Boeing hid information regarding the MCAS software from its 737-Max flying manual to short circuit the certification. Boeing's cheating cost 346 lives across 2 plane crashes. Volkswagen had a cheat device software in its diesel cars to circumvent the NOX level requirememts in the US and the EU. Wells Fargo opened millions of bank accounts without c…

Putin was a working class outsider who rose through the ranks to the Country's top job. Once at the top, Putin consolidated his position by eiminating opposition and giving Russia a strategic economic advantage. Xi was a Princeling who ended up on the wrong side during Mao's time. But Xi believed in Mao and came back, aspiring to be Mao 2.0…

The West Indies emerge as a force in Cricket as Frank Worrell leads the team to Australia in 1960. South Africa is banned from International Cricket in 1970 due to apartheid. Kerry Packer becomes a major disruptor in International Cricket as he signs up top players for World Series of Cricket.By Ajay Kaul

Cricket was spread by England through its Colonies. But it needed stars like WG Grace to make it popular enough to become a spectator sport. The England-Australia rivalry led to the Ashes Trophy and containing Aussie star, Don Bradman, led to the infamous Bodyline series between the two sides.By Ajay Kaul

JFK is assassinated as his convoy drives through Dallas, bringing the US and the rest of the world to a stunned standstill. Egypt's Anwar Sadat is assassinated while inspecting a parade. But Congo's Patrice Lumumba is made to disappear in the most barbaric manner.By Ajay Kaul

Railway tycoon Leland Stanford lived in Santa Clara Valley and founded Stanford University in 1891. Another prominent Stanford University figure, Frederick Terman. invested heavily in businesses that would base themselves in the area and employ talented young people. One such business was the original start-up, an electrical company started in a ga…

In 1914, American Marines rob Haiti's National Bank of $500,000 in Gold Reserves at th ebehest of the National City Bank. Wall Street looks to topple FDR and replace him with a business friendly Dictator. United Fruit, now Chiquita engineers the ouster of the democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala.…

Strategic mistakes in the Russia-Ukraine relationship or a leadership vision that led to lasting impact. This episode evaluates patterns that emerge from the learnings we've had across the previous 74 episodes. Impact from the whims of a deranged leader or the ego trip of two super powers. Some interesting patterns emerge as we traverse history.…

The Panama Papers refer to the 11.5 million leaked encrypted confidential documents that were the property of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The documents were released on April 3, 2016, by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), dubbing them the “Panama Papers.” The document exposed more than 140 politicians from more than 50 countr…

The Turing Test in 1950 established the baseline for evaluating the real intelligence of a machine. To this day, no machine or software has been able to pass the Turing test. But do the next generation of ChatBots like ChatGPT have th epotential to pass the test?By Ajay Kaul

The long-range spice trade began in around 1000 BCE with the movement of cinnamon, and perhaps pepper, from India and Indonesia to Egypt. For the next 1000 years, the Arabs served as the sole middlemen of the spice trade. In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama made the first sea voyage from Europe to India, via the southernmost tip of Afric…

Over half of the emigration before the 1870s was from the British Isles, with much of the remainder from northwestern Europe. As migration increased along with new transportation technologies in the 1880s, regions of intensive emigration spread south and east as far as Portugal, Russia, and Syria. Migration to Southeast Asia and lands around the In…

Resolution 242 passed by the UN Security Council on 22 November 1967 embodied the principle that has guided most of the subsequent peace plans aound the Israel-Palestine conflict - the exchange of land for peace. From the Camp David Accords of 1978 to the Oslo Agreement of 1993, several peace accords were signed by the two sides, yet peace continue…

The US entered WWI after the Zimmermann Telegram was intercepted by the British where Germany asked Mexico to join the War against the US. US entering the War turned the tide in favor of the Allies as battle fatigue started overpowering Germany and Russia. Russia saw the Czar abdicating while Germany saw its sailors refusing to fight. The War ended…

On the eve of WWI, alliances galore across Europe with Germany aligned with Austria-Hungary and France aligned with Russia. All that is needed is a trigger and that happens on June 28, 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne. The alliances declare war on each but Germany ends up fighting on tw…

The East German uprising of 1953 began as a series of strikes and protests at living standards; it soon turned political, with town halls being stormed amid vocal demands for German reunification. The Soviets had to intervene with military force to quell the rebellion. On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Cz…

The conventional marker for hyperinflation is 50% per month, first proposed in 1956 by Phillip Cagan, a professor of economics at Columbia University. Hyperinflation is the rapid, massive, and unmanageable increase in prices. In recent times, the worst cases of hyperinflation in history are Hungary from 1945 to 1946, Zimbabwe from 2007 to 2008 and …

With a rise in geopolitical tensions with China, the World is looking to diversify its supply chain. Mexico presents an attractive nearshoring destination for manufacturers because of its proximity to the United States. The NAFTA enables free trade between the three signatory countries (US, Canada and Mexico) by reducing tariffs and other trade bar…

On August 16, 1858, Britain sent the United States an inaugural message via a transatlantic telegraph cable. In it, Queen Victoria congratulated President James Buchanan on their countries’ mutual success at building the very cable she was using to talk to him. The International Space Station is a truly global effort: nations ranging from America t…

In September 1980, Iraqi forces launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq War. Fueled by territorial, religious and political disputes between the two nations, the conflict ended in an effective stalemate and a cease-fire nearly eight years later, after more than half a million soldiers and civilians had been kille…

The Credit Mobilier Scandal centered around Railroad construction and the Teapot Dome Scandal centrered around Oil Field contracts. In both cases, the guilty were mostly let off easy. Same was the case in the Iran-Contra Affair during Ronald Reagan's time. Though the scandal created an uproar, the guilty mostly escaped punishment. The ABSCAM though…

China's territorial disputes exist with several of its neighboring States, but the South China Sea dispute takes them to another level. The US is wary of China's growing assertiveness in the region and this has led to greater US presence and participation in the region. This episode also delves into the East China Sea dispute with Japan and the bor…

The Germans were motivated into Space Exploration due to the allure of rocket technology in design and development of ballistic missiles, which ended up being used in WWII. After the defeat of Germany in WWII, a lot of these scientists moved to the US and played a central role in the early development of space launchers for the United States. But t…

The G7 group of nations finds itself challenged by China and the BRICS group. The US has aligned with a few nations in the Pacific to form the QUAD, mainly to check China's growing influence in the region and the South China Sea. So, is the world turning multipolar? With the economic impact of the G7 waning, it does appear that the world is turning…

Europe has 4 times more countries per million sq kilometers than Asia and this one of the contributing factors why Europe seems to be always at war. The religious differences and ethnic diversity are other reasons behind Europe's conflicts through history. After World War II, the continent was relatively quiet, but there was a lot of tension within…

In 1436, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, setting the stage for a new era in information exchange on a massive scale and kick-starting the era of scientific discovery. The Compass made it possible for sailors to move into deep sea and explore new lands, ultimately boosting international trade. Tune in to this episode to listen to oth…

In the 1990s, North Korea acquired access to Pakistani centrifuge technology and designs from scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had directed the militarization of Pakistan’s nuclear program. In exchange, Pakistan received North Korean missile technology. Through his job at URENCO, A.Q Khan methodically stole classified plans for a centrifuge, that w…

On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to a group of London merchants for exclusive overseas trading rights with the East Indies. The new English East India Company was a monopoly in the sense that no other British subjects could legally trade in that territory, but it faced stiff competition from the Spanish and Portuguese, who …

In 1920, Charles Ponzi started the Ponzi scheme which promised a 50% return on investments after 90 days. After a few successful months, his luck ran out as new investments dried and Ponzi came under the radar of investigators. Victor Lustig conned two buyers and sold a national monument. The two biggest corporate bankruptcies in the United States …

The Dust Bowl in the 1930s caused by extensive soil erosion in the southern plains region of the United States, led to severe dust storms during a period of extensive drought. For five days in December 1952, the Great Smog of London smothered the city, wreaking havoc and killing thousands. In the early 1950s, the Minamata Bay was the center of the …

On May 15, 1967 Egyptian President Nasser ordered his army to march into Sinai Peninsula and then demanded that the United Nations pull its peacekeepers from the peninsula. Then he declared the Straits of Tiran, closed to Israeli shipping. Subsequently, on June 5, 1967, the Israel Defense Forces initiated Operation Focus, a coordinated aerial attac…

The trans-Atlantic slave trade was one leg of a three-part system known as the triangular trade. The forming of the triangle began when European ships, carrying firearms and manufactured goods, sailed to Africa, where the commodities were traded for enslaved men, women and children. Next, the same ships transported the human cargo across the Atlant…

In December 2001, Afghan delegates convened in Bonn, Germany, by the United Nations selected Hamid Karzai to serve as head of an interim national government, marking the beginning of post-Taliban governance. Nine years later, in late 2010, secret negotiations began between a Taliban representative and some U.S. officials. The talks centered largely…

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with the expectation of capture of its capital Kyiv within 3 days and a subsequent change of government in Ukraine. But within a month, the Russian forces were beating a retreat into their comfort zone in Eastern Ukraine, realizing their inability to achieve their primary battle aims. In the East too, the…

Post WWII, Israel hunts and captures the dreaded Nazi Official, Adolph Eichmann in a foreign country and smuggles him out, to bring him to justice in Israel. The CIA conducts the espionage coup of the century by taking over a key crypto provider without its clients having any knowledge. The KGB masterminds the first documented case of cyber espiona…

Coffee was harvested from wild bushes in Ethiopia and transported across the Red Sea to Yemen, starting in the middle of the fifteenth century. Coffee seems to have spread rapidly in the Near East. By the time the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt from the Mamelukes in 1517, coffee-drinking was already widespread in Cairo.The spread of coffee to the re…

The Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 makes China cede Taiwan and the Peng-hu Islands to Japan in perpetuity. Tokyo’s first attempt at colonialism is a great success as it establishes order, eradicating disease, building infrastructure, and creating a modern economy. Taiwan soon becomes the most-advanced place in East Asia outside Japan itself. Post WW…

In October 1950, Mao Tse Tung decides to invade Tibet.In 1953, India finds out that China has built a road in India's Aksai Chin region to connect Mainland China to Tibet. India protests and China suggests that it will withdraw claim on any territory south of the McMahon line in exchange for retaining Aksai Chin. This is rejected and India implemen…

In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy was stunned to learn that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear-armed medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Though Moscow was trying to balance out the equation between the two Super Powers, JFK was against any Soviet presence in the Western Hemisphere. Through a combination of in…

On June 15, 1215, King John of England signs the Magna Carta declaring the King to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by free men. The Magna Carta lays the foundation for individual rights enshrined in several Constitutions across the globe, including the US Constitution. The Industrial Revolution creates a new educate…

The first bank bailout in history, happened in Rome in 33 A.D. The first medium of exchange was the barter system and this was replaced by Commodity Money. Coins were first minted in Lydia (modern day Turkey) and Chinese were the first to make paper money. Money continued to evolve and the latest disruption has been digital currency, aka Bitcoin.…

Around late 18th Century the acceleration in the processes of technical innovation brought about new tools and machines which led to the concept of mass production, thereby triggering an Industrial Revolution. It's impact was profound - from the creation of a new Middle Class to a new set of wealthy industrialists. Capitalism swept the globe and Ad…

In 1978 Deng Xiaoping becomes China's new leader after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. He takes on a pragmatic approach towards reform, opening up SEZs (Special Economic Zones along the Pearl River Delta, overlooking Hong Kong. It's an experiment and will be expanded to other parts of the country, if successful. Hong Kong and Taiwan show interest …

Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet cipher clerk stationed at the Soviet Union’s Ottawa embassy during the Second World War, defects to the Canadian government with proof that his country had been spying on its wartime allies: Canada, Britain and the United States. This prompts the Gouzenko Affair. His defection is considered the start of the Cold War. In 1946…

In his farewell address, President George Washington warned against political parties, particularly those based on geographic loyalties. However his own Cabinet fostered an intense rivalry between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jeffersonians formed the Democratic-Republican party, while the Hamiltonians formed the Federalist party. The Fe…

Tracing the history of the Worldwide Web or the Internet. In 1989. Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, Geneva, comes up with a proposal to get the CERN scientists talk to each other via their computers so they can conduct their experiments remotely. In December of 1990 he sets up the first successful communication between a Web browser and server via the Inte…

The United Kingdom comprises the nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It once comprised both big islands of the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland declared independence after WWII leaving the United Kingdom as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As England lost its economic hegemony post WWII, unrest i…

From the Credit Crisis of 1772 to the 2008 Housing Crisis, most of the economic crises seem to have been triggered by excessive borrowing to seek returns on rising assets. The Oil Shock of 1973 though was an exception and was a demand and supply issue, leading to runway inflation.By Ajay Kaul

Tracing the history of the evolution of the Global Supply Chain from the Ancient times when the routes like the Silk Road through Central Asia and the Spice Route over the Indian Ocean were mostly linear chains that took a finished product to its ultimate destination. The British colonialization of India was based on the capture of the supply chain…

In July 1848, a group of activists gather in Seneca Falls, New York, to press for women’s rights. Subsequently, in 1893, New Zealand becomes the first country to grant voting Rights to Women. It takes another 27 years, before women in the US can finally vote. Access to birth control and safe abortion becomes the next obstacle to overcome and the 19…