Podcast Transcript The month of June comes from the Latin word Iunius, which is derived from the Roman goddess Juno. Juno was the queen of the Roman gods and was the goddess of marriage, love, and childbirth. Despite her domestic associations, she was often depicted ready for battle, holding a shield and a spear. While …
Podcast Transcript In April 1945, in the last days of the war in Europe, everything was falling apart for the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler and his closest advisors holed up in a bunker in Berlin and issued delusional orders until the Russians arrived. Hitler, his wife, and other high ranking Nazi officials took their own …
Podcast Transcript One of the most important markets in the global economy is the bond market. The bond market doesn’t get as much attention as the market for stocks. Yet, the global market for bonds is actually larger than the total value of all publicly traded stocks. Moreover, bond markets have the power to influence …
Podcast Transcript Every year, on the last Monday in May, the United States honors its war dead. It is often celebrated with parades, cookouts, and ceremonies at military cemeteries. While many people just think of it as a three-day weekend and the beginning of summer, it is a tradition that extends back over 160 years. …
Podcast Transcript After the American Revolution, the United States economy was in trouble. One solution proposed to solve the crisis was the establishment of a national bank. The bank wasn’t just an economic issue; it also sparked one of the first constitutional debates in the nation’s history. Fast-forward several decades, and the United States found …
Podcast Transcript The Romans were familiar with Africa, or at least part of it. At one point, they controlled everything on the north coast of Africa from Morocco to Egypt. However, below their African territories was the vast Sahara Desert, which was extremely difficult to cross. For all practical purposes, it served as a permeable …
Podcast Transcript In early 18th-century London, a petty criminal became one of the most celebrated people in England. He wasn’t celebrated despite the fact that he was a criminal; he was celebrated because he was a criminal. The authorities didn’t share in the public’s enthusiasm. He was arrested several times, but he managed to escape …
Podcast Transcript In the middle of the Third Century, things were looking really bad for the Roman Empire. This period was marked by civil war, economic collapse, foreign invasions, and a rapid succession of emperors, often military usurpers, most of whom died violently. If things had gone just a little differently, we would have been …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, people have looked into the night sky and occasionally seen something unusual. It was something fuzzy, sometimes bright, it had a tail and it wasn’t there before. It appeared out of nowhere and, after a few weeks or months, disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. When these events …