Podcast Transcript In 1906, George Soper, a freelance sanitary engineer, was hired to investigate several outbreaks of typhoid fever in wealthy New York households. The reason why these outbreaks were mysterious is that typhoid fever usually only occurred in places with unsanitary conditions. What Soper discovered radically changed our knowledge of infectious diseases and how …
Podcast Transcript Songkran is a traditional festival celebrated in Thailand that marks the start of the Thai New Year. It is also known as the Water Festival, as it involves splashing water on one another as a symbolic gesture of cleansing and washing away the sins and bad luck of the previous year. However, it …
Podcast Transcript For over 1000 years, England has been a monarchy.…except for eleven years in the 17th century when it wasn’t. During that period, it was ruled by a man by the name of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was unquestionably a brilliant general and was also a bit of a hypocrite when it came to politics. …
Podcast Transcript Located on the tips of our fingers are features known as friction ridges. We evolved them to get a better grip on objects. It just so happens that those friction ridges are unique to every person. That allows us to use friction ridges as unique identifiers and for authorities to use them to …
Podcast Transcript Located in southeastern Europe is the Balkan Peninsula. It is home to multiple ethics groups, languages, and religions. It has one of the most dynamic and confusing histories of anywhere in Europe, with multiple migrations of people arriving over the centuries. Not surprisingly, it has also been the source of many conflicts, some …
Podcast Transcript Gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces of nature, yet, if you have enough of it, it can create the most powerful thing in the known universe: a black hole. The very idea of a black hole didn’t really exist until the early 20th century, and now they are regularly found by …
Podcast Transcript Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last ruler of an independent Egypt and one of the most important women of the ancient world. In addition to being a brilliant and cunning ruler in her own right, she was also famously associated with two of the most powerful men in the late Roman Republic. Yet …
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 …
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 …