One of the biggest innovations in computing over the last several years has been the blockchain. There have been a host of companies that have hyped products using a blockchain. Blockchains are the basis of all cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. Despite all the talk about blockchains, most people still aren’t totally sure what a blockchain …
Podcast Transcript Under your feet and all around you are rocks and minerals. Many times in your life, you have probably picked up a rock and looked at it. You might have climbed over rocks and mountains and never given a single thought as to what they consist of or what they even are. Rocks …
Podcast Transcript In 1864, Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born in Cochran Mills, Pennsylvania. At the age of 18, she began a career as a journalist writing under a pen name. During her career, she became a pioneer in both investigative journalism and travel writing. She later became a novelist, ran an industrial factory, and was …
Podcast Transcript In 1864, Maximilian, the son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and a member of the Hapsburg dynasty, arrived in Mexico. He had never been to Mexico before, but it was a good first trip, considering that when he arrived, within days, he was crowned the emperor of Mexico. Unfortunately, his rule over …
Podcast Transcript After the Allied landing in Normandy in World War II, the Allies made progress pushing back the Germans. However, by September, things had slowed down. One allied commander devised a plan that he thought would end the war in one fell swoop. The plan was bold, audacious, and highly risky, and in the …
Podcast Transcript Every country has a national dish, and Spain is no exception. The dish that most people associate with Spain is the rice dish known as paella. Paella is, on the one hand, very simple, and on the other hand, very complex and confusing. It also has a surprising history touching on almost every …
Podcast Transcript Many people have hobbies—pastimes that they enjoy and maybe even spend a lot of money on. However, there are some people whose hobbies become an obsession. This is particularly true in the world of birdwatching. Some birders have spent their entire lives trying to view and count as many species of birds as …
Podcast Transcript When European explorers set off from Europe, many of them chased things that didn’t exist. The Fountain of Youth, the City of El Dorado, and Prester John were all things they pursued but came up empty-handed. However, there was one thing that these European explorers searched for that actually did exist, but not …
Podcast Transcript In the 20th century, there was one woman who put herself in the center of the world of modern art. She didn’t just collect art. She befriended starving artists, she discovered many unknown artists, and she had affairs with many other artists. Her obsession with modern art resulted in one of the greatest …