Podcast Transcript One of the most common substances on Earth is sand. Most people don’t think very much about sand, but sand is an extremely important part of our world. It isn’t just for building sand castles and going to the beach. Sand is the second most consumed resource in the world after water. There …
Podcast Transcript The earliest forms of democracy go back over 2000 years to Ancient Greece. While this early system did have voting, not everyone could vote. In fact, most people couldn’t vote. Voting was limited to free men and then only property-holding men. The expansion of voting rights to women took centuries, but by the …
Podcast Transcript If you ever watch a war movie, you might see a scene where a prisoner of war evokes the Geneva convention to their captors. But what exactly is the Geneva Convention, and what does it say? Why did countries sign a treaty covering ethics in war, of all things? Who is and isn’t …
Podcast Transcript In the aftermath of the Second World War, everyone had hoped that major military conflicts would be a thing of the past. However, just five years after the end of the war, another major conflict erupted on the Korean Peninsula that directly or indirectly engaged most of the world’s great powers. The war …
Podcast Transcript In 1982, the Phillips and Sony Corporations jointly released the compact audio disc to the world. The technology involved was originally just used to play digital audio, but it actually had much more potential. Over the last 40 years, basic optical disc technology used in CDs has expanded to store digital video and …
Podcast Transcript The United States and Canada share the world’s longest undefended border. The United States and the United Kingdom have shared what has been called a “special relationship” since the Second World War. The idea of these countries going to war with each other today is unthinkable. Yet, this was not always the case. …
Podcast Transcript The Roman Empire was ruled by a single family for its first century. The family was actually a merger of two of the most distinguished clans in Roman history. This family included some of the best and worst emperors in Rome’s history. It also included a host of potential emperors who showed great …
Podcast Transcript Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC, is the home of the president of the United States. The idea of a home for the president dates back to the very first president, and ever since the second president, every single one has lived in the same house while they were in office. …
Podcast Transcript The modern world runs on electricity. That isn’t a throwaway statement. If we remove electricity, our civilization will quickly fall apart. The power that runs the modern world is dependent on a very technical, and in some cases very fragile, network of electrical generation, transmission, and consumption. These electrical networks can be as …