ELI5 Explain Like I'm 5: Bite sized answers to stuff you should know about - in a mini podcast

Short explanations of everyday topics in simple, accessible terms AI summary

ELI5 Explain Like I'm Five Podcast Visit website › Science · EN · 365 episodes · latest 2026-10-28

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What it is about

Explain Like I'm Five, aka ELI5, is the mini-podcast series where we take the questions you always wanted to ask, and talk about them in a way that is easy to understand. Made possible by the amazing reddit community at r/explainlikeimfive. See episode show notes for user credits.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
Eli5thepodcast

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Latest episodes

ELI5 Daylight Savings Time - who thought it was a good idea?

2026-10-28 · 9 min

Why do we still change clocks to Daylight Savings Time when so many people dislike it? Who came up with the idea in the first place? Why is there a movement to permanent Daylight Savings Time? Are farmers for or against…
ELI5 3D Printing - Does NASA really email tools to space?

2026-10-23 · 9 min

How does NASA effectively email physical tools and equipment to astronauts on the Space Station? If you 3D print a vinyl record from an MP3 file, is the music digital or analog? How exactly does 3D printing work like a…
ELI5 Twins - why do identical twins have different fingerprints?

2026-10-16 · 9 min · Season 1, episode 158

What is a half twin? If twins have identical DNA, how come their fingerprints are different? If identical twins have kids with another set of identical twins, are their offspring technically brothers or sisters? If two…
ELI5 DNA - what is the double helix?

2026-10-09 · 8 min · Season 1, episode 235

If there's 3.2 billion base pairs in the human DNA, how come there's only about 20,000 genes? What is a gene? What is the double helix? Why is it significant? Who deserves credit for the discovery of DNA? Why do some…
ELI5 Money Laundering - what, why and how?

2026-10-02 · 9 min · Season 1, episode 149

What is money laundering? Why can’t a criminal just spend good old fashioned cash? What are some of the ways used by criminals to launder money? Besides casinos, why are laundromats often mentioned? Why are countries…
ELI5 Carbonated Water - why does flat soda still taste like soda?

2026-09-25 · 8 min · Season 1, episode 360

Why do soft drinks exclusively use carbon dioxide instead of gases like oxygen or nitrogen? Why does "flat" soda still have a distinct taste compared to regular tap water? Why does Perrier extract natural gas from its…
ELI5 Hurricanes - why don't they hit the West Coast?

2026-09-18 · 9 min · Season 1, episode 161

Why don’t hurricanes seem to hit the West Coast of the USA or Europe? What is the Coreolis effect and why does it determine which direction a hurricane spins? They say the water flushes down a toilet or down a drain in…
ELI5 Dreams - why is it so hard to run in a dream?

2026-09-11 · 10 min · Season 1, episode 82

Why do we forget our dreams in the mornings? Why is it so hard to run in our dreams? Why is it explained by proprioceptive feedback? How come kids can't control peeing in their sleep the way adults can? Does putting…
ELI5 Lightning - why does it zig zag and not go straight down?

2026-09-04 · 7 min · Season 1, episode 104

Why does lightning travel in a zig-zag rather than a straight line?So why does it strike precise points such as the end of a pole? If the average lightning bolt contains up to 1 billion volts, how is it that humans can…
ELI5 Air Conditioning - How does it work?

2026-08-28 · 7 min · Season 1, episode 31

How does AC and refrigeration in general work? Why is Freon gas used? Why do some people say that air conditioning is a cause of Legionnaires' disease? ... We explain like i'm five! Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 01/2019 · over 7 years
Typical length: 8 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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