The Battle of Cannae

The Battle of Cannae

Transcript One of the greatest battles in Roman history was one of its greatest losses. It was a defeat that shook the city to its core and could have very well ended the Roman Republic. …but it didn’t. The reason why it didn’t is a story of determination and the difference between tactics and strategy.  …

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How Lead Was Discovered To Be in Everything

How Lead Was Discovered To Be in Everything

Transcript Clair Patterson was a geochemist who worked at CalTech from the 1940s through the 1990s. His work involved studying the age of rocks and the age of the Earth.  His greatest discovery, however, was one that was totally by accident and ended up directly impacting the lives of every person on the planet.  Learn …

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The Highly Improbable Flight of Mathias Rust

The Highly Improbable Flight of Mathias Rust

Podcast Transcript In 1987, a German teenager and novice pilot named Mathias Rust set out on a two-week flight where he visited several countries in Europe.  What was remarkable about the flight wasn’t the age of the pilot or the distance he traveled. The reason people still remember it is where he ended up.  Learn …

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A Human History of Ice

A Human History of Ice

Podcast Transcript Humans have been aware of ice for as long as there have been humans and ice. However, using ice outside of winter has always been a huge challenge, but that didn’t stop people from trying to harness and use ice even when it was well out of season.  It wasn’t until relatively recently, …

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Planet Nine

Planet Nine

Podcast Transcript The planet Neptune was discovered in 1846.  Ever since then, astronomers have felt there had to be another planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. Everyone assumed they found it with the discovery of Pluto in 1930, however, something still wasn’t quite right.  90 years later, the mystery planet hasn’t been found, but astronomers …

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Who Were the Pilgrims?

Who Were the Pilgrims?

Podcast Transcript If you are an American, you probably grew up hearing the story of Thanksgiving. How the pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution to establish a new life. But who were the pilgrims really? Were they really persecuted? Why did they decide to cross the ocean? And how did they end up …

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All About Inflation

All About Inflation

Podcast Transcript If you’ve been around long enough, you might have noticed that things are more expensive than they used to be. If you’ve really been around long enough you know that things are a lot more expensive than they used to be. This is of course known as inflation. It is an economic condition …

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The 1972 Olympic Men’s Basketball Final

The 1972 Olympic Men’s Basketball Final

Podcast Transcript The year 1972 saw two epic contests between the United States and the Soviet Union. The first was American Bobby Fischer defeating Soviet Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov for the world chess championship. The other took place on a basketball court in Munich in the gold medal game of the Olympics.  It was one of …

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How LIGO Works

How LIGO Works

Podcast Transcript To explore the heavens humans have made many types of telescopes. These telescopes can observe visible light, infrared light, radio waves, and even x-rays.  One of the most important forces in shaping the universe is gravity. How can astronomers observe gravity? In 2002, the National Science Foundation, Caltech, and MIT managed to build …

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