ADHD And The Theory Of All The Things

Andrew Perry
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Society & Culture

ADHD and the Theory of All the Things is a podcast born from one of the most recognizable parts of ADHD: relentless curiosity. Hosted by Andrew Perry, each episode follows a single question down the rabbit hole to uncover the history, science, psychology, and human stories behind the ordinary things we often take for granted. From photography and clocks to coffee, sleep, Apple, money, friendship, and everything in between, you’ll discover how everyday things became extraordinary. You don’t need to have ADHD to enjoy this podcast. You just need to love asking, “Why?” If you’ve ever lost an afternoon chasing one fascinating question after another, you’ll feel right at home. This isn’t a lecture or a textbook. Think of it like a conversation around a campfire with a good friend, uncovering forgotten stories, and making complex topics surprisingly easy to understand. Because every ordinary thing has an extraordinary story. And once you know it, you’ll never look at the world the same way again.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    The Ancient Dream Dictionary Was Basically Google

    You go to sleep in your own bed and wake up with the lingering feeling that you were somewhere else entirely. That split reality is the hook that sends me down the rabbit hole: why does the sleeping brain create a full world with people who do not exist, places you have never been, and emotions that hit like they are happening right now? We start where humans started, with ancient dream meaning. From Egypt’s Chester Beatty Dream Book to Greek healing temples and rulers who took dream omens seriously, dreaming wasn’t treated as “random brain noise” so much as communication. Then the lens swings inward as thinkers like Artemidorus, Aristotle, and Descartes push a more unsettling idea: maybe the dream is made by the dreamer, and the fact that it feels real tells us something about how the mind builds reality. From there, the story turns into modern sleep science. The discovery of rapid eye movement sleep gave researchers a way to wake people during likely dream moments and connect physiology to dream reports, revealing sleep cycles and a brain that can look awake while the body stays still. I walk through the big “why we dream” theories you’ll hear today, including memory consolidation, emotional processing, and threat simulation, plus the possibility that dreaming is simply what that nighttime work feels like from the inside. We also hit the wild edge cases: dream myths, sleep paralysis, REM sleep behavior disorder, lucid dreaming, and research where dreamers can answer questions from inside a dream. If you like psychology, neuroscience, and the history of human curiosity, this one is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who loves weird brain questions, and leave a review, what do you think dreams are actually for? Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    The Ancient Dream Dictionary Was Basically Google

  2. Aug 26

    How Your Brain Rebuilds Your Past

    A memory can hit you like a physical place. You can see the kitchen, hear the music, feel the moment and yet the brain is not pressing play on a recording. We pull apart the uncomfortable truth that remembering is reconstruction, and that the act of recall can quietly change the thing you feel most sure about.  We start with Henry Molaison (H.M.) and the neuroscience that reshaped what we know about the hippocampus and long-term declarative memory. His story shows why “memory” is not a single box in the brain: you can lose the ability to form new lasting memories while still learning skills, improving through practice you cannot consciously recall. From there we connect the dots to attention, consolidation, and reconsolidation, and why the brain keeps what feels meaningful while letting most daily detail vanish.  Then the stakes rise. We dig into the misinformation effect, source monitoring, and Elizabeth Loftus’s research on how suggestions can slip into a story until they feel personally witnessed. That leads straight to eyewitness testimony reliability and a hard lesson for real life: confidence and vividness are not the same thing as accuracy.  Finally, we explore why emotion makes certain moments feel “burned in,” what flashbulb memory studies of Challenger and 9/11 reveal, and why smell can time-travel you through the Proust phenomenon. We round it out with the forgetting curve, tip-of-the-tongue states, and a grab bag of truly wild memory edges: HSAM, memory palaces, deja vu, jamais vu, and aphantasia. Subscribe for more rabbit holes, share this with a friend who swears they “remember it perfectly,” and leave a review with the strangest memory you still cannot explain. Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    How Your Brain Rebuilds Your Past

  3. Aug 18 ·  Bonus

    BONUS: The Hidden History Behind Cake, Candles, And Wishes

    There’s a cake on the table, tiny flames flicker in the dark, everyone sings the same melody, and then you’re told to do something oddly specific: make a secret wish and blow the fire out. We all accept it as “normal” which is exactly why we wanted to pull the whole birthday ritual apart and ask the deceptively simple question behind it: why do humans celebrate the day we were born? We trace the history of birthdays through the unglamorous essentials that make them possible like calendars, years, and the decision to treat a repeating date as meaningful. Along the way we visit ancient Rome’s dias natalis, household rites, and the sobering reality of childhood survival that makes “another year” feel like more than a number. Then we follow the candle trail from possible Greek moon symbolism to much clearer evidence in Germany’s Kinderfest traditions, where candles match your age and sometimes include an extra “light for the future.” We also dig into how modern birthdays lock into place once cake ingredients and candles become affordable, and how the “Happy Birthday” song spreads worldwide after starting life as a kindergarten greeting written by Mildred and Patty Hill. Finally, we hit the weird corner where a family tradition collides with copyright law, plus the mind-bending “birthday paradox,” leap day birthdays, and the reminder that age is both biology and a cultural counting system. If you like history, psychology, and the hidden logic behind everyday life, hit play, subscribe, share this bonus episode with a friend, and leave a review with your most unusual birthday tradition. Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    BONUS: The Hidden History Behind Cake, Candles, And Wishes

  4. Aug 18

    How Your Brain Builds Reality From Electrical Signals

    A railroad blast in 1848 drove an iron rod through Phineas Gage’s brain and somehow didn’t end his life, but it did reshape who he seemed to be. That story pulls me straight into one of the strangest questions in neuroscience: if a small change in brain tissue can change personality, where does the “self” actually live?  I take you from early misconceptions that placed thought in the heart to the evidence Hippocrates and Galen built from head injuries, then into the microscopic breakthrough of neurons and synapses. We talk about how electrical signals and chemical messengers create a living network with billions of cells, and why that network behaves less like a neat filing cabinet and more like a busy city or an orchestra. Along the way, I connect the science to everyday experiences, including blind spots you never notice, the cocktail party effect that filters noise, and the way your brain predicts what happens next.  From there we dig into neuroplasticity and Donald Hebb’s “neurons that fire together wire together,” exploring how practice, attention, and repeated habits physically rewire the brain. We also confront the unsettling side of brain science: memory is not a perfect recording, recall is reconstruction, and researchers still can’t find a single command center where “you” sit. If you love psychology, consciousness, perception, and practical brain science, this rabbit hole is for you.  Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who loves asking why, and leave a review so more curious people can find the show. Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    How Your Brain Builds Reality From Electrical Signals

  5. Aug 4

    The Science And History Behind Your Nightly Shutdown

    You spend nearly a third of your life unconscious, unable to hunt, react, or protect yourself and somehow nature decided that was the best deal on the table. That contradiction is where we start: if evolution trims anything that hurts survival, why does sleep exist at all, and why do so many species share it? I follow the trail from ancient dream beliefs to Aristotle’s shift toward natural observation, then into the modern world where gas lamps, electricity, and factory schedules turned nighttime into “extra time.” From there, the mystery moves into medicine and neuroscience with Nathaniel Kleitman’s relentless sleep research, including bold early experiments that helped reveal the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Then the real plot twist hits: REM sleep. With Eugene Aserinsky’s discovery of rapid eye movement, sleep stops being a single off switch and becomes a structured cycle of stages with different jobs. We talk dreams, REM atonia (your brain’s built-in parking brake), memory consolidation, emotional processing, and why practice sticks better after real rest. We also dig into the glymphatic system research suggesting the sleeping brain ramps up a kind of nighttime cleanup, clearing waste that builds during the day. Modern life still tries to outsmart biology with phones, streaming, caffeine, and shift work, but the bill always comes due in focus, mood, safety, learning, and long-term health. If this rabbit hole changes how you think about sleep, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who brags about running on fumes, and leave a review. What’s the one habit that steals your sleep most? Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    The Science And History Behind Your Nightly Shutdown

  6. Jul 29 ·  Bonus

    Listener Rabbit Hole: The Squishy Toys

    A squishy dinosaur. A stress ball. A sticky hand that somehow never fully dries out. We all know the feeling, you pick it up, squeeze it once, then immediately squeeze it again. When listener William asked where the squishy “goo” actually comes from, we thought we were headed to a toy factory. Instead, we landed in chemistry labs, accidental discoveries, and a hundred-year timeline of material science. We walk through the real building blocks behind modern squishy toys: polymers (those long molecular chains that can become hard plastic or soft rubber), the rise of polyurethane in the 1940s, and later experiments with silicone gels and other flexible materials. Along the way, we explain why there isn’t one secret recipe. Some “slow-rise” stress balls are just polyurethane foam filled with tiny air pockets. Others use polymer gels that trap water inside a molecular network, or silicone gels that stay buttery and flexible across temperatures. We also get into modern favorites like super-soft TPE used in mochi-style squishies, plus those mesh toys that pop into grape-like bubbles when you squeeze. Then we pull the camera back to the human side: your fingertips are packed with receptors that love exploring texture, which helps explain why fidget toys can feel satisfying and, for some people, even help with focus and calm (even if the research is mixed). If you’ve ever wondered what you’re really holding, you’re about to hear why the toy is never the whole story, curiosity is. Subscribe for more listener rabbit holes, share this with a friend who can’t stop squeezing their desk stress ball, and leave a review so more curious minds can find us. Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    Listener Rabbit Hole: The Squishy Toys

  7. Jul 29

    Who Decided What Time It Is

    Nobody has ever seen time. You have seen clocks, sunsets, birthdays, and countdown timers, but time itself stays invisible while quietly controlling when we wake up, eat, commute, meet friends, and fall asleep. That mystery sent me down a rabbit hole that starts with a simple question: who decided what time it is, and how did the whole world end up agreeing on the same numbers? We trace the history of timekeeping from the moment humans first realized the sky wasn’t random. Farmers needed seasons they could trust, not exact minutes, and ancient observers learned to read patterns in the Sun, Moon, and stars. In Egypt, the reappearance of Sirius helped predict the Nile flood. In Babylon, a practical obsession with the number 60 helped shape the way we still divide hours and minutes. From there, the story moves from nature to machines: water clocks that “just leaked,” pendulum clocks that made accuracy feel normal, and early portable watches that let time travel in a pocket. Then the stakes turn deadly and global. At sea, longitude is a time problem, and John Harrison’s marine chronometer changes navigation forever. On land, railroads force the invention of standardized time zones, including the surreal “day of two noons” in 1883. We jump forward to quartz and atomic clocks and how ultra-precise timekeeping powers GPS, the internet, aviation, and modern medicine, even when we don’t notice it. And because human beings can’t resist making things weird, we also hit the strange side quests: Sweden’s one-time February 30th, France’s 10-hour day, why snooze became nine minutes, why clocks turn clockwise, what Big Ben actually is, and why daylight saving time isn’t a farmer story. If you like history, science, and the hidden logic behind everyday life, you’ll leave seeing your watch differently. Subscribe for more rabbit holes, share this with a friend who loves odd history, and leave a review with the most surprising time fact you learned. Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    Who Decided What Time It Is

  8. Jul 21

    A Hole In The Wall Started Your Selfies

    A photograph feels simple until you ask the one question that started it all: how do we make the picture stay? We follow that question back more than 2,000 years to a tiny hole in a wall, an upside-down street scene, and the discovery that light follows rules. From Mozi’s early explanation of inverted images to Aristotle’s eclipse crescents under a tree, and Ibn al-Haytham’s experiments that helped define modern optics and the scientific method, the origin story of photography is really a story about curiosity that refuses to quit. From there, the rabbit hole runs straight into the camera obscura, Renaissance artists, and Leonardo da Vinci realizing the human eye works like a camera. Then the pace picks up in rural France, where Niépce finally captures the first permanent photograph using bitumen of Judea, even if it takes roughly eight hours. Daguerre makes photography practical with the daguerreotype, Talbot makes it reproducible with negatives and prints, and the world starts to change because images can finally travel, multiply, and endure. We also break down how a camera works in plain language: lens, aperture, shutter speed, film chemistry, and digital sensors. And once photography becomes accessible through Kodak and the Brownie, it stops being just a technical invention and becomes a tool for memory, evidence, journalism, medicine, science, and perspective shifting images like Earthrise and the Pale Blue Dot. If you’ve ever wondered why we document everything from wars to sunsets, the answer might be more human than you expect. Subscribe for more rabbit holes, share this with a friend who loves big questions, and leave a review so more curious people can find the show. What’s one photo you’d keep if you could only save one? Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

    A Hole In The Wall Started Your Selfies

  9. Season 1 Trailer

    Season 1 Trailer

    Each week we take a deep dive down a rabbit hole. You never know where we will end up. Whether it’s the history of photography or how Crocs are made. We will follow the rabbit hole wherever it may lead.  Send us Fan Mail Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXmjoArss/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhdtheory?igsh=MXZ6eGgzMGlvNHJy&utm_source=qr

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

ADHD and the Theory of All the Things is a podcast born from one of the most recognizable parts of ADHD: relentless curiosity. Hosted by Andrew Perry, each episode follows a single question down the rabbit hole to uncover the history, science, psychology, and human stories behind the ordinary things we often take for granted. From photography and clocks to coffee, sleep, Apple, money, friendship, and everything in between, you’ll discover how everyday things became extraordinary. You don’t need to have ADHD to enjoy this podcast. You just need to love asking, “Why?” If you’ve ever lost an afternoon chasing one fascinating question after another, you’ll feel right at home. This isn’t a lecture or a textbook. Think of it like a conversation around a campfire with a good friend, uncovering forgotten stories, and making complex topics surprisingly easy to understand. Because every ordinary thing has an extraordinary story. And once you know it, you’ll never look at the world the same way again.

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