Good Job, Brain! Episode 278: Butts II – The Rebuttal Electric Buttaloo

Release Date: November 12, 2024
Panel: Karen (Host), Colin, Chris

Overview

This episode is a revival and sequel to Good Job, Brain's original "Butts" episode from 2014 (“Bootylicious” Ep124). The crew—Karen, Colin, and Chris—dive back into the world of butts in trivia, science, language, history, and pop culture. The show opens with some cryptic crossword fun, a classic Trivial Pursuit segment, and then launches into new butt-focused trivia, quizzes, and discussion about everything from evolutionary biology to misunderstood art cherubs. True to Good Job, Brain! tradition, it’s a mix of quirky facts, brain-stumping puzzles, laughter, and team banter.

Key Segments and Insights

1. Cryptic Crossword Warm-Up (00:47–10:07)

• Listener-inspired cryptic crossword clues lead off the show, with Chris challenging Karen and Colin in a collaborative setting.

  • Emphasis on how solving together makes tough clues less intimidating.

• Sample Clues & Solutions:

  • Clue: “Hot Broadway show, like a candle?” (6)
    Answer: “Wicked” (as in the musical; a candle is “wicked”) [05:05]
  • Clue: “Before Monday, a card game, mostly, was a big Nintendo franchise.” (7)
    Answer: “Pokemon” (poker, mostly = poke + Mon for Monday) [08:08]

• Memorable Quote:

  • Chris (on cryptics): “You guys solved it live. That was seriously people. There was no special editing...Such a masterclass in how to approach these.” [01:35]
  • Colin: “That's our number one rule in pub quiz—don't censor yourself, brainstorm. You never know what it's going to spark in the other person.” [02:03]

2. Trivial Pursuit Segment (10:10–17:00)

• Quick-fire trivia rounds using classic Trivial Pursuit cards—focusing on the “Silver Screen” and “Entertainment” categories.
• Questions cover film history, celebrity gossip, TV, and games (e.g., “What author wrote In Cold Blood?” Answer: Truman Capote [16:43]).
• Light banter on how certain trivia feels dated (“the Baby Boomer specials”).
• Demonstrates the panel’s depth of knowledge and group dynamic.

3. Origin Story for “Butts II” (17:01–19:50)

• Backstory: Topic was suggested by Chris; the team realized they already did a “butts” episode a decade ago. They checked archives and decided to do a sequel, reasoning, “Is there enough material out there to support a sequel to the Butts episode? And I think we have determined that, yes, there definitely is.” [18:30]
• “Turn the other cheek,” “Two cheeks, too furious”—Signature GJB puns abound.

4. The Marvel of the Sea Walnut: The Transient Anus (19:51–29:11)

• Chris presents an incredible marine biology story:

  • The sea walnut, or “warty comb jelly” (Mnemiopsis leidyi).
  • Most jellyfish have one opening for eating and excreting, but sea walnuts have a “through gut”—mouth and transient anus.
  • Discoveries (2019): Marine biologist Sidney Tam (at Woods Hole, MA) observed that the sea walnut’s anus appears only when needed and disappears after use—“a transient anus.” [24:08]
  • Adults create a new anus every hour; larvae every 10 minutes. [26:00]
  • “They can grow a butthole anywhere they want, and it only exists for as long as they need it to.” —Chris [25:34]

• Why is this important?

  • Suggests how animals transitioned evolutionarily from a single opening to a mouth-anus system.
  • “We may have evolved a permanent butthole, but started out as just creating one whenever the feeling struck.” —Chris [28:34]
  • The sea walnut can potentially de-age itself, echoing the immortal jellyfish.

Memorable Quotes:

• Karen: “It’s like Shawshank Redemption. Digging its way out.” [27:06]
• Colin: "It's truly amazing that we as a species can be this interested in other species." [26:29]

5. The Pain-in-the-Butt Quiz (Write-Down Game, 32:13–47:20)

Karen’s cleverly constructed quiz: Each trivia question contains a hidden synonym for “butt” embedded in the text (e.g., "tush", "haunch", "bottom", "moon", "rump", "pratt", "backside").

• Sample Questions/Answers:
  • Q: True or false—The human fetus has a tail in early development?
    A: False. (Answer hinges on definition of embryo vs. fetus—“tush” hidden in “fetus has”) [34:16]
  • Q: The leprechaun was once depicted sitting on what?
    A: Mushroom/toadstool (“haunch” in “leprechaun chasing”) [36:33]
  • Q: What company built a robot to repeatedly sit to test their products?
    A: Samsung (testing phone durability)—“bottom” in “robot to mimic”—the Samsung robot “juicy butt” wears jeans [38:31]
  • Q: What marks the highest rank in sumo, achieved by only 73 individuals?
    A: Yokozuna (“moon” in “yokozuna”) [39:46]
  • Q: Umpires’ blue pants earned them what moniker?
    A: “Blue” (with “rump” in “moniker umpire”) [42:12]
  • Q: Samoan National Dish from turkey tails—what word is hidden?
    A: “pratt” (flip, flop, ratifying) [44:24]
  • Extra: Movie where identical twin Bales are revealed?
    A: The Prestige (“backside”) [47:40]

Commentary:

• Karen: “This quiz was a pain in the butt to write…embedding synonyms, and then making the answer butt-related—really, really hard for me.” [36:37]
• Frequent laughter as panelists hunt for hidden words in each question.

6. Eggcorn Spotlight: “16th Chapel” (48:00–53:37)

• Colin introduces misunderstanding:
  • Many laypeople call the Sistine Chapel the “16th Chapel.”
  • “If you call it the 16th Chapel in your paper, I will dock you points for that.” —Colin’s dry art history professor [50:45]
  • Named for Pope Sixtus IV—hence, Sistine, not 16th. [51:19]
  • Classic Western art; Michelangelo’s ceiling—famous for its religious nudity, including myriad butts.

7. Cherubs, Cupids, and Putti: Art Butt Taxonomy (53:37–59:06)

• Colin explains the taxonomy of “naked babies” in Western art:
  • Winged, chubby child figures are Putti (plural of Italian puto, “boy”).
  • Putti ≠ Cupids (cupids have bows/arrows, amorous scenes).
  • Putti ≠ Cherubs (cherubs are religious scenes, “angelic presence”).
  • “The umbrella term is putti…You can correct someone at pub quiz!”
  • Famous image: the two bored-looking cherubs at the bottom of Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna”. [54:52]

Quote:

• Karen: “There’s them in cartoons too…blowing horns, there’s so many statues of them. I had no idea. I just thought they were cherubs.” [54:25]

• Shout-out:

  • Meg Butler’s witty Getty Foundation article: “What do you call those tiny winged babies”

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Chris (cryptics, teamwork): “There was no special editing…such a masterclass in how to approach these.” [01:35]
• Colin (on brainstorming): “Don't censor yourself, brainstorm. You never know what it's going to spark in the other person on your team.” [02:03]
• Chris (transient anus): “They can grow a butthole anywhere they want, and it only exists for as long as they need it to.” [25:34]
• Karen (on the quiz): “This quiz was a pain in the butt…embedding synonyms, and then making the answer butt-related—really, really hard for me.” [36:37]
• Colin (Sistine Chapel eggcorn): “If you call it the 16th Chapel in your paper, I will dock you points for that.” [50:45]
• Karen (art putti): “There’s them in cartoons too… I just thought they were cherubs.” [54:25]

Episode Structure & Flow

• Lighthearted cold open, team introductions [00:00]
• Cryptic crossword segment [00:47]
• Trivial Pursuit round [10:10]
• Buttology—Why revisit butts? [17:01]
• The science of sea walnut butts [19:51]
• Ad break [29:41]
• Pain-in-the-Butt quiz [32:13]
• Eggcorn watch—Sistine/16th Chapel [48:00]
• Cherubs, cupids, and putti in art [53:37]
• Closing words and sign-off [59:06]

For the Trivia Nerds

• Each major topic turns into a micro-lesson—for example, the origins of “blue” for baseball umpires, the evolutionary marvel of animal anatomy, and the fine distinctions of winged babies in religious art.
• Embedded word puzzles combine classic pub quiz playfulness with deep trivia research.
• Listeners leave equipped with fun facts and the context to use them.

Signature Tone

• Whimsical, nerdy, and inclusive humor (“Two cheeks, too furious.”)
• “Pain in the butt” is both motif and meta-commentary.
• Panels support and “yes and” one another—friendly ribbing, shared laughs, genuine admiration for deep trivia.

Takeaways

Whether you’re pub quizzing, crossword-solving, or wandering a renaissance gallery, you can now school your friends on everything from transient animal anuses to the true identity of those winged infant sculptures. Another offbeat, brain-nourishing episode delivered with a wink and a giggle.

Summary by Good Job, Brain! episode summarizer. For show notes, visit goodjobbrain.com