The History of Skunkworks

The History of Skunkworks

Podcast Transcript 62 miles north of Los Angeles in the city of Palmdale, California, lies one of the most secretive aircraft design and production centers in the world: Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program.  From this location, some of the most famous and important military aircraft in the 20th and 21st centuries were created….and they are …

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The Planet Mercury

The Planet Mercury

Podcast Transcript The planet Mercury is the smallest, fastest, and most pot-marked planet in our solar system. It is in many ways, unlike any other planet.  However, there is more to this overlooked planet than meets the eye. It isn’t just a scarred, hot rock near the sun. There are some things about it that …

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The Schlieffen Plan

The Schlieffen Plan

Podcast Transcript When the Austro-Hungarian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated it set off a chain reaction resulting in the First World War. The war was fully anticipated and one of the belligerent countries, Germany, had a plan in their back pocket ready to go.  It was a highly detailed plan, nine years in the …

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What Is Snake Oil and Why Is It So Bad?

What Is Snake Oil and Why Is It So Bad?

Podcast Transcript If you were to call someone a snake oil salesman, it usually means they are trying to defraud someone, and more specifically it often implies making false medical claims. But what exactly is snake oil, and why did it develop such a bad reputation, and why specifically do we use snake oil for …

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The History of Electric Cars

The History of Electric Cars

Podcast Transcript There is an old saying that everything old is new again. This is certainly true with electric cars.  The recent surge in popularity of electric vehicles is technically a resurgence, because believe it or not, there was a time when electric cars were more popular than cars with internal combustion engines.  Learn more …

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The American Whig Party

The American Whig Party

Podcast Transcript American politics has been called a two-party system. While there are two major parties today, and those two parties have been around a long time, they weren’t always the only two parties.  In fact, there was a political party in the US that, took its name from a British political party, had four …

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The Periodic Table of the Elements

The Periodic Table of the Elements

Podcast Transcript You’ve seen it in your science classroom, and there was probably a copy of it on the inside cover of your chemistry book. Maybe if you are a real nerd, you might even have your own personal copy.  Yet its very creation was a revolutionary breakthrough that helped scientists and generations of students …

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Barcodes

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Barcodes

Podcast Transcript In 1949, a young inventor by the name of Norman Woodland was sitting on the beach in Florida. While drawing some lines in the sand, he had an idea that would revolutionize the world of retail and logistics. In fact, his invention might be found somewhere around you or on your person at …

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The Last Soldier to Die in World War I

The Last Soldier to Die in World War I

Podcast Transcript At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the Great War, the war to end all wars, came to an end. In the preceding four years and four months, the world saw the greatest bloodletting history up until that point.  Even after the announcement of the armistice, …

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