That's Absurd Please Elaborate

This week, Trace and Julian investigate a deceptively simple mystery: why do things look darker when they’re wet? Although the question sounds almost too obvious to ask, Trace takes us on a fascinating exploration of light, color, optics, and the strange ways our brains make sense of the world around us. It’s one of those everyday phenomena that feels totally obvious—right up until you try to explain it. Kind of like how Trace keeps winning all those wet T-shirt contests… and how Julian’s always the judge.
QUESTION
Trace: "When something gets wet, why do its colors look darker?” from Jill from Green Bay, WI
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask
☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬]
📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com
If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode.
WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW!
Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow
Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow
SOCIALS
[[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]]
YouTube: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com
[[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]]
Instagram: @Huggetout
Threads: @Huggetout
[[ FOLLOW TRACE ]]
Instagram: @tracedominguez
Threads: @tracedominguez
BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez
And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show.
CREDITS
This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons.
Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Julian and Trace imagine a world where humanity never got around to inventing ships and discovers that the consequences run a WHOLE lot deeper than a disappointing cruise industry. Without boats, trade slows down, migration patterns change dramatically, and some parts of the world might never have been settled at all. Along the way, Julian uncovers just how much nautical history is hiding in our everyday language, from common phrases to metaphors that only exist because somebody, somewhere, looked at a vast expanse of definitely-not-scary open water and thought, “Yeah, I can probably cross that.”
QUESTIONs
Julian: "What if there were seas but no ships?” from Valerie
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask
☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬]
📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com
If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode.
WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW!
Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow
Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow
SOCIALS
[[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]]
YouTube: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com
[[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]]
Instagram: @Huggetout
Threads: @Huggetout
[[ FOLLOW TRACE ]]
Instagram: @tracedominguez
Threads: @tracedominguez
BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez
And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show.
CREDITS
This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons.
Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this TAPE classic, Trace tackles a transportation problem of his own creation by figuring out just how many chihuahuas it would take to complete the Iditarod, the legendary dogsled race across hundreds of miles of Alaskan wilderness, forcing him to confront the limits of canine endurance, logistics, and plain old common sense. Meanwhile, Julian investigates whether AI can help cook an egg, only to discover that turning a simple breakfast into a prompt-driven exercise may be far more complicated than cracking a shell.
QUESTIONS
Trace: "How many chihuahuas would it take to complete the Iditarod?" from Loren
Julian: "How many ChatGPT queries would I need to cook an egg?” from AJ
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask
☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬]
📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com
If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode.
WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW!
Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow
Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow
SOCIALS
[[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]]
YouTube: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com
[[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]]
Instagram: @Huggetout
Threads: @Huggetout
[[ FOLLOW TRACE ]]
Instagram: @tracedominguez
Threads: @tracedominguez
BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez
And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show.
CREDITS
This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons.
Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Trace and Julian embark on a surprisingly existential mission: finding the most boring day in history. Easy, right? Just pick a day where nothing happened. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—the universe refuses to sit still. From the way our brains define boredom to the impossible task of measuring excitement across an entire planet (and beyond), Trace discovers that "nothing happened" may be one of the hardest things to prove. After all, if trees are growing, species are evolving, galaxies are colliding, and someone somewhere is having the weirdest day of their life, can any day really be boring?
QUESTION
Trace: “What's the boring-est day in history?" from Levi
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask
☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬]
📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com
If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode.
WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW!
Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow
Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow
SOCIALS
[[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]]
YouTube: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com
[[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]]
Instagram: @Huggetout
Threads: @Huggetout
[[ FOLLOW TRACE ]]
Instagram: @tracedominguez
Threads: @tracedominguez
BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez
And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show.
CREDITS
This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons.
Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Trace dives into the eerie blue glow of Cherenkov radiation—the phenomenon that makes nuclear reactors look suspiciously like sci-fi props—and asks the obvious next question: is blue really the best color? Meanwhile, Julian heads beneath the waves to investigate one of nature's most famous "friendships," only to discover that when it comes to biological partnerships, the documentary 'Finding Nemo' might have glossed over a few crucial details. Turns out, even the natural world has its fair share of freeloaders, bad roommates, and complicated relationship dynamics.
QUESTIONS
Trace: “Can we change the colour of Cherenkov Radiation?” from Miles (Jen Jen) in New Zealand
Julian: “How actually symbiotic are clownfish and anemones? For that matter, are symbiotic relationships actually evenly give and take?” from Brendan
Do you have an absurd question? Maybe it's silly idea you had, a shower thought about the nature of reality, or a ridiculous musing about your favorite food? If you want an answer, no matter the question, tell us!
HOW TO ASK A QUESTION
🖥️ Submit on our website: thatsabsurdshow.com/ask
☎️ Leave a voicemail: (302) TAPE-SHO [+1-302-827-3746‬]
📬 E-mail questions to hello at thatsabsurdshow.com
If we use your question we’ll give you a shout out in the episode.
WANT MORE US? SUPPORT THE SHOW!
Want to support us and other indie creators? Join Nebula go.nebula.tv/thatsabsurdshow
Want to help decide which questions we answer? Join our patreon patreon.com/thatsabsurdshow
SOCIALS
[[ FOLLOW OUR SHOW ]]
YouTube: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Instagram: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Threads: @ThatsAbsurdShow
Bluesky: @thatsabsurdshow.com
[[ FOLLOW JULIAN ]]
Instagram: @Huggetout
Threads: @Huggetout
[[ FOLLOW TRACE ]]
Instagram: @tracedominguez
Threads: @tracedominguez
BlueSky: @tracedominguez.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@tracedominguez
And don’t sleep on ThatsAbsurdShow.com. There you can browse images and videos we find during our research and listen to every episode of the show.
CREDITS
This episode of That's Absurd Please Elaborate was written by Trace Dominguez and Julian Huguet, edited by Kyle Sisk, and produced by all three of us with the support of our Patrons.
Theme Music by Epidemic Sound; learn more here: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Thanks for listening to That's Absurd Please Elaborate. We appreciate you!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.