Best Gary Arndt Glassbox Media Podcasts (2024)

1
The Origins of Wine (Encore) 14:38

22h ago14:38

14:38

For thousands of years, wine has been one of the most important beverages in the world. It has been consumed by common folk and by emperors, and it can be made in a surprisingly wide variety of geographies. It can be made by backyard vintners as well as by megacorporations. It is so important that it plays a central role in some religions, yet it i…

1
The War of 1812 16:19

1d ago16:19

16:19

After the American War of Independence, Britain recognized the United States, but it didn’t necessarily make them close allies. Each country had its own agendas, and a generation later, they were butting heads again over a host of issues. The result was another war, but unlike the Revolutionary War, everyone claimed victory, and no one really won a…

1
The History of Books 15:08

1d ago15:08

15:08

Books are one of the foundational tools of civilization. They allow us to pass knowledge and information between people who don’t know each other, and their compact form allows knowledge to be transported across vast distances. Their permanence allows information to be sent across time such that centuries might separate a writer from a reader. But …

1
College Sports 15:21

1d ago15:21

15:21

In the 19th century, several American universities began to compete with each other in several sporting events in friendly intercollegiate competitions. Fast forward over a hundred years, and college sports in the United States is a multibillion-dollar business. How did institutes of higher education become some of the biggest sports organizations …

1
Ninjas (Encore) 12:42

5d ago12:42

12:42

Ninjas are awesome. They’re silent, they can turn invisible, and they can totally flip out and kill people, especially their mortal enemies…pirates. …or at least that is what popular culture would like you to believe. Were ninjas really as powerful as they are made out to be? Were they the ultimate silent assassins? Learn more about ninjas, real ni…

1
The Five Good Emperors 14:50

24h ago14:50

14:50

Depending on how you define it, there were approximately 70 Roman Emperors. They were a mixed bag ranging from philosophers to the insane, from generals to children. Some were truly horrible, but some were actually pretty good at their job. In particular, there were five consecutive emperors who reigned during the peak of Pax Romana. Learn more abo…

1
D-Day 15:01

5d ago15:01

15:01

On June 6, 1944, the largest amphibious landing in world history took place on the shore of Normandy, France. The allied forces called it D-Day. The landing marked the commencement of Operation Overlord, a strategic move that heralded the long-awaited opening of the second front in the European war. D-Day was the start of the most meticulously plan…

1
The Apollo Lunar Module 15:14

8d ago15:14

15:14

When President John F. Kennedy set the objective of landing on the moon before the end of the 1960s, no one really knew what it entailed. The Apollo program involved many incredible feats of engineering, but perhaps the most impressive was the development of the Apollo Lunar Module. The Lunar Module was unlike any spacecraft before or since. It was…

1
A Brief History of Central America 16:16

3d ago16:16

16:16

Located between Mexico and Columbia, in a strategic area connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific, is the region we call Central America. The countries that makeup Central America were mostly former Spanish colonies, but unlike other Spanish colonies to the north and south, Central America wound up as a series of small countries rather than one big …

1
The History of Money (Encore) 14:00

4d ago14:00

14:00

Money is a very strange thing. All of us use it. We spend it, earn it, and save it. We know it when we see it. Yet, even some of the world’s best economists have a very hard time defining it. It has been around for thousands of years, yet innovation is still being made with it today. Learn more about the history of money, how it came about, and how…

1
The St. Scholastica Day Riot 13:57

7d ago13:57

13:57

A common occurrence at many universities is that they have contentious relationships with their local community. This is not a recent development. It is something that has existed ever since universities were developed. The relationship between colleges and local towns was probably at its worst in 1355 when an outbreak of violence occurred at Oxfor…

1
Questions and Answers: Volume 19 15:20

6d ago15:20

15:20

The month of June was originally called Iunius by the Romans. It originally had 29 days and was the fourth month of the year. Today, it has 30 days, and it is the sixth month of the year. It used to be a bad omen to be married in June, and now it is the most popular month to be married in. However, despite all the changes in June, there is one thin…

1
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident 15:16

13d ago15:16

15:16

In August of 1964, an event occurred off the waters of North Vietnam that would have repercussions that would echo in US foreign policy for decades. Two alleged confrontations between US Navy vessels and North Vietnamese ships set off a chain of events that resulted in a dramatic escalation in the United States' involvement in Vietnam and a subsequ…

1
The Real Story of Cowboys 13:52

8d ago13:52

13:52

One of the most iconic images of America is the cowboy. Cowboys have defined entire genres of literature and movies and are the basis for entire styles of fashion. But how did cowboys come about, what exactly did they do, and who exactly became cowboys? Perhaps most importantly, how realistic is our image of cowboys? Spoiler: It's not very realisti…

1
The Destruction and Rediscovery of Pompeii (Encore) 14:09

9d ago14:09

14:09

In the year 79, Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located east of the modern-day city of Naples, erupted. Vesuvius had erupted before, but this eruption was different. It ejected an enormous amount of ash, which completely buried several towns and cities below the mountain. Almost 2,000 years later, the largest of those cities, Pompeii, was rediscovered, a…

1
The Wonderful World of Bees 14:56

10d ago14:56

14:56

There are millions of different insect species in the world. All of them fill some niche in the ecosystem in which they live. However, some species are more important than others. In particular, insect species that are members of the family Apidae, or what you probably know as bees. Bees are some of the most important pollinators in the world. They…

1
The Law of the Sea 13:54

11d ago13:54

13:54

The world as we know it is made up of 193 countries, Antarctica, and a host of territories. However, between all of those places are the high seas or international waters, which are not controlled by anyone. But where do international waters begin? What can you do in international waters? And how close can you actually sail to another country? Lear…

1
The Bataan Death March 14:56

12d ago14:56

14:56

On December 8, 1941, as the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor, they were simultaneously attacking other Allied positions around Asia. One of the biggest attacks was on Manila in the Philippines and the Filipino and American forces that were entrenched on the Bataan Peninsula. Filipino and American forces ended up surrendering, which began one of t…

1
How Barbed Wire Shaped the West and the World (Encore) 12:08

13d ago12:08

12:08

When Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862, there was a rush of people who moved west to claim the free land that was offered. However, there was a problem. Creating physical divisions for plots of land on the prairie was difficult when there was no stone or wood. Eventually, there was a solution to the problem, which offered a cheap way…

1
Joan of Arc 14:59

14d ago14:59

14:59

In 1428, a young girl from the village of Domrémy, France, audaciously set out to meet the heir apparent to the French throne, the Dauphin, and told him what he had to do to defeat the English occupying her country. She claimed that she was told what to do by God. Against all odds, the Dauphin took her advice, and it worked. After a series of milit…

1
Nazis in South America 14:12

15d ago14:12

14:12

On May 11, 1960, an auto worker who went by Ricardo Klement stepped off the bus after his shift at a Mercedes-Benz automotive plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As he was walking home, he was abducted by several men and thrown into a vehicle. This was no ordinary kidnapping, however. There was no demand for ransom. That was because this was no ordin…

1
The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia 14:56

21d ago14:56

14:56

From 1929 to 1992, several governments ruled over the Balkans, all of whom used the name “Yugoslavia.” Yugoslavia was a country that began with a dream but was born out of war and ultimately ended in war. While the nation of Yugoslavia no longer exists, Its legacy can still be felt in the countries that formerly compromised it. Learn more about Yug…

1
Why Does a Week Have Seven Days? (Encore) 13:00

17d ago13:00

13:00

Most of our major divisions of time are based on some sort of natural event. A year is one orbit of the Earth around the sun. A month is one orbit of the Moon around the Earth. A day is one rotation of the Earth about its axis. However, one of the most commonly used units of time has no natural analog whatsoever. Learn more about why there are seve…

1
All About Viruses 15:21

18d ago15:21

15:21

Inside you right now are most probably millions of, possibly even trillions of viruses. Some viruses are extremely deadly, but the vast majority are completely benign. They can be found in almost every type of life, including plants, animals, and bacteria. Yet viruses are completely different from any other type of life form. In fact, it is debatab…

1
The Battle of Adrianople 14:14

24d ago14:14

14:14

On August 9, 378, one of the most important battles in history took place. While largely forgotten today, it was a critical battle that contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire. It wasn’t just a loss for the Roman army; it also resulted in the death of an emperor, and it also contributed to the rise of a group known as the Visigoths, who wou…

1
Smuggling Silk Out of China (Encore) 12:32

20d ago12:32

12:32

There was no product more important to the economy of the ancient world than silk. Silk was transported thousands of miles to be purchased by people so far away from its source that they had no clue where it came from. The source of silk, however, was China, and for centuries, they had a monopoly, which brought them tremendous wealth. That was unti…

1
The Anaconda Plan 13:15

21d ago13:15

13:15

When the United States entered the Civil War, the Union needed a plan for conducting the war. Its senior military commander, General Windfield Scott, devised a strategy that would play to the Union's strengths and exploit the Confederacy's weaknesses. He hoped that it would bring about a swift end to the war and minimize the loss of human life. The…

1
City Syndromes 14:56

22d ago14:56

14:56

Psychologists have identified hundreds of different psychological disorders and conditions. Some of them are rather common conditions that affect large segments of the population at one time or another. Others are quite rare and only come up in certain circumstances or even in certain places. Within that, there is a rare subset of psychological con…

1
The Phoenician Civilization (Encore) 12:44

23d ago12:44

12:44

Sometime around 3,200 years ago, a new civilization became ascendent on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This group wasn’t like the Empires that surrounded them. They weren’t focused so much on land acquisition and conquest so much as they were focused on commerce and trade. For centuries they ruled over trade and commerce in the Mediter…

1
Edward Teller and the Development of the H-Bomb 14:44

24d ago14:44

14:44

During the Second World War, the United States established the highly secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb based on nuclear fission. While the Manhattan Project was ultimately successful, some in the program were thinking bigger. They felt that the explosion from an uncontrolled fission reaction could be used to create an even larger …

1
Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori: 40 Years a Slave (Encore) 11:58

25d ago11:58

11:58

In 1788, the son of the leader of the Confederation of Futa Jallon in West Africa was commanding his 2,000 troops against a neighboring military force and was captured. He was sold into slavery and spent the next 40 years of his life living as a slave in Mississippi. That was until a chance meeting revealed his true identity, which eventually led t…

1
All About Hair 14:52

26d ago14:52

14:52

If you are listening to me speak these words and can understand what I’m saying, then you are a human being. If you are a human being, you are also a mammal, and if you are a mammal, you have hair….or at least the biological capability to produce hair. But why exactly do we have hair? What function does it serve? Why do we have less than other anim…

1
Kamikaze 15:14

27d ago15:14

15:14

In the last year of the Second World War, things were not going well for the Imperial Japanese military. They had lost several major naval battles against the United States, they were losing territory, and they had no capability to rebuild the ships that they were losing. They were desperate to find something to turn the tide of the war. What they …

1
The 1956 Suez Crisis 14:07

28d ago14:07

14:07

In 1956, one of the most important geopolitical events of the post-war period took place in Egypt. Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, one of the most important waterways in the world. In response, a coalition of several countries tried to take it back. However, it didn’t go as planned, and it signaled a major reshuffling of the geopolitical order. …

1
The History of Camping 14:04

1M ago14:04

14:04

We are all familiar with camping, and many of us go camping or camp regularly. Enjoying the great outdoors with friends and family can be an enjoyable experience. However, camping has a history that is unlike most things in humanity. The path from the ancient world to luxury glamping was not straight. Despite having very ancient roots, what we know…

1
Plastics (Encore) 14:57

1M ago14:57

14:57

At the 1862 London International Exhibition, an inventor by the name of Andrew Parkes introduced a new product based on cellulose that he called Parkesine. Little did he know that this material which could be made elastic when heated and molded into almost any shape imaginable would be the basis for an enormous percentage of the materials in common…

1
The Battle of Bannockburn 14:18

1M ago14:18

14:18

In June of 1314, Scottish forces under the command of Robert the Bruce squared off against an English army led by King Edward II. The battle was the culmination of years of English intervention in Scotland after a succession crisis. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Scots won the day, earned their independence, and firmly established Robert the…

1
The Plan Dog Memorandum (Encore) 9:59

1M ago9:59

9:59

In 1940, much of the world was at war, but the United States wasn’t. A strong isolationist sentiment kept the US on the sidelines while Germany and Japan ran roughshod over their neighbors. While the US wasn’t in the war, many people in the US military knew that it was only a matter of time before we got sucked in. Over a year before the attack on …

1
Canadian Football 15:26

1M ago15:26

15:26

In 1903, the Ontario Rugby Football Union adopted a set of rules for their sport which were codified by Thrift Burnside, the captain of the University of Toronto football team. The rules were major changes to the game of rugby and were largely based on the rules created by Walter Camp for use in American football in the 1880s. However, with those r…

1
Spartacus and the Third Servile War (Encore) 15:16

1M ago15:16

15:16

In the year 73 BC, Rome faced one of its greatest threats to its existence. An army of over 100,000 liberated slaves rose up in revolt and threatened the very fabric of the Roman Republic. The revolt was led by a gladiator slave who lead his motley army and, to the astonishment of Rome, managed to defeat many Roman legions. The end of this rebellio…

1
The Piltdown Man Hoax 14:10

1M ago14:10

14:10

In 1912, a discovery was announced that shocked the world. A British paleontologist announced what was perhaps the most important find in the history of paleontology. The announcement was about the discovery of a fossil, which was claimed to be the missing link between apes and humans. It was a groundbreaking discovery that, if true, would rewrite …

1
Questions and Answers: Volume 18 16:56

1M ago16:56

16:56

Listen to the Respecting the Beer Podcast! https://respect-the-beer.captivate.fm/ Sponsors Available nationally, look for a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond at your local store. Find out more at heavenhilldistillery.com/hh-bottled-in-bond.php Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Vi…

1
Asteroids 14:31

1M ago14:31

14:31

Our solar system is made up of a lot of things. The biggest thing is the sun, of course which makes up the vast majority of the solar system’s mass. Then, of course, there are planets, which come in various sizes, and many of them have moons of various sizes. However, that isn’t everything. There are other things in the solar system, things that am…

1
A History of the Crusades 16:21

1M ago16:21

16:21

Starting in the year 1096, the Christian kingdoms of the Latin Church united to retake religious sites in the Holy Land. This war was known as a crusade. This was just the first in a series of nine official and several other unofficial crusades over a span of 200 years. These crusades impacted the kingdoms that took park, the Eastern and Western Ch…

1
White Feather Girls (Encore) 13:45

1M ago13:45

13:45

The First World War wasn’t just fought on the fields of France and Belgium. There were lesser battles fought on the homefronts of the nations which were fighting. In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, this battle was fought on the streets of cities and towns between men who didn’t wear a uniform and women who tried to shame them i…

1
Operation Valkyrie and the Plot to Kill Hitler (Encore) 13:15

1M ago13:15

13:15

Adolf Hitler single-handedly started the Second World War in Europe. While the Allies were desperately trying to end the Third Reich and Hitler personally, they weren’t the only ones trying to bring Hilter’s reign to an end. Inside Nazi Germany, a small but committed group sought to remove Hitler from power, and they took action in July 1944. Learn…

1
Fifty-four Forty or Fight! 14:17

1M ago14:17

14:17

By the early 19th century, the United States and Great Britain had already fought two wars with each other. Those two wars were not enough to resolve all of the territorial and border disputes between them. There was one massive open question that remained between the two countries. A large swath of land in the Pacific Northwest that both countries…

1
The 1854 Broad Street Cholera Outbreak (Encore) 12:16

1M ago12:16

12:16

In 1854 an unusually severe outbreak of cholera occurred in London. While cholera was not an uncommon disease, physicians at the time weren’t sure what caused it. This time, one doctor took a completely different approach, stopping the epidemic and ushering in a new field of medicine. Learn more about John Snow and the Broad Street cholera outbreak…

1
Qin Shi Huang: China's First Emperor 14:06

1M ago14:06

14:06

In 259 BC, a boy named Ying Zheng was born in the state of Qin in modern-day China. He was born into the royal family of the kingdom and ascended to the throne at the age of 13. For most people, becoming king would be the pinnacle of their achievements. However, this was not to be the case with the King of Chin. He would go on to achieve a status t…

1
Central Park 14:40

1M ago14:40

14:40

In the 19th century, New York City was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. However, it was still a very young city, and as such, the city’s leaders were able to take a step back and plan what exactly they wanted to future of the city to be. What they decided was that the city needed a park. Not just any park, but a great park that took …

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Gary Arndt Glassbox Media Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide