Podcast Transcript Located on a peninsula and series of islands off the southeastern coast of China lies what is today called the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. Hong Kong didn’t play a central role in the thousands of years of Chinese history. However, it has played a pivotal role in the region for the …
Podcast Transcript In the early 17th century, Japan was witness to a samurai who was arguably its greatest warrior ever. He wasn’t just one of the greatest swordsmen in history; he was a philosopher, a writer, an artist, and, in contravention to the samurai code at the time, he was a vagabond. Today, he is …
Podcast Transcript In 1889, two brothers, Andre and Edouard Michelin, started a company that made the world’s first removable pneumatic tires. Today, their names are synonymous with fine dining around the world. If you wonder what rubber tires have to do with the world’s greatest restaurants, I assure you it all makes perfect sense, even …
Podcast Transcript Cutting across the state of Arizona is one of the wonders of the natural world: The Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon draws attention not only for its overwhelming size and intricate, colorful landscape but also for the deep and exposed layers of Earth’s history that are visible in its walls. The history of …
Podcast Transcript In 1860, the United States was as divided as it ever had been. The issue of slavery had been growing more and more contentious over the decades and by 1860, things were nearing a breaking point. The presidential election of 1860 literally would determine the future of the country, or if there would …
Podcast Transcript A little over 400 years ago, a group of Dutch investors had a revolutionary idea. They were embarking on an incredibly risky endeavor, and to spread the risk, they were going to share ownership of the new venture. Even better, each part of the ownership in this venture could be bought and sold …
Podcast Transcript Before the Ideas of March, before he crossed the Rubicon, and before he became Rome’s dictator for life, Julius Caesar had led a very interesting existence. We know more about his early life than most Romans simply because of his accomplishments later in life, but what he did and experienced clearly shaped the …
Podcast Transcript Before the development of electricity and electronic communications, the fastest information could travel was the speed of a horse. Maybe a ship might have been a bit faster depending on the route, but for the most part, the speed of information was limited to the speed of a human. However, there was one …
Podcast Transcript The United States federal agency charged with gathering foreign intelligence is the Central Intelligence Agency or the CIA. The CIA is tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information as well as conducting covert action and clandestine operations. It was created in the shadow of the Second World War and became one …