Podcast Transcript In the mid-18th century, excavations in the ancient town of Herculaneum, just outside the city of Pompeii and destroyed by the same volcano, discovered something….interesting. They found a villa that contained 1800 ancient scrolls. Unfortunately, the volcano’s heat carbonized them, making them illegible and incredibly fragile. Still, for over 250 years, scholars have …
Podcast Transcript Let me cut right to the chase. This episode is going to be a deep dive into the origin of some common idioms. I don’t want to dance around the subject or have to walk on eggshells, so I’m using this introduction to break the ice. Whether you’re feeling under the weather or …
Podcast Transcript One of the most famous lines in poetry comes from the poet Robert Burns, who spoke of ‘The best-laid schemes of mice and men.’ The line has been used in reference to the fact that no matter how good the plan or the intentions behind it, things will often not go according to …
Podcast Transcript The most popular sports league in the world in terms of the number of people who follow and watch is the English Premier League. Unlike other sports leagues, the English Premier League is relatively new. It was only created in the early 90s in response to the poor condition of top-division football at …
Podcast Transcript Mark Twain once said, ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ The reason why he placed statistics into its own category is because it is possible to use numbers to misrepresent the truth, distort reality, or outright lie. However, if you know what to look for, you can catch …
Podcast Transcript The month of July is named after Julius Caesar. In 44 BC, after his assassination, the Roman Senate renamed the month of Quintilis after him in honor of the month he was born. The fact that he was appointed dictator for life probably had something to do with it. All the emperors that …
Podcast Transcript One of the leading destinations for live stage performances is Broadway. The term Broadway is not just a name that refers to theater in New York City. It also describes a theatrical performance style that has become synonymous with it. But why did theater develop on that particular street in that particular city, …
Podcast Transcript In December 1936, the United Kingdom underwent its greatest constitutional crisis of the 20th century. The king, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee. This might not seem like a scandal today, but at the time, it threatened to collapse the entire British government when Europe was on the brink …
Podcast Transcript Before the Allied invasions of Europe in World War II, the ground war against Germany and Italy was first fought in North Africa. Although it doesn’t receive the attention as other parts of the Second World War get, the war in North Africa was pivotal to the ultimate resolution of the war in …