The Five Families and How Organized Crime Became Organized
Organized crime wasn’t always so organized. In the early 20th century, in New York, what we would call the mafia was rather unorganized. There were competing groups, and while the individual groups h...
31 Jan 202516min
The OMG! Particle (Encore)
On October 15, 1991, a cosmic ray detector in Utah observed something that had never been seen before or since. It was a cosmic ray with more energy than anything ever observed and more energy than m...
30 Jan 202515min
The History of Soft Drinks
One of the most popular categories of beverage in the world today is soft drinks. Soft drinks can be found almost everywhere in every country, from corner stores to restaurants to vending machines. U...
29 Jan 202516min
444 Days: The Iran Hostage Crisis
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian Revolutionaries stormed the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and took 66 American diplomats and citizens hostage. Over the next 444 days, the hostage crisis d...
28 Jan 202516min
The Acoustic Kitty and Other Crazy CIA Plots
Since its creation, the Central Intelligence Agency has been tasked with gathering intelligence on foreign adversarial governments. Exactly how they were to go about doing this was not exactly spelle...
27 Jan 202515min
Warrior Monks: The Story of the Knights Templar (Encore)
In the early 12th century, a military monastic order developed in the Middle East with the express intent of protecting Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. Despite its rather modest mission...
26 Jan 202512min
VTOL: Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft
Airplanes are wonderful things. They fly through the air and move people and goods at rapid speeds around the world. However, they have some downsides. In order to take off and land, an airplane requ...
25 Jan 202515min
Malaria: The Disease That Shaped History
Malaria is one of the oldest known infectious diseases, with a history spanning thousands of years. It has shaped human civilization, influenced wars, and driven scientific advancements in medicine an...
24 Jan 202516min
