The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes

Podcast Transcript Located in the middle of North America lies one of the largest collections of freshwater lakes in the world.  These lakes have a unique geological origin, and function like few lakes on Earth.  Also, given their location, they are home to several large industrial centers and is part of one of the most …

Read more

Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon-Tiki Expedition

Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon-Tiki Expedition

Podcast Transcript In 1947, a Norwegian adventurer named Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove a theory of his that the people of Polynesia came there from South America. To prove his theory, he built a raft out of local materials in Peru and set sail across the Pacific. His voyage was successful, but the same …

Read more

The Five Good Emperors

The Five Good Emperors

Podcast Transcript Depending on how you define it, there were approximately 70 Roman Emperors.  They were a mixed bag ranging from philosophers to the insane, from generals to children.  Some were truly horrible, but some were actually pretty good at their job. In particular, there were five consecutive emperors who reigned during the peak of …

Read more

Episode 1000!

Episode 1000!

Podcast Transcript 2 years, nine months, and one day ago, I sat down and recorded the first episode of a daily podcast.  Today, I’m recording episode 1000. It has been a lot of work, but it has been a great experience, and to date, hundreds of thousands of people from almost every country on Earth …

Read more

The World’s Greatest Wagers

The World's Greatest Wagers

Podcast Transcript Throughout history, people have bet on everything and anything. From the mundane to the extremely important. From casino bets to bets on science, and even the future of humanity.  These bets can serve as vehicles to win or lose tons of money or as a way to prove a point. Other times they …

Read more

All About Ramadan

All About Ramadan

Podcast Transcript Once a month, every year, Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan.  It is a month of fasting, prayer, and introspection, and it is the most important month on the Islamic calendar. However, the time of Ramadan change every year, and the exact date it starts is often a matter of interpretation, as is …

Read more

The 1970 October Crisis in Quebec

The 1970 October Crisis in Quebec

Podcast Transcript Canada has a reputation for being a rather low-key, friendly place.  For the most part, this is true. It is a nice place to visit and is not usually in turmoil. However, that hasn’t always been the case. Fifty years ago, Canadians faced the threat of extremism and terrorism, and it almost did …

Read more

The Marginal Revolution

The Marginal Revolution

Podcast Transcript In most academic disciplines, there is often a single idea or discovery which makes everything fall into place.  All of the things which didn’t make sense before suddenly do when looked through this new lens.  These eye-opening discoveries usually occur in the hard sciences, but one such advancement also took place in the …

Read more

The History of Libraries

The History of Libraries

Podcast Transcript As soon as humans developed systems of writing, they faced a problem. What to do with all of the things that were written down?  If you were going to document the lives of kings or tax records, then you need to be able to reference these details at some later date.  The solution …

Read more