The Rise and Fall of Feudalism in Medieval Europe
For centuries, power in Europe was measured not by money or elections, but by land, loyalty, and the ability to command armed men. Out of the ruins of the Roman Empire and the chaos of invasion came ...
8 Jul 14min
Gil Eanes and the Volta do Mar
For thousands of years, civilizations that rose along the Mediterranean or along the European shores of the Atlantic mostly stuck to the shore. They also never sailed out into the open Atlantic, and...
7 Jul 14min
Lake Baikal: The Largest Lake on Earth
It is the deepest lake in the world, the oldest lake in the world, and it holds more freshwater than all five of the Great Lakes combined. Hidden in Siberia, Lake Baikal is a place where geology, ev...
6 Jul 15min
Florence Nightingale and the Birth of Modern Healthcare
Florence Nightingale was far more than a compassionate nurse. She was a reformer, statistician, administrator, and relentless critic of systems that allowed people to die unnecessarily. Her work i...
5 Jul 14min
The History of the 4th of July Celebrations
Few dates carry as much significance in the United States as July 4th, but the celebration of the date has evolved over time. July 4, 1776, was not a day of celebration across the country, as nobody ...
4 Jul 15min
The Wealth of Nations
In 1776, a work was published that challenged an empire, questioned old systems of power, and helped reshape the modern world. But this wasn’t the Declaration of Independence. It was a dense, ambiti...
3 Jul 15min
The Hippie Movement
In the 1960s, a generation of young people rejected the world their parents had built. They turned away from war, conformity, consumerism, and traditional authority, and embraced music, peace, love,...
2 Jul 14min
6th Anniversary Episode
Six years ago, in the midst of the worst pandemic the world had seen in generations, I sat down at my computer to record a new podcast.The new show was going to cover all the random topics I found int...
1 Jul 34min
