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The Guano Wars: When Poop Became Power
Episode 117
What if the most valuable substance on Earth wasn’t gold, or oil, or diamonds… but bird droppings?
In the mid-19th century, guano—yes, seabird excrement—fueled an agricultural and geopolitical revolution. From the sacred islands of the Inca Empire to the docks of Victorian London and the halls of the U.S. Congress, this strange, smelly fertilizer transformed farming, powered economies, and even sparked wars. Nations fought for it, empires expanded because of it, and fortunes were made (and lost) in the race for what Victorians called “white gold.”
Join John and Patrick as they dig into the astonishing history of guano: how it sustained the Inca Empire, drove the birth of American imperialism, and even set the stage for modern synthetic fertilizers. It’s a tale of science, empire, and excrement — one that changed the world, quite literally, from the ground up.
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Published on 3 hours ago