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 …
Podcast Transcript On December 22, 1808, concertgoers in Vienna, Austria, were witness to a monumental event in music history. Ludwig van Beethoven held a concert where he debuted several of his greatest works in one program. While the concert has gone down as one of the most important in history, the conditions during the concert …
Podcast Transcript Unquestionably, the most popular clothing innovation of the last 150 years has been blue jeans. They can be found all over the world, yet they have become synonymous with American culture. While modern blue jeans are definitely American, their origin actually goes back centuries earlier to Europe. Learn more about the history of …
Podcast Transcript Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known to history as Claudius, was the fourth Emperor of Rome. Of the emperors that came before him and all those who came after him, he was the most unlikely of emperors. Up until the moment he became emperor, no one during his entire life seriously thought of …