Podcast Transcript In 1188, a historic gathering took place in the city of León, in the Kingdom of León and Galicia. It was a kingdom-wide assembly convened by King Alfonso IX that brought together nobles, clergy, and town representatives to advise the crown. It is significant because it is the earliest documented European assembly to …
Podcast Transcript Assuming everything goes well, sometime in late 2026, NASA’s next major space observatory will launch: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Assuming the launch and deployment go well, it will map large areas of the universe to understand why cosmic expansion is accelerating and how galaxies and dark matter evolved. It will also …
Podcast Transcript One of the most notable figures in early American history is Pocahontas. Best known as the main character in Disney’s animated film Pocahontas, she was not a fictional character. She was, in fact, quite real. However, her real life was radically different from that depicted in popular culture. In fact, there are enormous …
Podcast Transcript Sitting at the far top right of the periodic table is the element helium. Helium is the second-lightest and second-most abundant element in the universe. It is also an inert gas that doesn’t form molecules with anything. It has extremely few uses and, despite its cosmic abundance, is very hard to find on …
Podcast Transcript Almost a billion people in the world today speak a language that originated from Latin, aka a Romance Language. Despite sharing the same origin, the Romance languages have evolved differently, in some cases very differently. ….and while you are almost certainly aware of the largest Romance language, there is a good chance that …
Podcast Transcript At some point, you might have been called, or might have called someone else a Luddite, due to a refusal to adopt a new technology. Nowadays, it’s usually done in jest, but the Luddites were real. While the term is often used to describe any anti-technology attitude, the actual Luddite worldview was more …
Podcast Transcript When looking at a dachshund and a great dane, it is hard to believe that these dogs trace back to the same ancestors. Yet, this is true! Through centuries of domestication and selective breeding, humans have transformed dogs into the most diverse mammal species known today. Yet, despite the incredible diversity in dog …
Podcast Transcript Wars can be fought in many different ways. Ultimately, they are resolved on the battlefield. However, there are other ways to try to influence the outcome of a conflict. You can try to destroy their logistical support for their troops. You can attempt to destroy their economic base by burning their agricultural fields …
Podcast Transcript One of the most ubiquitous items of clothing in formal and business attire is the necktie. Yet a cursory check of paintings from several centuries ago shows that neckties have not been around forever. They are, in fact, a relatively recent invention. Over the last century, neckwear has both defined fashion and changed …