In this episode, we wade into the swampy, sensational, deeply unserious world of The Sun, a British tabloid so notorious that calling it a "newspaper" feels like an insult to both news and paper. What started in the 1960s as an optimistic, politically neutral publication meant to reflect "the age we live in" quickly devolved into a right-wing chaos machine famous for Page 3 girls, fabricated scandals, culture-war tantrums, and front-page headlines bold enough to make even WhatsApp forwards blush. It's the perfect playground for our brand of comedy commentary, because honestly, The Sun makes parody redundant.

We dig into the history behind its rise and rot. And because this tabloid never met a boundary it didn't want to violate, we also explore its long list of invented stories, sexist attacks, the Hillsborough disaster, Elton John libel cases, and that one deranged Meghan Markle column that genuinely made the whole country break character. The Sun has delivered decades of material that proves offbeat learning doesn't always have to be wholesome. This is the story of a paper that shaped a nation, ruined a few reputations (and its own), and is now slowly being outlived by memes.

If you love random topics wrapped in skepticism, humour, and just enough outrage to keep things spicy, this deep dive into Britain's most infamous tabloid is very much your episode.

Important links:

1. Link to Kapow's IGT episode - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQiyGceDK3V/?igsh=MW9ya29jZXhraHZybw==

2. About The Sun's "coverage" of the Hillsborough tragedy – https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/why-the-sun-is-hated-by-liverpool-fans--banned-in-many-places/2hrhnj5tch2r1ae7tllvac6fb

3. YouGov UK survey on trust on media – https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/uk-newsbrand-trust-rankings-sun-least-trusted-bbc-ft-most/

4. 'Historic Newspapers' about The Sun – https://www.historic-newspapers.com/en-in/blogs/article/sun-newspaper-history?country=IN

5. The pre-fucked version of The Sun – https://moneyweek.com/408160/15-september-1964-the-sun-newspaper-is-launched

6. 'The Conservation' speaking about the change of ownership of The Sun – https://theconversation.com/at-60-the-sun-hasnt-set-but-the-tabloids-light-is-fading-238126

7. Wikipedia of The Sun – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_(United_Kingdom)

8. BBC's coverage of The Sun swinging from the Left to the Right and back repeatedly – https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16996844

9. The Guardian's coverage of The Sun being its sexist, disgusting self – https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/jan/14/pressandpublishing.politicsandthemedia

10. 'Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits from Propaganda' book – https://archive.org/details/pressganghownews0000gree/page/n9/mode/2up

11. The Sun's sexist attack on Meghan Markle – https://apnews.com/article/prince-harry-meghan-sexist-column-sun-c880a9d5ac0ed2cc300fc3a0fcb56cdd

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

In this episode, we dive into the mysterious, manipulative, and occasionally unhinged world of the New York Times Bestseller List, that shiny sticker every book seems to have, even the ones that read like rejected BuzzFeed headlines. What starts as casual airport doomscrolling quickly unravels into a full-blown investigation: Who actually decides this list? Why is the methodology secret? And is it really possible to buy your way onto it? (Short answer: lol yes.)

It's comedy commentary meets publishing nerdery, packed with quirky insights about how the book world really works, plus the kind of offbeat learning and lighthearted education that only comes from three people realising the entire system might be held together with vibes and Excel sheets from 1997. If you've ever wondered why every acquaintance suddenly claims to be a "bestselling author," this episode finally explains it, or at least makes you laugh through the confusion while we pretend to understand the NYT's secret sorting hat.

Important links:

1. What does #1 NYT Bestseller even mean - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqE_3CQpQf4&list=PLR34x9VMByzz98U_IitcV338ayr6W8-YX&index=4

2. The quintessential Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list

3. NYT's 'secret methodology' - https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/methodology/

4. Another viewpoint on the NYT Bestseller list - https://www.novlr.org/the-reading-room/the-new-york-times-bestseller-lists-explained/

5. NYT Bestseller list explained - https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a42189320/the-new-york-times-best-seller-lists-explained/

6. Some shady truths about the NYT Bestseller list - https://booklaunch.com/the-truth-about-the-new-york-times-and-wall-street-journal-bestseller-lists/

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all. Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week. Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

In this episode, we dive into the wild, worldwide PR machine known as Hasbara, Israel's official strategy to shape global opinion, rewrite narratives, and "explain" things that probably shouldn't have to be explained. What starts off as a lesson in public diplomacy quickly turns into a crash course in how coordinated messaging, mass disinformation, and a whole lot of lobby money can bend reality in real time. Somehow, all of this still makes room for quirky insights, offbeat learning, and the kind of comedy commentary you'd expect when three confused people attempt to decode one of the most sophisticated propaganda machines on the planet. It's messy, infuriating, and unexpectedly educational. If you've ever wondered why the same talking points echo across headlines, think tanks, comment sections, and your uncle's WhatsApp forwards, this episode might finally explain.

Important links:

1. Wikipedia talking about Hasbara – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbara

2. The New York Times article on Hasbara – https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/06/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-to-help-israel-improve-public-relations.html

3. The wonderful ad man, Carl Spielvogel – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Spielvogel

4. About the baby cosplaying a suicide bomber – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2075072.stm

https://www.dawn.com/news/45235/argument-over-baby-s-picture

5. Haaretz article on the baby photographed – https://web.archive.org/web/20051206195110/http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=181370&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0

6. Jewish Voice for Liberation explaining how Hasbara works – https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/hasbara-a-long-running-strategy/

7. Israel's new funding into Hasbara – https://www.972mag.com/hasbara-funding-foreign-agents/

8. To volunteer with Tech for Palestine – https://techforpalestine.org/volunteer

9. Kapow's Instagram handle – https://www.instagram.com/itskapowtime/

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all. Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week. Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

This week, we get swept up in the quirky insights and lowkey chaos of how cyclones and hurricanes get their names. From Cyclone Bob to Mocha and Yaas, we explore why the World Meteorological Organization sounds less like a scientific authority and more like your group chat trying to name a cat.

In the very true sense of comedy commentary, we dig into the absurd history of how storms went from being anonymous disasters to branded events, and why that branding is often very, very weird. It's the kind of offbeat learning you didn't know you needed. If you've ever screamed "Yaas!" and then realised it was a Category 4 cyclone, this episode is for you.

Important links:
1. How WMO goes about naming cyclones - https://wmo.int/resources/wmo-fact-sheets/tropical-cyclone-naming

2. The method to the madness of cyclone naming - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_naming

3. How do hurricanes get their names? - https://www.britannica.com/story/how-are-hurricanes-named

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

In this episode, we descend into the unfiltered chaos of the Heartland Institute, a self-described think tank that's spent the last 40 years defending Big Tobacco, denying climate change, and comparing climate scientists to the Unabomber. Yes. That actually happened.

We trace how this shady libertarian PR machine evolved from lobbying against secondhand smoke regulations to becoming one of the loudest voices in global climate denial. From hosting annual "climate realism" conferences to sponsoring a teenage anti-Greta, the Heartland Institute has built a legacy of misinformation disguised as policy.

Important links:

1. The terrible Heartland Institute - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartland_Institute

2. ⁠Tobacco Tactics report - https://www.tobaccotactics.org/article/heartland-institute/

3. ⁠Source Watch on the Heartland Institute - https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heartland_Institute_and_tobacco

4. ⁠National Center for Science Education report destroying NIPCC - https://ncse.ngo/files/nipcc.pdf

5. ⁠Sydney Morning Herald's exposé - https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/the-climate-change-smokescreen-20080802-gdsosa.html

6. ⁠CORRECTIV's exposé - https://correctiv.org/en/top-stories/2020/02/11/the-heartland-lobby/

7. ⁠The glorious Unabomber billboard - https://web.archive.org/web/20180724085146/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/05/billboards-liken-belief-in-climate-change-to-mass-murder/1#

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

This episode starts with a wolf, a womb, and an empire, and somehow ends up in a lab in Texas trying to bring back the Ice Age. We're talking about Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome who were supposedly raised by a she-wolf. But also, we're talking about Romulus and Remus, the names of two genetically engineered not-quite-dogs recently created by a biotech company claiming to resurrect extinct species. Same name. Same mythological energy. Very different PR strategy.

If you've ever wondered what happens when Silicon Valley tries to reboot nature, or just wanted to hear us butcher Latin and complain about biotech buzzwords, this one's for you.

Important links:

1. The mythology of Romulus & Remus - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Romulus-and-Remus

2. The Colossal Biosciences Direwolf Project - https://colossal.com/direwolf/

3. The TIME feature of the "de-extinction" project - https://time.com/7274542/colossal-dire-wolf/

4. The Wikipedia page for Colossal Biosciences - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Biosciences_Dire_Wolf_Project

5. The scientific debate over Colossal Biosciences' Direwolf Project - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-scientific-debate-over-colossals-de-extinct-dire-wolves/

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

In this episode, we (unfortunately) find ourselves talking about NoFap, the online movement that claims giving up masturbation will give you laser focus, superhuman testosterone levels, and somehow make you irresistible to women through sheer… restraint?

We explore how a random Reddit post snowballed into a full-fledged website, brand, and cult-like following with terms like "fapstronaut" and "femstronaut" that somehow exist unironically. Along the way, we unravel the pseudoscience, the YouTube bros shouting about "discipline," and the very real overlap between NoFap, toxic masculinity, and the internet's favourite rabbit hole: the manosphere.

If you've ever heard the phrase "semen retention" and instantly wished you hadn't, you're probably in the right place.

Important links:

1. The Reddit thread that started it all – https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/i514e/til_when_men_dont_masturbate_for_7_days_their/?force_seo=1

2. ⁠Nov 2013 Business Insider article proving that some journalists were always bad – https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-nofap-2013-11

3. ⁠LA Review of Books article – https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/no-fap-a-cultural-history-of-anti-masturbation/

4. ⁠Study by UC Berkeley – https://escholarship.org/content/qt0h13v5dt/qt0h13v5dt.pdf

5. ⁠Paper by Scott Bernett – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X211018256

6. ⁠Vice article – https://www.vice.com/en/article/nofap-founder-suing-a-neuroscientist-no-nut-november/?

7. ⁠Animal trust Instagram handle – https://www.instagram.com/tapati_animalcaretrust/

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!

Meet Big Lonely Doug, a 70-meter-tall tree left standing in the middle of a giant Canadian clear-cut. Why? Because one logger randomly decided Doug deserved to live. And now Doug's just… there. Lonely. Iconic. A little awkward. Kind of like us.

In this episode, we spiral into a surprisingly emotional rabbit hole about famous lonely trees; from Doug's solo forest vigil to India's own Great Banyan Tree (which has 3000 branches and no trunk because… why not). We also talk about the Tree of Ténéré, the world's most isolated tree that got taken out by a truck, and somehow land on Adani and a rant about deforestation in India.

Important links:

1. About Big Lonely Doug: https://arboristnow.com/news/big-lonely-doug-canada-s-second-largest-douglas-fir/

2. ⁠Wikipedia for trees dimensions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Lonely_Doug

3. Wikipedia on Red Creek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Creek_Fir

4. 3 min film on Big Lonely Doug: https://youtu.be/b3DMS5eTmoc?si=TRgtqslHiu-IKPWI

5. ⁠The Tree of Ténéré: https://thetreeographer.com/2018/03/08/the-worlds-loneliest-tree-the-tree-of-tenere/

6. Adani's new coal plant in Bihar: A Re.1 land deal, amid real environmental concerns: https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/business/adanis-coal-plant-in-bihar-token-land-deal-real-environmental-concerns

Don't Know, Do Care is the brainchild of Ashmita, Sandy, and Prakhar, three friends from different backgrounds and interests. Ashmita works in sustainability, Sandy's an entrepreneur (puke) who'd rather not be, and Prakhar works with Sandy and is just trying to make sense of it all.

Three mildly confused friends, one weirdly specific topic each week. We don't know much, but we care just enough to talk about it for up to an hour each week.

Don't Know, Do Care is produced by "Ghar Pe Productions", edited by Prakhar and Sandy, critiqued (thoroughly) by Ashmita, and enjoyed mostly by our friends. Thanks for giving us a listen!