talk about their classification, their general physical characteristics, and then place them in the larger picture of the Mesozoic era. For clarity, we recommend you look up the “archosaur clade” in an online image search!
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We kick off Season 3 with ninja! What are they and what do they do? Are they still around? How were they trained? What weapons did they use? And were did they come from? We answer all of these questions and also give a quick summary of unschooling as well as our process for learning about each topic.
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We compare and contrast the three largest US military cargo airplanes including the C-5 Galaxy, the C-17 Globemaster III, and the C-130 Hercules. Then we geek-out over the C-5, it’s sheer size, and all of the interesting facts we know about it. Check out our recommended videos on aerial refueling (https://youtu.be/r-s9ajt4aE8), kneeling (https://youtu.be/EqZUVtKzjtc), and backing up (https://youtu.be/PkCYCtIz33o). Finally, here is Kai posing in front of our C-17 Globemaster III chalk drawing (https://readingrecipe.blogspot.com/p/podcast-resources.html).
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We briefly jump between dholes, jackals, dingoes, and African wild dogs giving fun facts on each one. One of these dogs even pees upside down! Here’s the video we mention of jackals masking their own scent: https://youtu.be/AhEdKY4ujjg
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Coyotes: not quite the hopeless cartoon character nor the disease-ridden dog we’ve imagined. In fact, they’re rather well-adapted to the ever-changing environment.
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We cover some of the cool facts and trivia concerning Grey Foxes, Arctic Foxes, Fennec Foxes, and Bat-eared Foxes. The “Kurzgesagt” video Kai mentioned is here: https://youtu.be/MUWUHf-rzks
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We give a general discussion of foxes and their behavior and then specifically dive into Red Foxes. We’ll continue with other fox species next episode. Also, check out two videos we recommend from Save A Fox to see some “gekkering.” - (on Facebook) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2127936207336098&id=376054892842542 and (on YouTube) https://youtu.be/3Pu12roK7Rc
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We continue to explore wolves in this episode. We talk about: characteristics / abilities, the pack / hunting, and the den and pups. Enjoy!
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We are joined again by Ananya (our guest from the Wild Cats series) as we discuss the oldest and largest members of the dog family: wolves.
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MH370 is still an unsolved mystery that may never be solved. Our interest was piqued from the start.
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We get down and dirty about the “clean” Tsar Bomba that the USSR tested on their own land. It was the biggest nuclear bomb ever!
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We talk all about the felinae subgroup of cats especially the ones in the BBC documentary Big Cats as well as our favorites. We obviously won’t be able to cover all 33 cats in the subgroup!
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We get down and dirty in our discussion of the “panthera” subfamily of cats—those that can roar!
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We talk about what makes an animal a mammal, and then zero in more closely on “felids” explaining their physical and behavioral characteristics.
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We introduce the topic of wild cats, talk about the category and have fun with some trivia with a special guest. Join us!
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We discuss plane launching from US aircraft carriers as well as the island, bridge, and strike group. Then, we discuss our favorite part: combat and war games!
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We talk all about aircraft carriers including a little history, a country comparison, and the inner workings of a US aircraft carrier!
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We delve into the science and history behind evolution and talk about some of nature’s oddities.
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We get a little more in depth about Japan in this episode. We talk about Japanese culture in the home, transportation and technology, leisure and tourism, interesting animals, and the Japanese military.
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We talk in depth about what Kai and I know and have learned about Japan. Also, check out our video we filmed of our first spotted tardigrades!! https://youtu.be/73qwLz6Y1J4
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We get down and dirty in the explanation of the Delta Force section of US Special Ops!
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We explore what skateboarding is, how you do it, when and where you can do it, and talk a little about Kai’s skateboarding.
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We talk about all that we have learned about Tardigrades!
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