Good Job, Brain!

Episode 296: It’s All In Your Head

Original Air Date: September 30, 2025
Hosts: Karen, Colin, Dana, and Chris
Special Guest: Tyler Hinman (7x American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Champion)

Overview

This episode, “It’s All In Your Head,” dives into trivia focused on heads—literal and metaphorical. With their signature blend of pub quiz camaraderie, storytelling, and wordplay, the hosts (joined by puzzler Tyler Hinman) cover dinosaur head myths, musical artists with hidden “head parts” in their names, coin heads, punny quizzes, and more. Listeners are treated to trivia games, deep dives, and countless memorable moments celebrating the wild world of things “in your head.”

Key Segments & Themes

1. Opening Banter and Road to Episode 300

[00:15–03:09]

• Karen introduces the show and crew, reflecting on their journey since 2012 and approaching the 300-episode milestone.
• Listener Participation: Announcement of the Good Job Brain hotline for stories (401-903-3323).

Memorable Quote:
Karen: "We're on the road to 300. And guess what, everybody? We've opened up the Good Job Brain hotline!" [02:17]

2. Pop Quiz Hotshot: Trivial Pursuit Lightning Round

[03:09–11:30]

• Tyler Hinman drops by for classic pub quiz action with real Trivial Pursuit cards.
• Quirky Buzzer Sounds: Tyler's is simply him yelling “buzzer.”
• Sample questions and results:
  • Geography: Ushuaia is in Tierra del Fuego (Tyler gets it) [04:43–05:08].
  • Battlestar Galactica: 13th colony is Earth (Chris gets it) [05:24–05:34].
  • Circus history: Ringling Bros retired elephants in 2016 (Chris) [05:41–06:00].
  • Literature: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Sherlock Holmes novel is about Mycroft (finally guessed) [06:26–07:26].
  • Science: The 2014 comet lander was Philae (no one knew) [07:57–08:27].
  • Food: Hawaiian dish of raw fish and rice is poke (all knew) [08:32].

Notable Exchange:
Tyler (on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's novel): "Yeah, Mike, it's just called Mycroft Holmes." [07:39]

3. Dinosaur Butt Brains: Fact vs. Fiction

[11:32–25:29]

• Chris revisits a childhood “fact”: dinosaurs had a second "butt brain."
• Origin of the Myth:
  • Educational videos of the 1980s (Fred Savage’s “Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time”) reinforced the “butt brain” myth.
  • O.C. Marsh, 19th-century paleontologist, misinterpreted an enlarged cavity in dino spines as a second brain.
• Science Update:
  • Myth debunked: “Butt brain” likely stored glycogen or extra nervous tissue, as seen in modern birds.
  • Fact persisted for almost a century due to lack of widespread correction.
• Favorite Earworm:
  • Clip of “Mesozoic Mind,” the bizarre claymation dino rock song [14:26–14:48].

Memorable Quote:
Chris: "If you out there in podcast land want to believe that dinosaurs had a butt brain, you can stop listening to the podcast right now... a world where dinosaurs had brain in their ass is better than one where they don't." [18:28]

4. Tyler Hinman’s “Heads” Puzzler Quiz

[25:46–32:36]

• Tyler presents a wordplay quiz: clues lead to two-word phrases where one is a “beheadment” of the other (remove the first letter to form the second word).
  • Example: "Glitter litter" (Glitter → Litter = beheadment) [26:18–27:30]
  • Others: Border/order, scent/ascent, slander/Islander, latitude/platitude, weasel/easel, alliance/dalliance, dreads/ad reads, demotion/emotion, griddle/riddle, asteroid/steroid.
• Meta Puzzle:
  • The first letters of all the shortened words spell out “LOST LEADERS.”

Memorable Moment:
Tyler: "Lost leaders are the first letters of these shorter words, because, of course, once the loss has taken place, those are the leaders." [31:54]

5. Music Round: Artists with “Head Parts” in Their Names

[35:08–44:45]

• Karen hosts a music identification quiz featuring artists with “head parts” embedded in their names.
  • Dua Lipa (“Lip”), Earth, Wind & Fire (“Ear”), Silverchair (“Hair”), Chingy (“Chin”), The Clash (“Lash”), James Brown (“Brow”), Cat’s Eye (“Eye”).
• Hidden Theme Revealed:
  • Each artist’s name contains a part of the head.
  • Tyler spots the pattern [44:05–44:12].

Notable Exchange:
Tyler: “Tyler goes back to our theme for the episode of Head. If you look, you will find words embedded in each”—proceeds to identify all [44:05].

6. Don't Let It Go To Heads: U.S. Coin Trivia

[45:40–68:39]

• Colin quizzes the crew on pre-presidential designs for U.S. coins, especially focusing on the allegorical or historic figures on coin "heads" before presidents dominated:
  • Penny: Before Lincoln was the “Indian Head”—an allegorical Liberty in a feathered headdress [51:40].
  • Nickel: Before Jefferson, it was the “Buffalo Nickel” with a Native American and a buffalo [54:23].
  • Dime: Before FDR, the “Mercury Dime”—really Liberty, but misidentified as Mercury [57:32].
  • Quarter: Before Washington, the “Standing Liberty” [59:23].
  • Half Dollar: Before JFK, it was Ben Franklin [63:26].
  • Dollar Coin: Before Susan B. Anthony, it was President Eisenhower [67:55].

Fun Fact:
Chris: "I was very excited when my fourth grade teacher told us that the student that got the most 100s on their spelling tests throughout the year would get a silver dollar... at end of the year, I was second place, and I'm ready for my two silver dollars, and she gives me two Susan B. Anthony dollars..." [68:48]

7. Final Wrap Up and Farewells

[68:39–71:08]

• Hotline reminder (401-903-3323) for the “Road to 300” episode.
• Tyler plugs his social media (@thatpuzzleguy) and availability for puzzle creation.
• Farewells and encouragement to “not let it go to heads!”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On myth-busting:
  Chris: "We learned it in school, Karen. It's the only thing I learned in elementary school in the 80s that turned out to not be true..." [19:11]

• On coin design trivia:
  Colin: "We did not always have presidents as the heads of our coins. Liberty on there a lot. When in doubt, guess Liberty." [68:23]

• On classic music trivia:
  Karen: "Sorry, but not sorry." (before playing the hardest music clip) [42:49]

Time-Stamped Index to Segments

| Segment | Start Time | End Time | |------------------------------------------------|-------------------|----------------| | Opening Banter & Hotline Announcement | 00:15 | 03:09 | | Pop Quiz Hotshot (Trivial Pursuit) | 03:09 | 11:30 | | Dinosaur “Butt Brain” Deep Dive | 11:32 | 25:29 | | Tyler’s “Heads” Puzzler Quiz | 25:46 | 32:36 | | Music Quiz: “Parts of the Head” Artists | 35:08 | 45:02 | | U.S. Coin Trivia: Don't Let It Go To Heads | 45:40 | 68:39 | | Farewells and Plugs | 68:39 | 71:08 |

Episode Highlights & Tone

• Playful and Community-Oriented: The group’s banter mimics the inviting atmosphere of a pub trivia team, with recurring in-jokes and encouragement for listeners to join in.
• Offbeat, Deep-Dive Trivia: The show turns classic trivia (coins, music, childhood “facts”) into surprising, well-researched stories.
• Nostalgic Fun: From 80s educational videos to Fred Savage claymation to Susan B. Anthony dollars, the episode mines both personal and collective trivia memory.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

If you enjoy puns, busting urban legends, listening to pub quiz experts probe esoteric corners of knowledge, and group games with amateur and professional quizzers working together, you’ll enjoy this fast-paced episode that’s equal parts informative and irreverent. Whether you’re interested in word puzzles, coin collecting, or the secret history of the “dinosaur butt brain,” there’s a quirky bite of trivia for you "in your head."