Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Bloody Evolution of Modern Thought
Episode 5419
The history of Western thought is often presented as a smooth progression from ancient philosophy through the Enlightenment to modern science and dem…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
Pliny the Elder's Deadly Work Ethic
Episode 5412
Pliny the Elder was one of the most extraordinary figures of the Roman world, a man whose relentless commitment to work and knowledge literally kille…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
How land grants built American engineering
Episode 5399
In 1862, the same year Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, he also approved legislation that would quietly revolutionize American education and…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
The Federal Reserve's Trillion Dollar Machine
Episode 5424
The Federal Reserve System is the most powerful financial institution in the world, yet most Americans have only the vaguest understanding of what it…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
How storms and enemies became demons
Episode 5400
Every culture on earth has stories about malevolent supernatural beings, but the specific forms these beings take reveal something fascinating about …
3 weeks, 3 days ago
Low Country Elites and Backcountry Rebels
Episode 5410
Colonial South Carolina presents one of the most dramatic examples of class conflict in early American history. The colony developed a stark divide b…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
Poison Darts and Life Without Laws
Episode 5413
Deep in the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous societies developed ways of living that challenge virtually every assumption the modern world holds about l…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
The Logistics That Saved West Berlin
Episode 5426
In June 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded all road, rail, and water access to West Berlin, cutting off two and a half million people from food, fuel, …
3 weeks, 3 days ago
The Collapse of Georgia's Anti-Slavery Utopia
Episode 5420
In 1733, James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia with a vision that was radical for its time: a utopian settlement where slavery would be perm…
3 weeks, 3 days ago
How FDR’s Tree Army Built America
Episode 5396
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt launched one of the most ambitious conservation and employment programs in American history: the Civilian Conservation Co…
3 weeks, 3 days ago