In 1610, Galileo Gallieli used a new invention called the telescope to observe the planet Jupiter. What he found revolutionized the science of astronomy and our entire understanding of the universe. He discovered four moons in orbit around the planet, the first objects in the solar system to have been discovered since antiquity. Today, astronomers …
Podcast Transcript In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, France was shaken by a crisis that shook their entire society. An army officer was wrongly convicted in a sham trial. Then over the next several years, the French military doubled down, refusing to acknowledge what they had done, and punished everyone who attempted to …
Podcast Transcript In 1970, the United States passed the Organized Crime Control Act, which established the Witness Security Program or WITSEC. Since being enacted, WITSEC has had thousands of witnesses and family members enter the program, none of whom, to date, have been lost under their protection. The program is a key weapon in the …
Podcast Transcript When you think of evil, characters like Hannibal Lecter, the Joker, and Michael Myers probably come to mind. But what is evil really? Evil can take different forms: sadistic and brutal, but it can also be boring and normalized. During the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, political philosopher Hannah Arendt reported on the …
Podcast Transcript Today, cookbooks are ubiquitous. Go to any bookstore and you can find dozens, if not hundreds, of different cookbooks. Search online, and you can find tens of thousands of websites that provide recipes. The story of cookbooks is fascinating because it mirrors the entire evolution of human civilization. Not just how we cook …
Podcast Transcript One of the most legendary legions in the history of the Roman military was the Legio IX Hispana, or the Ninth Spanish Legion. They served under Pompey the Great and later with Julius Caesar in Gaul. They later served Augustus and were pivotal in the conquest of Britain under Emperor Claudius. Then at …
Podcast Transcript The month of August was named in honor of the emperor Augustus by the Roman Senate. Originally called Sextilis, the sixth month in the early Roman calendar, it was renamed in 8 BC to recognize Augustus’s achievements, particularly his victories and consolidation of power. According to Roman tradition, the month was chosen because …
Podcast Transcript In the 13th century, the Republic of Venice was one of the leading merchant empires in Europe. The merchants from Venice traveled far and wide in pursuit of profit. A few of them, however, traveled very far. A small group of men from the same family made the extremely long and dangerous voyage …
Podcast Transcript One of the most popular foods around the world is the hamburger. If most people think of American foods, it is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Hamburgers are pretty simple in terms of what they are composed of and how they are prepared, but they have developed an enormous amount …