What A Joke

About What A Joke

From the dawn of time, or at least since the dawn of the calendar, Monday has been known as the most dreaded day of the week. This is why it’s perfect for what a Joke. It’s a comedy podcast true to its name where I, your host, Bayo Oduwole, make you laugh, teach you stuff like weird history and crazy politics while making you laugh, get your blood pumping, fix up your life, force you to think about important things, and call you out on your bs, all while still making you laugh. It's a pretty big promise, now listen to me deliver it all in under 20 minutes.

Publisher

Jamit

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Mar 2021

Latest episode

31 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

123 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   31 Mar 2026

   Piltdown Man 3

   SEASON FINALE In his final years, Charles Dawson remained convinced that his discovery would secure his place in history. Piltdown Man—officially named Eoanthropus dawsoni—was, in his mind, undeniable proof of Britain’s place in the story of human evolution. Unfortunately for Dawson’s legacy, science has a long memory. After Dawson’s death in 1916, Piltdown Man continued to influence research in Paleoanthropology for decades. The fossil fragments were studied, cited, and used to support theories about how humans evolved—especially the idea that large brains developed before other human features. But by the mid-20th century, new scientific tools began to tell a different story. In the early 1950s, researchers applied fluorine dating to the Piltdown fossils. The results were devastating. The skull fragments were medieval in age, while the jawbone belonged to an orangutan whose teeth had been deliberately filed down to resemble human ones. Among the scientists who helped expose the fraud were Kenneth Oakley, Wilfrid Le Gros Clark, and Joseph Weiner. Their conclusion was unavoidable: Piltdown Man was a hoax. The fossil that had once been hailed as the “missing link” was actually a carefully assembled combination of human skull fragments and an orangutan jawbone, artificially stained and modified to appear ancient. The scientific embarrassment was enormous. For more than forty years, Piltdown Man had shaped research, textbooks, and public understanding of human evolution. Entire hypotheses had been built around a fossil that never should have existed. Speculation about the hoaxer followed quickly. While a few theories pointed fingers at others—including Arthur Conan Doyle and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin—most historians now agree that Dawson himself was almost certainly responsible. If true, it would mean that Dawson successfully fooled the scientific world for decades using little more than ambition, patience, and a carefully staged fossil discovery. Today, the Piltdown hoax stands as one of the most famous cautionary tales in the history of science. Rather than weakening the field, however, the scandal ultimately strengthened it. The exposure of Piltdown Man reinforced the importance of skepticism, verification, and improved dating techniques in the study of human origins. In other words: science corrected itself. And that may be the most important legacy of Piltdown Man. Because in the end, the story isn’t really about a hoax. It’s about how the search for truth continues—even when the evidence itself turns out to be a lie.

2. 

   16 Mar 2026

   Piltdown Man 2

   For a brief moment in scientific history, Britain believed it had discovered the missing link between apes and humans. The fossil even received an official name: Eoanthropus dawsoni. A prehistoric ancestor of humanity—named, modestly, after the man who found it. Anyway— In this chapter of the Piltdown saga, the discovery moves from a dusty gravel pit into lecture halls, newspapers, and the center of the scientific world. Charles Dawson becomes the unlikely face of one of the most important fossil finds of the century, while Arthur Smith Woodward champions the discovery to an eager academic audience. But fame comes with an inconvenient side effect: scrutiny. As Piltdown Man is unveiled to the public, applause fills the room, headlines celebrate a breakthrough in Paleoanthropology, and Dawson’s dream of recognition finally becomes reality. Unfortunately, so do the whispers. Scientists begin noticing strange details. The skull and jawbone seem… mismatched. The teeth look suspiciously altered. And certain critics—like the ever-skeptical Dr. Cartwright—start asking questions that refuse to go away. While the scientific establishment rallies behind the discovery, the pressure begins to mount behind the scenes. Doubts spread through academic circles, newspapers run skeptical headlines, and Dawson finds himself trapped inside the very legacy he fought to create. Because once the world starts questioning your greatest discovery, there are only two options: prove them wrong… or hope the evidence never looks too closely at itself. And unfortunately for Piltdown Man, science has a habit of doing exactly that. Connect with the host and the pod on social media for more fun content and updates. on IG: https://instagram.com/whatajokepod?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA== (https://instagram.com/whatajokepod?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==) on X: https://x.com/whatajokepod?s=21&t=aim75UE7QrGvf8rbnP9YZA (https://x.com/whatajokepod?s=21&t=aim75UE7QrGvf8rbnP9YZA)

3. 

   9 Mar 2026

   Piltdown Man 1

   At one point in history, the scientific world believed that the missing link between humans and apes had been discovered in a quiet English gravel pit. The only small problem? The “missing link” was about as authentic as a three-headed mermaid in a Victorian circus. Anyway— This episode begins the strange, ambitious, and slightly suspicious story of Charles Dawson, a man determined to prove himself to the scientific establishment. Armed with a shovel, a dream, and a very flexible relationship with evidence, Dawson sets out to make the discovery that will cement his legacy forever. We follow the moment a mysterious skull fragment emerges from the Piltdown gravel pit, the cautious excitement of Arthur Smith Woodward, and the growing tension between ambition, recognition, and scientific truth. Along the way, skepticism brews, reputations hang in the balance, and one archaeologist begins to face a dangerous temptation: helping the evidence “speak for itself.” Set against the quiet countryside of Piltdown, this first chapter explores the birth of what would become one of the most infamous scandals in the history of Paleoanthropology. Because sometimes the greatest discoveries in science aren’t discoveries at all. Sometimes they’re… improvements. And as Charles Dawson is about to learn, once you start burying evidence, you may also end up burying the truth. Connect with the host and the pod on social media for more fun content and updates. on IG: https://instagram.com/whatajokepod?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA== (https://instagram.com/whatajokepod?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==) on X: https://x.com/whatajokepod?s=21&t=aim75UE7QrGvf8rbnP9YZA (https://x.com/whatajokepod?s=21&t=aim75UE7QrGvf8rbnP9YZA)

Who has been a guest on What A Joke

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• [Guest Name]
• Adjoa
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Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

64 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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