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The number 45 is highly significant.
It is the sum of all the numbers from one to nine. It is half of a 90-degree angle.
45 revolutions per minute is a popular format for vinyl records.
The Colt .45 cartridge changed the American West; the Colt .45 changed the beer industry; and the Colt .45s were the original name for the Houston Astros.
But the most important fact about the number 45 is that this is the 45th time I have answered your questions.
Stay tuned for the 45th installment of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Let’s jump right into things.
Tom Allen on Patreon asks, Have you had a chance to SCUBA dive Monterey Bay yet, and to visit the aquarium? At your site, I found a number of articles on SCUBA but only one podcast. I think the podcast listeners would enjoy hearing more of your personal experience of what it feels and looks like down there. In an old article on your 10 favorite SCUBA sites, you mentioned you had not visited Monterey. Did you ever get there?
No, I have never dived in Monterey Bay, and it is still on my list of places to dive. Nor have I visited the aquarium there yet.
When I first started traveling, one of the very first things I did was get SCUBA certified in Lahaina, Maui. From there, I did, I estimate, about 120 dives around the world
I didn’t usually visit places with the express purpose of diving, but I tried to dive if the opportunity was available. I eventually got my advanced open water certification, Nitrox certification, and my rescue diver certification.
It’s been many years since I’ve been SCUBA diving, so if and when I do it again, I’ll probably need a refresher, but I figure it will be like riding a bicycle.
William Stott asks: Hey Gary! Bill Stott here, President of the Cornhusker Completionist Club. In the past, you talked about starting to study Latin when COVID hit. With it being a ‘dead language’, I have never heard it actually used conversationally that I know of, other than the many short phrases we commonly have incorporated into speech: “Carpe diem”, “veni, vidi, vici”, or the one you sometimes use on the show – “Mea culpa”. Could you please use it in a couple of sentences for us?
Latin is a dead language, but it is not an extinct language. There is a difference. No one speaks Latin as their native language, but there are still Latin speakers out there. You can find quite a few YouTube videos of people speaking Latin fluently, and there is a small group of Latin speakers out there.
Mea Culpa is just Latin for my fault. It has been used in many contexts throughout history. The term has remained in Latin and has been used in English as a phrase. It is also used in the Catholic Latin Mass.
In the city of Sienna in the 12th century, those guilty of murder, as part of their penance, had to throw themselves on the ground three times and say Mea culpa; peccavi; Domine miserere mei, which translates to “Through my fault. I have sinned. Lord, have mercy on me.”
The next time you bump into someone, instead of saying “my bad” just say “mea culpa.”
I won’t say that I’m great at Latin, but the act of learning it has taught me more about grammar, including English grammar, than I ever knew before.
Krista Hawco asks: I live in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. You talked about our province during your episode about animals that really exist (Giant Squid), and I think one other time about Pirates or Vikings (we have had both). How many times has our province been discussed on your show? Have you ever traveled here?
I have been to your province several times, and in fact, I’ve been to both Labrador and Newfoundland. I’ve been to Gros Morne and Terra Nova National Parks; I’ve been to L’Anse aux Meadows; I’ve been to Battle Harbor in Labrador as well as Red Bay.
Newfoundland and Labrador is certainly worthy of its own episode in the future because its history, as I’m sure you’re aware, is very different than that of any other Canadian Province.
Ellen Schrader Stutts asks: How do you assign which one of you guys is responsible for each topic? I know Joel is a history teacher, but sometimes Olivia covers history topics as well. At the end of each episode, I like to guess who did it.
For the most part, episodes aren’t assigned. We have a weekly meeting online where we talk about what topics we are all interested in writing about. I keep a master list of show ideas that I’ve talked about before that anyone can pick from, or if they have their own ideas, the writers are open to pursuing those ideas as well.
I will often suggest categories that we haven’t covered in a while. If we haven’t done a profile on a country or a WWII episode in a while, I’ll mention that we are due. Likewise, I’ll throw ideas out during the meeting that anyone is welcome to take if they find them interesting.
I don’t assign specific episodes because if the writer doesn’t find it interesting, they probably won’t be motivated to write it.
I should also note that, even though I don’t credit myself, I’m the editor of every single episode. I often change words to sound more natural when spoken, and I often rewrite the introduction and the concluding paragraph. I might add or change sections to make it make more sense. In a few rare cases, I’ve had to do major surgery on a script, but that doesn’t happen very often anymore.
I have noticed, and I think both Joel and Olivia would agree, that it becomes much easier once you’ve gotten some episodes under your belt. In fact, now that I do more editing, I’ve decided I’m not going to accept any one-off script submissions, just because it takes time to get the format of the show down.
Kevin O’Keefe asks: I LOVE the weekly episodes with Joel. I started binge-listening to them backward from the most recent to the first one. Can we call someone who has listened to all the weekly episodes the 100 percenter club? But serious question. I think everyone should listen to the weekly shows; it just rounds out the knowledge, and you guys add so much to the individual episodes. I really feel like the knowledge level has doubled from listening to your commentary on the episodes. After talking through all the different episodes, is there one episode that you would want to do again to correct or change things, etc or one episode that really launched so many more new episode ideas?
First, thanks for the shoutout for Everything Everywhere Weekly. It is the weekly recap show that Joel and I record every week, where we cover the previous week’s episodes. We will talk about things that didn’t make it into the episode and often go off-topic into other subjects.
Everything Everywhere Weekly is available on Patreon to all tiers of supporters starting at just $2/month.
Completionist Club members who have also listened to every episode of the weekly show can append an oak leaf cluster to their membership.
As for which episode spurred the most episodes, I have no clue. It would have to be a very broad subject, perhaps the episode I did summarizing the Mongol Empire.
However, if you listen to the weekly show, you can listen in on the thought process for how episodes are born.
Chuck Tomasi asks, How have you changed the show (technical, format, process, etc.) since you first started in 2020?
I have changed almost nothing regarding the production of the show. The biggest thing is that I changed the sound effect used before the outro because people complained that it was too jarring, and I could see that.
Before I launched the show, I developed a very simple format, and I stuck with it. For the most part, I use the exact same tools as I did on episode one. I got a new microphone, and I’ve recorded in different spaces as I’ve moved, but the software I use, GarageBand, hasn’t changed.
Ken Warden asks: The Okefenokee Refuge has gotten a UN-recognized status. Can you give us an update and advise on steps we can take to stay aware and provide a check on actions we may need.
At the recent UNESCO convention, the Okefenokee Refuge was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There is absolutely nothing you need to do or be aware of. It was added to a list. That’s it.
It is basically like being elected to the Hall of Fame for parks and heritage sites. There is nothing that changes. It has the same management as before, except they might now put up a plaque.
I’ve been to over 400 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They are all operated and managed differently depending on their location.
Mae Dingman asks: Now that you have added AP course support to your website, do you plan to extend that program, and if so, to what other subjects?
The thing with the AP courses is that there is a set curriculum that teachers have to follow to prepare for the test. So it’s pretty easy to slot episodes I’ve done into that curriculum.
We currently have a page on the website for AP World History and AP US History. There are many other AP courses, but they don’t necessarily lend themselves to this podcast. A few episodes might be applicable, but only a few.
That being said, any teacher is free to use whatever episodes they want in their curriculum, for whatever course they might be teaching. I’ve created a Facebook group for teachers who would like to use the podcast as a resource.
I know Joel plans on assigning an episode a day. Listening to episodes is optional, but it gives students a more in-depth explanation of some topics and also allows for coverage of topics that might not be covered in class due to time constraints.
Also, if you plan to incorporate the podcast into your classroom, I can record a custom message for your students.
BAM asks Do you plan to cover more events from post- World War 2 history that have not been covered yet, or were only mentioned in passing before? For example, Joe McCarthy, Watergate.
I actually have done quite a few shows covering post-WWII history. I’ve done episodes on the Vietnam War, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and many other Cold War topics. We have a Watergate episode already written that will be released very soon.
Joshua Felty asks: Hi Gary, are you open to delving into religion and philosophy topics more? It seems like you might be after your recent episode on Confucianism. I was thinking you could make great episodes that stay fact-based on other belief systems or topics (like the making and influence of the King James Bible).
Yeah, I’ve done some episodes in the past, and I’ll be doing more in the future.
I’ve actually considered doing episodes on the King James Bible and the origins of the bible as well, including the Council of Hippo, St. Jerome, and how the books of the bible were selected. There are several apocryphal books that were not included. For several hundred years, there was no “bible” per se; it was just a collection of letters and books.
I’ve considered doing an episode on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which has an interesting history.
Joel had recently mentioned doing an episode on the early 19th-century Great Awakening, and I’ve thought about 19th-century utopian communities.
There are some philosophy episode ideas as well, but they tend to be harder to write because the boundaries of what should be in the episode are more ambiguous than in a straight history episode.
That concludes this month’s Q&A episode. If you want to leave a question for next month’s show, you have to join the Facebook group or Discord where I get my questions from.