e: Euler's Number
There are an infinite number of numbers, but some numbers are more important than others. One number, which might just be the most important number, lies hidden in a wide variety of things in the nat...
2 Jan 202413min
Spirits and Liqueurs
Thousands of years ago, the first humans accidentally created the first beer and wine. This occurred naturally when yeast in the air converted sugars into alcohol. However, it wasn’t until thousands ...
1 Jan 202415min
The Surprising History of Salt
One of the most important substances throughout world history has been salt. Salt might seem mundane, but it is actually necessary for the functioning of life. Salt has been used as a preservative f...
31 Dec 202315min
The Black Death
During the 14th century, the world saw one of its most traumatic episodes. A plague spread through Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa that was unlike anything the world had ever seen. I...
30 Dec 202315min
The Second Triumvirate (Encore)
From the years 59 to 53 BC, three high-ranking Romans conspired to control the Roman political system for their own benefit. They called this system a triumvirate. A decade later, Rome found itself un...
29 Dec 202312min
High Fructose Corn Syrup (Encore)
In 1957, two chemists at the Clinton Corn Processing Company of Clinton, Iowa, developed a system for converting the glucose found in corn starch into fructose. Over 60 years later, the product they ...
28 Dec 202311min
The Tomb of Alexander the Great (Encore)
By the age of 32, Alexander the Great had conquered most of the world, which was known to him. This episode is not about any of that. This is about what happened after his death. After he died, his ...
27 Dec 202312min
The Christmas Truce of 1914 (Encore)
On Christmas Eve, 1914, something remarkable happened on the western front during the First World War. Soldiers in the trenches on both sides of no man’s land ceased fighting. Not only did they stop ...
26 Dec 202310min
