Explain It Like I’m 5

About Explain It Like I’m 5

Big questions. Simple answers. With jokes. Ever wondered why we sleep, what electricity actually is, how airplanes fly, or why Pluto got fired as a planet? Welcome to Explain It Like I’m 5—the podcast that tackles life’s biggest, weirdest, most wonderfully human questions… and makes them make sense. Hosted by Alex, each episode breaks down a complex topic—from science, history, politics, and technology to philosophy, emotions, and everyday “wait… what?” moments—into an easy, entertaining, and curiosity-sparking conversation you could share with a five-year-old… or your most confused adult friend. 💡 Topics include: What Is AI? Why Do We Poop? How Does the Stock Market Work? What Is DNA? Can Animals Talk? Why Do We Fight Over Beliefs? What Is the Internet Made Of? How Did We Go from Dinosaurs to TikTok? …and 50+ more questions you didn’t know you were dying to understand. Whether you're 5, 15, or 105, this podcast is your fun, friendly, no-intimidation zone to learn how the world works—one wildly interesting question at a time. 🎧 New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Perfect for curious kids, overthinking adults, teachers, students, and anyone who loves learning without lectures.

Publisher

Alex

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Jun 2025

Latest episode

12 Jan 2026

Latest episodes

60 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Jan 2026

   Why Do We Have Emotions? (And Why Does Crying Feel Different From Laughing?)

   This episode explains that emotions are not just vague “feelings” but a mix of body reactions, brain interpretations, and behaviors designed by evolution to help us survive and connect. Basic emotions like fear, anger, joy, sadness, surprise, and disgust act as built-in survival codes—alerting us to danger, helping us bond with others, and guiding decisions. More complex feelings (like jealousy or nostalgia) are blends of these basic ingredients. Alex then compares crying and laughing as two very different kinds of emotional release. Crying is usually linked with sadness, frustration, or overwhelming relief and helps the body release stress hormones, often leaving us feeling lighter afterward. Laughing, in contrast, is tied to joy and social bonding and triggers endorphins that relax the body and boost mood. The episode also explores why emotions feel so physical (racing heart, stomach flips, blushing), how culture shapes emotional expression, and why emotions—confusing and messy as they are—give life its depth, meaning, and humanity.

2. 

   7 Jan 2026

   What Is Space Made Of? (And Is It Just a Giant Nothing-Something?)

   This episode explains that space is not truly empty—it’s just very sparse compared to what we’re used to. Alex shows how a cubic meter of space might contain only a few atoms, yet across the universe that “thin” gas and dust become the interstellar medium and nebulae that form and recycle stars and planets. Even when you remove all visible matter, quantum physics says the vacuum still seethes with virtual particles and energy, meaning “empty” space is full of invisible activity. The episode then explores dark matter and dark energy, the mysterious components that make up most of the universe and shape its structure and expansion, and explains Einstein’s spacetime as a flexible fabric that bends and ripples with gravity. Fun facts about cosmic voids, extreme cold, leftover Big Bang radiation, and the emptiness inside atoms drive home the idea that what looks like nothing is actually a rich, structured something. The takeaway: space isn’t just a giant nothing—it’s a vast, dynamic “nothing-something” filled with matter, energy, and mysteries we’re still trying to understand.

3. 

   5 Jan 2026

   Why Do We Have Music Genres? (And Who Decided Rock Isn’t Jazz?)

   This episode explains that music genres are labels humans use to group songs that sound similar and to signal identity and community—they tell us both what something sounds like and who might listen to it. Alex shows how genres became important as music publishing, records, and radio grew, giving businesses and audiences a way to organize and market sounds into categories like jazz, country, classical, and pop. We learn that nobody officially decided “rock isn’t jazz”; the divide emerged over time as jazz developed its own style and scene, rock ’n’ roll evolved with electric instruments and different rhythms, and critics, labels, radio stations, and fans reinforced the separation. The episode explores how genres keep splitting into subgenres, how our brains use genre as a shortcut for knowing what we might like, and how genres often blend and overlap, making strict labels messy. It also covers the business and psychological sides of genres—how they shape marketing, streaming, and personal identity. The takeaway: genres are useful, flexible tools for navigating music, but the real magic is that sound can move us, no matter what box it’s in.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact Explain It Like I’m 5

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.