Misconceptions

The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

Do members of congress get paid during government shutdowns? And do they get free health insurance? Let’s get to the bottom of some common myths.

Railroads played a big part in the Gilded Age.

This particular time in history proved that all that glittered was certainly not gold.

No one did it like The Bard, so it’s no surprise that some myths about him and his writing have seeped into our culture over time. Let’s debunk some of the biggest ones.

Aging might seem scary, but you probably don’t have all of the facts.

The idea that older people need less sleep is just one common misconception.

Get the facts straight about your favorite AI chatbots.

If you’ve ever caught yourself sympathizing with ChatGPT, you may have fallen for one of these common misconceptions about AI.

Both the Arctic and Antarctica are cold and icy, but that’s basically where the similarities end.

Hearing NFTs explained as “non-fungible tokens” only makes sense if you already know what ‘fungible’ means.

Time to get the facts straight on this fact of life.

Should you be worried about animal attacks when you’re menstruating?

There’s a lot people get wrong about the Central Intelligence Agency.

Yes, you can have a Facebook page and still join the CIA.

Misconception No. 4 : It snows a lot.

Don’t believe everything your parents taught you about navigating the kitchen.

The Oregon Trail had 4 to 10 percent death rate, which is lower than you might assume if you’ve played the computer game.

Leaving a phone to charge all day long? Probably best to avoid it.

Discover the truth behind some of the biggest smartphone battery myths, like whether charging your phone fully—or overnight—is actually as bad as some tech experts suggest.

Don't believe everything you've been told about lightning.

From the color of snow to the shape of rainbows, weather breeds a lot of misconceptions.

Gen Z isn’t as tech-savvy as you might assume.

Think members of Gen Z are lazy slacktivists? Think again.

Our closest evolutionary cousin, the chimpanzee.

‘Survival of the fittest’ is Darwin 101. But did you know that Charles Darwin didn’t actually coin that phrase? Let’s explore some common myths and misconceptions about evolution.

Stenciled human hands in a cave near Rio Pinturas, Argentina, dating from the last ice age.

We break down some common myths about our early human ancestors—and what makes our species, ‘Homo sapiens,’ so different from them.

'The Warm Hand' by Jean Francois Bosio, 1817.

When exactly was the Regency era, anyway? Find out that and more in this episode of Misconceptions.

Those famous white statues weren’t originally white—and that’s just one myth about Ancient Greece we’re covering in the latest episode of Misconceptions.