Podcast Transcript Pumpkins are a staple of the autumn season, used in events like Halloween and Thanksgiving as symbols of the holidays, as well as in various culinary dishes. Pumpkins, which are technically a fruit, not a vegetable, are one of the oldest domesticated plants in the world and have been used for centuries in …
Podcast Transcript During the First World War, most of the attention, at least in the West, was focused on the Western Front. However, the Western Front was not the only front in the war. There were actually multiple fronts, including the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, and Italy. The largest of these non-Western fronts was …
Podcast Transcript Located in an arc sweeping to the east and south of the Marina Islands and Guam is the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. Running over 2,500 kilometers or 1,200 miles, the very deepest part of the trench is known as Challenger Deep. At the very bottom of the sea, there …
Podcast Transcript In the 13th century, a French knight came forward and displayed what he claimed was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Almost immediately, its authenticity was challenged by religious authorities. In the centuries that followed, it became an object of fascination, curiosity, veneration, and controversy. Finally, after centuries of conflicting opinions, scientists were …
Podcast Transcript On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The Soviet Union forced the Finns to sue for peace after three months of fighting, and on paper, one could conclude that the Soviets won. However, despite the supposed military victory, the Soviets’ performance and the resistance they faced severely damaged their reputation as …
Podcast Transcript In the years following the end of the Second World War, the post-war world that many in the West hoped for never materialized. Their former ally, the Soviet Union, turned from friend to foe. They installed puppet communist governments in all of the countries they occupied when pushing their way to Germany, and …
Podcast Transcript In November 1989, the world changed when the Berlin Wall came down, marking the beginning of the unraveling of the Iron Curtain. Almost a month later, on December 16, 1989, Romania faced a sudden revolution that led to the fall of its central government in just over a week. While Romania was one …
Podcast Transcript Around 12,900 years ago, the last ice age was ending. Things were warming up, and the glaciers were starting to recede. …and then something happened. For about 1,200 years, the climate reversed and got colder again. When this cooling trend ended and the ice age was finally over, it also happened to coincide …
Podcast Transcript Almost everyone has had popcorn and some of you have even probably had some recently. Popcorn can be made at home, can be purchased pre packaged in stores, and has been tightly associated with movie theaters. Yet, despite seeming like a rather modern snack, popcorn has actually been around for thousands of years. …