The Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia

Transcript The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey is one of the largest, oldest, and most significant buildings in the world. It has served as a holy place for three different religions and has been the focal point for two different empires.  Almost, 1,500 years after its construction, it is still making headlines today.  Learn more …

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About The Global Positioning System

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About The Global Positioning System

Transcript Today, GPS devices that can determine where you are in the world have become ubiquitous. In fact, there is a very good chance that the device you are using to listen to this podcast has a GPS receiver in it.  GPS is used for a wide variety of applications all over the world. It …

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All Roads Lead to Rome

All Roads Lead to Rome

Transcript You have probably heard the expression “All roads lead to Rome”. Well, it isn’t just a pithy saying to reference how you can take many paths to reach the same goal. It has a very literal meaning and its origin comes from a monument that still, sort of, exists in Rome today. Learn more …

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Nijmegen: The City That Remembers

Nijmegen: The City That Remembers

Transcript Located approximately 100km east of Rotterdam, the city of Nijmegen is a mid-sized Dutch city situated on the Waal river that few people outside of the Netherlands are familiar with. For the last several years, every single day regardless of the weather, people of Nijmegen have honored events that took place in the city …

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Supernovas

Supernovas: They're a Blast

Podcast Transcript One of the brightest things in the universe is caused by one of the most powerful explosions in the universe: a supernova.  While they don’t happen very often, they were known to ancient peoples and their appearance would often be recorded because they were such a rare and special event. Today, astrophysicists have …

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Tulipmania!

Tulipmania

Transcript In the 17th century, the Netherlands was struck by the world’s first investment bubble. They weren’t investing in stocks or bonds or real estate. They were investing in…..tulip bulbs.  Tulip bulbs became a mania and even common people were spending money on tulips. The price of some tulip bulbs rose so high that at …

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The UNESCO World Heritage Program

The UNESCO World Heritage Program

Transcript I’m sure everyone has heard of such famous places as the Great Pyramids, the Colosseum, the Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal.  Besides all being famous landmarks, they have something else in common. They are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  What is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and how does a site …

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Olympian George Eyser

Olympian George Eyser

Transcript Although you probably never heard of him before, American George Eyser is one of the most decorated Olympians in history. In the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, he put on one of the greatest single-day performances in Olympic History.  Yet, his real claim to fame is not what he accomplished, but how.  Learn more …

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The World’s Most Expensive Things

The World's Most Expensive Things

Transcript There is an old saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. But sometimes, one person’s treasure is just another person’s treasure that they can’t afford.  I’m talking about the realm of ultra-expensive items which would be more than most people would make in a lifetime. Items so expensive, that they usually make …

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