Let’s Go Bananas
00:33:23 | Season: 17 | Episode: 188 | February 24th, 2026
HARVEY, our omnipresent virtual voice assistant, gets a software update that makes him go bananas for bananas. And if we talk about anything except bananas, he turns the microphones off! We talk to geneticist Dr. Janina Jeff about how much DNA we share with a banana, find out why bananas make other fruits ripen, how bananas grow, and where that slipping on a banana peel joke came from. Speaking of jokes, we’ll hear a bunch of banana jokes from listeners too! Plus: The Moment of Um answers the question: “Why are peaches fuzzy?” You can hear more from Dr. Jeff on her podcast In Those Genes. Silent film expert Lea Stans has a wonderful blog post about the history of the banana peel joke that you can read right here. You can see some of those early comics that featured the joke! https://www.youtube.com/watch/RMDgmHB4znc Want to support Brains On and all of the shows in the Brains On Universe? Sign up for Smarty Pass. You’ll get ad-free episodes of all our shows, bonus content, virtual hangouts, discounts on merch and more! Want to see Brains On live?!? We are probably coming to a city near you. For a complete list of shows and links to tickets head to our events page. More shows announced soon! March 7 – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI March 8 – Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul, MN March 28 – Center Stage, Atlanta, GA March 29 – Amaturo Theater, Fort Lauderdale, FL April 11 – Walker Theater, Chattanooga, TN April 12 – Carolina Theater, Durham, NC April 25 – Marines Memorial, San Francisco, CA April 26 – Newmark Theater, Portland, OR May 30 – Electric City, Buffalo, NY May 31 – Royal Theatre, Toronto, ON See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
