8 episodes

Comedians and "scientists" Madelyn Freed (The Annoyance) and Blythe Roberson (New Yorker, The Onion) investigate a new scientific topic each month at Union Hall in Brooklyn. From AI to romantic attraction to body decomposition, Madelyn and Blythe give an hour-long lecture with help from NYC's funniest comedians. At the end of every show, they bring out an actual scientific authority to pester with questions and to tell them where they went wrong.

The Scientists Good Orbit

    • Comedy
    • 3.4 • 5 Ratings

Comedians and "scientists" Madelyn Freed (The Annoyance) and Blythe Roberson (New Yorker, The Onion) investigate a new scientific topic each month at Union Hall in Brooklyn. From AI to romantic attraction to body decomposition, Madelyn and Blythe give an hour-long lecture with help from NYC's funniest comedians. At the end of every show, they bring out an actual scientific authority to pester with questions and to tell them where they went wrong.

    Dinosaurs w/Allie Goertz, Joe Zimmerman, Paul Gale, Madelyn Freed, Blythe Roberson

    Dinosaurs w/Allie Goertz, Joe Zimmerman, Paul Gale, Madelyn Freed, Blythe Roberson

    It's DINOSAURS, friend-o's!!!!!! everyone loves dinosaurs and everyone loves our lineup: Allie Goertz (Mad Magazine) Joe Zimmerman (Comedy Central), Paul Gale (HuffPo).

    Madelyn Freed and Blythe Roberson host.

    Recorded at Union Hall November 17, 2017 as part of the Brooklyn Podcast Festival!!

    Live sound and recording by Chris Medrano. Edited by Shannon Manning for Good Orbit.

    Original poster by Hallie Bateman (@hallithbates)

    • 1 hr 2 min
    BUGS w/Jaboukie Young-White, Bennett Ferris, Harris Mayersohn, Christine Johnson, Blythe Roberson, Madelyn Freed

    BUGS w/Jaboukie Young-White, Bennett Ferris, Harris Mayersohn, Christine Johnson, Blythe Roberson, Madelyn Freed

    Ep 7:BUGS! BUGS! BUGS!!!!

    We got bugs to show you and bugs to warn you about. Blythe loves a chill roach and Madelyn admires aphids as feminist heroes. Jaboukie Young-White, Bennet Ferris, and Harris Mayersohn scramble around and are generally freaky-deaky but also tell jokes. Plus scientist Christine Johnson from the AMNH with expertise on parasites and their hosts, with a specialization on slave-maker ants.

    Madelyn Freed and Blythe Roberson host.

    Recorded at Union Hall September 15, 2017 as part of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. Live sound and recording by Chris Medrano. Edited by Shannon Manning for Good Orbit.

    Original poster by Hallie Bateman (@hallithbates)

    • 1 hr 13 min
    Cancer w/Sachi Ezura, John Reynolds, Blythe Roberson and Madelyn Freed

    Cancer w/Sachi Ezura, John Reynolds, Blythe Roberson and Madelyn Freed

    Ep: 6 This show was so good that after this show a bunch of Sloan Kettering administrators asked for my autograph. We delighted them and probably the audience with dreadful facts about CANCER. Did you know that the doctors that invented chemotherapy tried to poison their young patients with anything they could think of including mustard gas? Did you want to know? Sachu Ezura and John Reynolds yummed our yucks, too.

    Madelyn Freed and Blythe Roberson host.

    Recorded at Union Hall Oct 24, 2017. Live sound and recording by Dave Polk. Edited by Shannon Manning for Good Orbit. Poster by Hallie Bateman (@hallithbates) with edits by Josh Roman.





     

    • 58 min
    Lying to Yourself

    Lying to Yourself

    This month we're psychologists. And you have to pay us $225/hr to be told that you'll swim faster if you tell yourself you're terrific. So pony up, kiddo. Kings and queens of Brooklyn Mitra Jouhari, Alex Watt, and Zach Zimmerman floor us with giggling.

    Hosted by Blythe Roberson, Madelyn Freed

    Recorded Tuesday, June 6, 2016 at Union Hall 

    Live sound and recording by Dave Polk. Produced and edited by Shannon Manning.

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Dead Bodies w/Jo Firestone, Josh Gondelman, Friends Who Folk & Bess Lovejoy

    Dead Bodies w/Jo Firestone, Josh Gondelman, Friends Who Folk & Bess Lovejoy

    We don't mean to spook you but someday Blythe is going to die. What is going to happen to her? We will tell you in excruciating detail and Madelyn's not going to like it. Luckily, Madelyn's mom didn't ever give her permission to die so she can't. They talk to Order of the Good Death member, author, and alive ghost Bess Lovejoy. We got some cool ass witches on the docket scamming us with tricks, Jo Firestone, Josh Gondelman, and Friends Who Folk. (Bowen Yang's motivational dance to fend off rigor mortis was unfortunately too hot to share!)

    Blythe Roberson and Madelyn Freed host.

    Recorded Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at Union Hall 

    Live sound and recording by Dave Polk. Produced and edited by Shannon Manning.

    • 1 hr 29 min
    Romantic Love w/Dr. Helen Fisher, Elna Baker, Patti Harrison, Alexandra Song & Catherine Cohen

    Romantic Love w/Dr. Helen Fisher, Elna Baker, Patti Harrison, Alexandra Song & Catherine Cohen

    We did this show because Madelyn had a fever dream about a scientific study that may never have existed at all. If you have any information about it, please call 911. We truly figure out love in this episode with the help of the queen, Dr. Helen Fisher. Elna Baker, Patti Harrison, Alexandra Song, and Catherine Cohen thrill us with their little skits.

    Hosted by Blythe Roberson, Madelyn Freed

    Recorded Live at BRIC House May 2, 2017. Live sound and recording by Andrew Lulling and Evan Zierk at BRIC. Produced and edited by Shannon Manning for Good Orbit.

    • 1 hr 32 min

Customer Reviews

3.4 out of 5
5 Ratings

5 Ratings

Timex ,

Needs Work

A really rough diamond. I enjoyed the content for the most part, but the audio was spotty at best, and unintelligible at worst. The episode I listened to had slideshows with no descriptions of the visuals. Talk about frustrating! And clean lyrics? This rating needs to be changed because the episode I heard had the F bomb being thrown out freely in one segment. I'll come back to see if it improves.

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