Ridiculous History

OK, imagine this: you've been captured by a neighboring civilization, hauled off to an unfamiliar city, and your captors tell you: "Hold up, we're not going to kill you yet. In fact, if you can win th...

7 Nov 202442min

Regardless of everyone's differences in this wide, wide world, it's safe to say every culture loves some kind of sport. Often these sports can seem strange to outsiders -- but before we cast proverbia...

5 Nov 202452min

Like many ancient cultures, the civilizations of Mesoamerica had a vast and rich history of unique cultural practices, spiritual beliefs and ceremonies, some of which may seem bizarre to people in the...

2 Nov 202450min

There's no denying Niccolò Paganini was a virtuoso -- in his heyday, this violinist was an international rock star, wowing crowds across Europe with his rollicking, frenetic performances. He was, in f...

31 Okt 202453min

In theory, the concept of credit scores is simple, and makes a lot of sense: lenders need to know they can trust someone to pay back their debts, and debtors need a way to prove they're trustworthy. I...

29 Okt 202448min

Today Vermont is known for its progressive politics, beautiful forestry, Bernie Sanders and Ben and Jerry's. It's not a state you'll hear much about outside of the US and, for many Vermont natives, th...

26 Okt 202444min

Who could have guessed a series of broth experiments revolutionized humanity's understanding of life? Spoiler, not us. In part two of this week's two part episode, Ben, Noel and Max continue their exp...

24 Okt 202435min

Today the idea sounds silly. Why would anyone think nonliving substances can suddenly generate living things? Yet for much of human history, the concept of spontaneous generation was widely accepted. ...

22 Okt 202440min