10 Ways You Can Know That the Earth is a Sphere

10 Ways You Can Know That the Earth is a Sphere

Podcast Transcript One of the saddest things in the modern world is that with all of our technology, and with all of the information in the world at our fingertips, there are more people today who think the Earth is flat than there were 20 years ago.  While most people don’t subscribe to this, thankfully, …

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Was Jeanne Calment Really The World’s Oldest Person?

Was Jeanne Calment Really The World's Oldest Person?

Podcast Transcript On August 4, 1997, Jeanne Louise Calment passed away in Arles, France. At the time, it was reported that she was 122 years and 164 days old. No one else has ever been verified to have ever even lived to the age of 120.  However, in the years since her passing, many people …

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Objects of State: United States Edition

Objects of State: United States Edition

Podcast Transcript Every government had objects which central to their functioning. These are items, physical objects, usually steeped in history and tradition which are involved in the mythology of the state.  In most countries, these objects are often given the status of religious relics, and in some countries, they might actually be religious relics.  The …

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The Miller–Urey Experiment

The Miller–Urey Experiment

Podcast Transcript One of the fundamental questions of humanity is where did we come from? How did life on Earth come about?  While there have been many theories as to how this could have happened, in 1952, one man decided to actually run an experiment to see if they could replicate the early conditions on …

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Timothy Dexter: Sometimes It’s Better To Be Lucky

Timothy Dexter: Sometimes It's Better To Be Lucky

Podcast Transcript You’ve probably heard the stories of many titans of industry. People like John D. Rockefeller, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos grew their companies to become large enterprises and then became fantastically wealthy.  To be sure, having intelligence, skill and foresight can certainly lead to success in business. But sometimes, it is …

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Were The Dark Ages Really That Dark?

Were The Dark Ages Really That Dark?

Podcast Transcript The term Dark Ages has been used to refer to a period in European history when culture supposedly regressed and civilization was in decline. The idea of a Dark Ages is one that was prevalent amongst historians for centuries. But lately, historians have been reconsidering the idea of a Dark Age and questioning …

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The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755

The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755

Podcast Transcript On the morning of November 1, 1755, the citizens of Lisbon, Portugal set out to go to church for the feast of All Saints Day.  Little did they know that moments later, their lives and the lives of everyone in Lisbon were about to be turned upside down and that the city of …

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How Do Satellites Work?

How Do Satellites Work?

Podcast Transcript Somewhere over your head, right this moment is an artificial satellite. Many of them actually.  They beam television and radio signals down to Earth. They can tell us our exact time and location, and they can also help us predict the weather and they are now even providing broadband internet.  But how do …

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The History of the 27th Amendment

The History of the 27th Amendment

Podcast Transcript The American constitution was written in 1787, but there was a mechanism built in to amend and change the document.  Since 1787 the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992.  The most recent amendment, however, had a path to ratification which was far different than any other of the 26 …

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