Podcast Transcript Located near the city of Masvingo in Central Zimbabwe are the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations of the Middle Ages. When European explorers first discovered the ruins, they simply couldn’t believe that it was built by native Africans. Subsequent archeological investigations showed not just that they were wrong, but that the …
Podcast Transcript In the year 73 BC, Rome faced one of its greatest threats to its existence. An army of over 100,000 liberated slaves rose up in revolt and threatened the very fabric of the Roman Republic. The revolt was led by a gladiator slave who lead his motley army and, to the astonishment of …
Podcast Transcript Sometimes the most important things are things we don’t even want to think about let alone talk about. The issue of handling and removing human waste and dirty water is one such problem that has confronted humans since the dawn of time. The elimination of waste and excess water was one of the …
Podcast Transcript If you measure the success of a lifeform by how long they manage to exist on Earth, then by far the most successful forms of life have been stromatolites. Stromatolites aren’t the sexiest form of life. They still exist on Earth today, but if you have seen them, you might never have known …
Podcast Transcript In 1996 two college students walking along the Columbia River in Washington State stumbled upon what turned out to be an ancient human skull. What they couldn’t have known was that their discovery would lead to a better understanding of how humans came to the Americas, as well as years of scientific, cultural, …
Podcast Transcript When most people think of Switzerland, they of small country embedded in the Alps that makes fine chocolates and is the home of the cuckoo clock. They have been neutral in European conflicts for almost 500 years and they serve as the headquarters for several international organizations. Yet, it was the Swiss who …
Podcast Transcript Every single day, the oceans of the world go through a cycle with two high tides and two low tides. For thousands of years, no one knew why the tides rose and fell, and even today, most people only have a vague idea of what drives the tides. They dictate the lives of many people …
Podcast Transcript Prior to the modern era, very few people traveled anywhere. It was rare for anyone to travel more than about 20 miles from where they were born. However, there were a few people who managed to travel quite extensively. In particular, there was one man in the 14th century who might have traveled more …
Podcast Transcript I’m sure all of you are familiar with Watergate. You also might be familiar with Gamergate, Contragate, Pizzagate, Partygate, Chinagate, Deflategate, Sandpapergate, and WinegateThere are dozens and dozens more of these scandals which have all been named with the suffix -gate. But why do scandals get affixed with -gate in the English language, and …