Podcast Transcript In the 18th century, the French writer and philosopher Voltaire said, ??”This body which was called, and which still calls itself, the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” Since then, some variation of this quote has found itself into history classes around the world. So what …
Podcast Transcript For thousands of years, rice has been one of the most important agricultural crops in the world. It has fed billions of people, has been crossbred into tens of thousands of variants, and is now grown in every continent except Antarctica. The importance of rice has not diminished over time and in fact, …
Podcast Transcript In the early 20th century, a Soviet agronomist named Trofim Lysenko developed some unique theories of biology and genetics. He rose to the top of the Soviet hierarchy in his field, and Stalin himself endorsed his theories. The result of the implementation of his ideas was nothing short of disastrous. Learn more about …
Podcast Transcript On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended the gold convertibility of the US Dollar and simultaneously ended the Bretton Woods System, which had governed international monetary policy since the end of the Second World War. The system which replaced Bretton Woods wasn’t built on formal treaties and conferences. It was a …
Podcast Transcript About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid collided with the Earth near the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This impact ended the era of the dinosaurs and resulted in one of the greatest species extinctions in history. That large asteroid wasn’t the first to hit the Earth, nor will it be the last. …
Podcast Transcript In the early 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine ordered the construction of a church on the burial site of Saint Peter. It was the greatest church in Christianity. Centuries later, that building was falling apart, so Pope Julius II ordered the construction of a replacement church that would be newer and much …
Podcast Transcript Sometime during the reign of Ptolemy I or Ptolemy II, the Egyptian state decided to build an institution dedicated to accumulating all human knowledge in the City of Alexandria. As the city grew, this institution grew along with it to become the greatest knowledge repository in the ancient world. …and then Julius Caesar …
Podcast Transcript At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the delegates worked hard to create a document that would govern their new country. At the end of the convention, they had a session titled “Leftover Business.” It was here in the “leftover business” section of the constitutional convention where the Vice Presidency was born. Some say it …
Podcast Transcript In 1845, farmers around Europe suffered from a blight that devastated the potato crop. This lasted for several years, but nowhere was it more pronounced than it was on the island of Ireland, where it resulted in death and mass migration. The effects of this potato blight can still be witnessed in the …