Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchCecil Rhodes and his Secret Plan for World Domination
Bob Hawke, Bill Clinton, Malcolm Turnbull – all were recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest and most prestigious academic scholarships in the world. It was started posthumously by a …
Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago
When X-Rays Were an Amusement Park Attraction
Before selfies, before CT scans, before social media filters and front-facing cameras… there was the X-Ray. Discovered by accident in a 19th-century lab, it went on to become a craze. Displayed as a …
Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Absinthe isn’t Dangerous. It was Framed for Murder
Have you ever tried absinthe - that fluorescent green spirit that people used to set on fire in the 90’s? It’s had a pretty bad reputation over the years. In fact, it was illegal in a lot of countri…
Published on 7 months ago
The Hidden Origins of Chemotherapy
These days chemotherapy or ‘chemo’ is a common treatment for cancer. But did you know that part of the reason it exists today is because of a terrible accident that happened in Italy during World War…
Published on 7 months, 1 week ago
America’s Secret Pact with the Mafia
After the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the United States was on edge. So when it seemed like spies for the Nazis and Mussolini were operating along the harbour in New York, the governmen…
Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago
The Blunder that Broke the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall on the 9th of November, 1989, is one of the most famous events of modern history. Not only did it lead to the reunification of East and West Germany, it contributed to the…
Published on 7 months, 3 weeks ago
This Tragic Accident Changed How We Think About the Brain
In schools, universities and colleges around the world, a story gets told about a man named Phineas Gage. He was an American railroad foreman, until one day when an iron rod shot through his head and…
Published on 8 months ago
Marie Antoinette, mother of French fries?
‘Would you like fries with that?’ It’s the question you’re likely to be asked at McDonalds, Burger King, KFC or Chick-fil-A, no matter where in the world you visit. But what if the only reason French…
Published on 8 months, 1 week ago
The Secret Weapon that Changed War
Submarine warfare was considered ‘ungentlemanly’ in terms of the rules of engagement of war until relatively recently… or so we thought! Dr James Hunter hunts shipwrecks for a living, as part of his …
Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Stealing the Mona Lisa: The Crime that Created a Legend
These days people line up for hours to see Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. But at one stage there were so few people wanting to see this Renaissance painting that she was remarkably easy to steal from…
Published on 8 months, 3 weeks ago