Karen Chu

I'm a longtime listener of these four podcasters, and the book does a great job of capturing the feel of their show, "Good Job, Brain!" I can almost hear their voices as I read each person's contribution!! Just like their podcast, the book is a combination of quizzes and stories, all interesting.

What I like about their show, and the book, is how hard they work on format. The quizzes can challenge you by making you think about things in a different context.

A couple of my favorite examples:
The William Fakespeare quizzes... you know pop music, but would you recognize a song when transformed into Elizabethan English? "From the lad of alabaster visage, do I
Summon a performance of song, eccentric."

And so on!

My other favorite quiz is the recurring "Brad Pitt or Lasers?" It pits two unrelated things against each other to ask which came first... sometimes it's surprising, sometimes the time span is a lot less than you'd think... so, which is older, Brad Pitt, or lasers? Sesame Street or the Moon landing? LSD or Spam? :D

The quiz on diner lingo is pretty satisfying too! "Burn one, and drag it through the garden!"

The story segments are lifted from the most memorable moments of the podcast. My personal favorites include the Cold War CIA's "Project Acoustic Kitty," and also the misunderstood garbage ship that may have launched the 1980s recycling movement.

Seriously, if you like general knowledge, trivia, obscure stories, and being entertained, subscribe to the podcast! They used to have a new episode every week; it's a little more sporadic now, but always with the wait! And also check out the book!… (mehr)