Get Your Weekly Fix Of Curious Facts With No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing as a Fish is one of the podcasts I almost never miss. It's a series – well over 200 episodes all worth your extra commute time – in which each of the hosts share a favorite fact they came across during the week.

The title is a bit of an odd joke, referencing an episode in the QI series reporting that biologist Stephen Jay Gould concluded, at one point, that there is no such thing as a fish. What the longtime scientist meant, however, was that there are a lot of sea creatures unrelated to each other, and that the fact that they live in the sea does not automatically make them, well, fish. This is the kind of thing Dan, James, Anna and Andy go over each week. Comedian and producer Dan Schreiber opens each episode explaining just that: "We have gathered around the microphones with our four favorite facts from the last seven days and, in no particular order, here we go".

One of the hosts explains a fact and others interact asking questions and throwing their own facts at the table, but the humor and seemingly unimportant fixations make the podcast a wide-ranging and funny way to explore ideas. Or, in any case, to get some interesting factoids to bring to random conversations or small talk.

If you're new to the series, perhaps try to start and listen to the one in which Stephen Fry, the British Comedian, makes an appearance. Fry hosted QI, this podcast's predecessor, from 2003 to 2016, and contrary to what many thought his departure didn't sour its humor.