Moving Day in New York

Moving Day in New York

Transcript Since the year 1790, New York City has been the largest city in the United States.  Given the population density of the city, the vast majority of the people there rent apartments.  Now imagine if everyone in New York who switched apartments had to do so on the exact same day every year.  Well, …

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Surströmming: The World’s Smelliest Food

Surströmming: The World's Smelliest Food

Transcript There are many foods that are considered an acquired taste. Foods that might not be very palatable the first time you try it, or something that just doesn’t sit right with most people. It could be something as simple as blue cheese, or something like the Filipino delicacy, balut, which is a boiled, fertilized …

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The History of Presidential Debates

The History of Presidential Debates

Transcript Every four years, citizens of the United States sit down for one or more nights to watch something which is called the Presidential Debates.  The debates have become a centerpiece of US Presidential elections, but it wasn’t always that way.  Learn more about the history of presidential debates, or the lack thereof, on this …

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The Purchase of Alaska

The Purchase of Alaska

Transcript In 1867, United States Secretary of State William Seward signed a treaty with the Empire of Russia to purchase the territory of what would be called Alaska. The United States purchased it for 2 cents an acre.  At the time it was called one of the worst deals in American History. Today, it is …

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Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat

Transcript On April 30, 1943, a Spanish fisherman came across the floating body of Major William Martin of the Royal Marines. Handcuffed to the corpse was a satchel with top-secret plans for the Allied invasions of Greece and Sardinia.  With the information gathered from this intelligence, the Germans moved their troops into position to counter …

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Common Fallacies and Fallacious Reasoning

Common Fallacies and Fallacious Reasoning

Transcript We are often told that schools are where you learn how to think, not what to think. Sadly, almost no school curriculum deals directly with logic and the closely related subject of logical fallacies.  Fallacies are all around us. Just read something online or watch a few minutes of television and you’ll probably encounter …

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The Election of 1824

The Election of 1824

Transcript Many people think that politics and elections in the United States are the most controversial they have ever been.  History, however, begs to differ. Perhaps the oddest and most controversial presidential election in American history was the election of 1824. It is an election that doesn’t get a lot of attention given who won …

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That New Pope Smell: How Popes are Chosen

That New Pope Smell: How Popes are Chosen

Transcript The Roman Catholic Papacy is one of the oldest institutions in the world, second only to the Chrysanthemum Throne in Japan. Since its inception, there have been 266 popes, and a couple of anti-popes as well.  The pope is not only the head of a religion but also the leader of a sovereign, albeit …

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The World’s Oldest Satellite: Vanguard 1

The World's Oldest Satellite: Vanguard 1

Transcript Here is a question you’ve probably never bothered to think about before….What is the oldest man made object orbiting the earth? Which, if any, of the really early satellites are still whizzing around up in space? It turns out, the fourth satellite ever put in orbit is still there, 62 years after it was …

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