Podcast Episodes

Short Stuff: Smudging: Not just for hippies

Smudging is the process of wafting around the smoke of burning white sage. What is it good for? Listen in and find out.

See omnystudio.com/listener fo…

2 years, 5 months ago

Haile Selassie: Statesman, Colonizer, God?

If you grew up outside of Africa, you might know Haile Selassie’s name from reggae music - the man who ruled Ethiopia is considered a god in Jamaica.…

2 years, 5 months ago

Selects: How Zero Population Growth Works

In 1968, Paul Erlich published The Population Bomb, predicting coming famine and mass death. Erlich's predictions didn't pan out but his ideas launch…

2 years, 5 months ago

The Story of the Nuclear Boy Scout

David Hahn was a kid who was really into science. So much that he built a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed. And it worked. 

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2 years, 5 months ago

Short Stuff: Benin Bronzes

One of the world’s cultural treasure troves were created in West Africa. But for over a century they’ve been held in museums outside of Africa. In fa…

2 years, 5 months ago

Ray and Charles Eames: More than Chairs

Charles and Ray Eames were superstar designers who dreamed up some of the most iconic pieces of furniture ever made. And they did much more than that…

2 years, 5 months ago

Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't

Sometimes a good idea doesn’t pan out in real life. Take Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome: It requires less energy to heat and cool, it’s cheap, an…

2 years, 5 months ago

Like, here's the episode on "like"

Like is a very divisive word. Purists think it's like, a filler word born in the 80s that's like, destroying the English language. Turns out none of …

2 years, 5 months ago

Short Stuff: The Original Snake Oil Salesman

There’s a great origin story behind snake oil salesmen, and it has to do with just one guy who singlehandedly gave it a bad name.

See omnystudio.com/l…

2 years, 5 months ago

What Americans Ate When There Were No Food Laws

There was a brief period in America’s history – after people left the farm to work in the city and before the government started regulating it – when…

2 years, 5 months ago