25: How Chicago Lost the 1904 Olympics (Part 1)
Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin was embarrassed. He had just revived the Ancient Olympic Games on a global scale. But the 1900 Games in his hometown of Paris, France were a disaster. They were a sidesho...
2 Okt 20241h 37min
24: An 18th Century Robot That…Played Chess??
Wolfgang von Kempelen was unimpressed. Empress Maria Theresa had invited him to attend a magic show, hoping he’d tell her how the tricks worked. Instead, he told her – and everyone else in her court –...
25 Sep 20241h 33min
23: The Great Emu War!
Picture it! 1932. Western Australia. Emus were taking over. They were gobbling up and trampling farmers’ wheat, and in turn, destroying their livelihoods. Something had to be done. So, the Australian ...
18 Sep 20241h 23min
22: The Story of the Super Soaker!
Lonnie Johnson was a smart guy — a very smart guy. As a NASA engineer, he spent his days coming up with solutions to complex problems. But when he went home, Lonnie’s brain kept whirring. So, he inven...
11 Sep 20241h 38min
21: Mount Rushmore: Awesome and Awful (Part 4)
In the finale of our Mount Rushmore series, Mount Rushmore National Memorial gets finished. But the final product isn’t quite what Gutzon Borglum envisioned. The presidents aren’t sculpted down to the...
4 Sep 20241h 45min
20: Wait… Does Mount Rushmore Suck? (Part 3)
There are so many reasons why Mount Rushmore National Monument *shouldn’t* exist. Right from the start, there was opposition. Environmentalists called the proposed monument a desecration. Native Ameri...
28 Aug 20241h 55min
19: Before Mount Rushmore, There Was Stone Mountain (Part 2)
Before he set his sights on Mount Rushmore, sculptor Gutzon Borglum had a vision for a massive monument to the Confederacy. He figured that Stone Mountain, located just outside of Atlanta, would be th...
21 Aug 20241h 41min
18: Mount Rushmore: America’s Weirdest Monument (Part 1)
In this series, we’re talking about something… pretty weird! It’s the fact that, roughly 100 years ago, a handful of people thought it’d be a really good idea to carve four gigantic faces into the sid...
14 Aug 20241h 29min
