Podcast Transcript Having lost the race to the Moon, the Soviet space program decided to go in a different direction. If they couldn’t be first on the moon, then they could take the lead in the area of endurance in space and the development of space stations. In 1971 they launched the world’s first space …
Podcast Transcript Every day, millions of people around the world hit the links to play a round of golf. The very best at the game are able to earn millions of dollars a year as professionals. However, this global recreational and competitive sport has origins that most people aren’t aware of, dating back even earlier …
Podcast Transcript Centuries before the arrival of Europeans, one of the greatest civilizations in the Americas rose and fell. They left behind a rich legacy of roads and construction. They had an advanced system of writing as well as a highly developed system of mathematics and astronomy. However, this advanced civilization suddenly ended. The people …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, wine has been one of the most important beverages in the world. It has been consumed by common folk and by emperors, and it can be made in a surprisingly wide variety of geographies. It can be made by backyard vintners as well as by megacorporations. It is so …
Podcast Transcript In June 1942, American and Japanese naval forces squared off in what was a decisive naval battle of the war in the Pacific. The fleets, dominated by aircraft carriers, met just off the coast of a remote coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean known as Midway Island. The battle was unlike any battle …
Transcript When we think of what made human beings into human beings, one of the first things which come up is the discovery of fire. The control and use of fire is one of the earliest things which our ancestors did, which separated us from other apes and began us on the path to becoming …
Podcast Transcript Almost 2000 years ago, after conquering most of the island of Great Britain, Roman forces established a settlement at a strategically narrow point on the Thames River. Since its establishment, the city has grown dramatically, at one point having secured the title of the largest city in the world. Today it is one …
Podcast Transcript The universe is billions of years old. If, in the future, humanity were to explore the galaxy and visit other planets around other stars, we might be visiting places where at one time, an advanced civilization once existed. However, if such a civilization existed, it might have been millions of years in the …
Podcast Transcript Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. However, titanium is not even remotely close to the ninth most common element in industrial or commercial use. In fact, despite being so abundant, we didn’t even know titanium existed until the late 18th century, and we couldn’t figure out how to …