Ten Minutes of the 1960 Chilean Earthquake
Imagine a geological event so unimaginably powerful that it releases almost a quarter of all global seismic energy for an entire century—and does it in just 10 minutes. On May 22, 1960, the Valdivia e...
10 Jun 23min
Tamerlane and the Cursed Tomb of Samarkand
So picture this: it is June of 1941. A team of Soviet anthropologists descends into a dimly lit crypt in Samarkand, modern-day Uzbekistan, on a state-sanctioned mission to crack open the marble tomb o...
10 Jun 22min
Strong People Don't Need Strong Leaders
So picture this: it’s 1960. One of the most powerful leaders in the entire American civil rights movement is standing in front of a room full of student activists, and she effectively tells them, "Do ...
10 Jun 19min
Sofya Kovalevskaya and the calculus wallpaper
Imagine walking into your childhood bedroom, but instead of posters or normal wallpaper, the walls are entirely covered in pages of advanced calculus notes. For Sofia Kovalevskaya, this unusual enviro...
10 Jun 21min
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Invented Rock and Roll
What if you were told that Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry all idolized the exact same person? What if that person was a queer Black woman who was plugging an electric guit...
10 Jun 19min
Sir Richard Burton The Rogue Victorian Explorer
Imagine a Victorian British officer, a knight of the realm who faithfully served the mighty British Empire, yet simultaneously spent his entire life operating as an absolute chaotic rebel. In this sto...
10 Jun 23min
Sargon of Akkad and the First Empire
Picture the classic origin story of a baby hidden in a waterproof basket, set adrift on a great river, and pulled from the reeds to eventually grow up and alter the course of human history. Centuries ...
10 Jun 21min
Samuel Hearne and the Bloody Falls massacre
Picture the classic image of the stoic European explorer standing triumphant on a frozen peak, planting a flag to claim the wilderness. In this story-driven biographical profile for the PeoplePod seri...
10 Jun 21min
