You tip the waiter at the end of a meal for a job well done. But when it comes to tipping the maid and other people at a hotel, it is actually better to tip them at the beginning of your stay so you get better service in the days to come. That’s just one of the very savvy travel tips with which we begin this episode of the podcast. http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/travel-mistakes-to-avoid-20131217/packing-for-the-long-haul

Do we really have free will? Does the placebo effect actually work? Have aliens tried to contact us? These are some of the fascinating mysteries that still baffle scientists. Science writer Michael Brooks, author of the book 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time (https://amzn.to/2NvuAmO) joins me to explore some of these mysteries and explains what we do know and what we don’t know about them. 

Chewing gum may not be proper etiquette in many social situations but chewing gum does have some real benefits – particularly when you are stressed out. I’ll explain why have some gum in your pocket is almost always a good idea. https://greatist.com/happiness/does-chewing-gum-reduce-anxiety

2018 marks the 60th anniversary of NASA. And while space launches aren’t quite the big deal they once were, NASA is still doing a lot of impressive work. John Logsdon has been keeping his eye on NASA for a long time. John is the founder of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, former member of the NASA Advisory Council and he served on the Columbia Space Shuttle Accident Investigation Board in 2003. He is the editor of a new book that just came out celebrating 60 years of NASA called The Penguin Book of Outer Space Exploration (https://amzn.to/2DoYWmm) and joins me to discuss some really interesting stories about the US space program you probably never knew.

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