Learn something new every day! Everything Everywhere Daily is a daily podcast for Intellectually Curious People. Host Gary Arndt tells the stories of interesting people, places, and things from around the world and throughout history. Gary is an accomplished world traveler, travel photographer, and polymath. Topics covered include history, science, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, geography, and culture. Past history episodes have dealt with ancient Rome, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, Chi ...
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Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology engineering and maths which aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and create new role models for both girls and women studying or working in STEM.
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Welcome to the Methods podcast! Methods are the UK’s leading independent transformation partner for public services. We apply our skills in innovation and collaboration from across the Methods Group, to deliver end-to-end business and technical solutions that are people-centered, safe, and designed for the future. You can find out more about the Methods group at www.methods.co.uk.
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Sift the Podcast is the podcast that sifts through history one Devil at a time. Hosted by Liz Wilshin, you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or wherever podcasts are found. All bonus content goes to raise funds for nonprofits because we want to fight against future Devils one day at a time. Remember, idle ears are the Devil's playthings.
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In the mid-12th century, England was in chaos. The king of England, Henry I, died without an heir. The country was divided between forces loyal to his daughter, Matilda, and his nephew, Stephen. For almost two decades, armed conflicts resulted in a breakdown of law and order and central authority. Learn more about The Anarchy, how it began, and how…
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The Vietnam War was perhaps the most significant event that took place in the last half of the 20th century. It had profound impacts on the American military and foreign policy as well as on its culture. However, many people have a very simplistic view of the causes of the war. They assume it was just a result of Cold War politics. While that was c…
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One of the most significant figures in 16th-century Britain was Mary Stuart, aka Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary’s life was one of the most fascinating of the period. Depending on which historian you consult, she was a schemer, a traitor, a pawn, or a victim. According to some, she was all of these things. What is certain is that Mary was ultimately res…
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For thousands of years, humans all around the world have coveted gemstones. Gemstones have been used as symbols of authority by kings, queens, and emperors, have been central to religious ceremonies, and have served as adornments for the wealthy. While you may have heard of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, what exactly are they, and where…
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Located on the tips of our fingers are features known as friction ridges. We evolved them to get a better grip on objects. It just so happens that those friction ridges are unique to every person. That allows us to use friction ridges as unique identifiers and for authorities to use them to catch criminals, and in some ways, we have been doing so f…
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On April 12, 1861, the United States Civil War began when Confederate forces began a bombardment of the Union held Fort Sumter at the mouth of the harbor in Charleston, South Carolina. The battle was not itself a great battle, and the number of casualties was shockingly small, but what it began totally changed the lives of millions of people and th…
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In any sport, there is always one debate that comes up. It comes up year after year, and it has been around for as long as sport has existed. The debate is about who is the greatest of all time, or in common parlance, who is the GOAT? Every sport has its own contenders for the GOAT. In some sports, the GOAT is pretty easy to identify. In others, it…
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During the Second World War, the United States embarked on one of the greatest science and engineering projects the world had ever seen. Over 100,000 people took part in the program, the vast majority of which had no clue what it was for, and the total cost of the program was in the billions of dollars, at a time when a billion dollars was a lot of…
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After the end of the second world war, Berlin was a divided city controlled by the four major allied powers. Despite the different zones of control, people could move freely between them. However, on August 13, 1961, the East German government decided to end the free travel of Berliners by building a wall around West Berlin. For 28 years, the wall …
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If you have used a computer, which I’m assuming is almost everyone listening to this, you have probably had to store your data somewhere. You might have used a USB drive, a hard drive, or if you are old enough, maybe even a floppy drive. These types of data storage are just the latest in a long line of methods to store information that goes back a …
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In 8 BC, the Roman senate passed a resolution renaming the month of Sextillis to August to honor the emperor Augustus. They chose Sextillis, which was the sixth month in the calendar because it was the month that he conquered Egypt. Fast forward several centuries and August had a permanent place on the calendar. With that, prepare yourself for the …
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In almost all sports, people will refer to what is known as having a home-field advantage. Home-field advantage is a simple concept. It implies that teams playing in their home stadium, arena, or field have a slight advantage over the visiting team. But is home-field advantage a real thing? And if it is, what are the reasons for it, and which teams…
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The Hughes H-4 Hercules, aka The Spruce Goose (Encore)
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During the height of the Second World War, American shipping to Europe was constantly being attacked by German U-boats. In an attempt to completely bypass German subs, aviation pioneer Howard Hughes began construction on what would be the world’s largest aircraft. A plane that was so large it could carry 750 passengers or two full-sized tanks acros…
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According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The Library of Congress was originally intended to be the library of the United States Congress, but over two centuries since its founding, it has evolved to something much grander, covering almost every subject and langua…
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On December 29, 1170, the Archbishop of Canterbury was brutally murdered on the floor of the Canterbury Cathedral by four armed knights while preparing for his evening prayers. The ramifications of that incident shook the country of England, its king, and the Catholic Church. Over 850 years later, it is still remembered and remains one of the most …
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Located in the state of Wyoming and a little bit of Montana and Idaho lies one of the world’s greatest national parks on Earth: Yellowstone. In the 19th century, Yellowstone was declared the first national park in the world. However, what makes Yellowstone special actually dates back millions of years. The geologic circumstances that led to the cre…
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You have probably heard the expression, “The house always wins.” This is usually true….in fact, it's almost always true. If it weren’t true, then casinos wouldn’t exist. Every game in a casino is designed to give the house an edge so that in the long run, with enough players, they are mathematically guaranteed to win money. However, there have been…
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For over 1000 years, Rome, either in its Republican or Imperial form, was the dominant power in the Mediterranean. Then, at least in the West, the empire eventually fell apart. Ever since people have been asking the question….why? Ever since it happened, people have been debating the reasons why, and after 1500 years, there still isn’t a consensus.…
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On April 24, 1990, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope into low Earth orbit. After some initial technical problems, it began providing images of our universe, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Even though larger, better telescopes have been sent to space for over 30 years, the Hubble has remained one of the mos…
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Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last ruler of an independent Egypt and one of the most important women of the ancient world. In addition to being a brilliant and cunning ruler in her own right, she was also famously associated with two of the most powerful men in the late Roman Republic. Yet was her involvement with these men that ultimately led t…
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Perhaps the greatest advancement in the arts in the 20th century was the creation of motion pictures. Motions Pictures was a brand-new art form. While initially it was just recorded stage presentations, it eventually evolved into something much more. Today, it is a multi-billion-dollar industry, which is all due to countless technical advancements …
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Tristan da Cunha: The World’s Most Isolated Settlement (Encore)
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Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, situated between South America and Africa, lies the most remote human settlement on Earth. There, a community of a little over 250 people eke out a living over 1,500 miles from the next closest humans. Getting there is difficult, and living there is probably even harder. Learn more about Tristian da Cuhna and ho…
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One of the most difficult concepts for early thinkers to get their heads around was the idea of nothing. Everywhere we go, all our lives, there is something. There is air and matter that surrounds us everywhere because if there weren’t, we wouldn’t be here. Eventually, scientists and philosophers became comfortable with the idea of nothing and were…
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Just south of the United States and north of Guatemala is Mexico, a fact which I’m sure all of you know. However, most people don’t know that much about Mexico. There are caricatures of Mexico, and many people are familiar with some of the tourist areas, but that’s about it. In reality, Mexico is one of the world’s largest countries, and its unique…
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For thousands of years, many theories have been put forward as to the cause of communicable diseases. These theories ranged from the religious to the magical and sometimes quasiscientific, but what they all had in common was that there was no proof for anything. Over the centuries these theories became dogma and often prevented a better understandi…
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The 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal (Encore)
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In October 1919, the champions of the National League, the Cincinnati Reds, faced the champions of the American League, the Chicago White Sox, in the World Series. While Cincinnati won the championship on the field five games to three, the series will be forever remembered because of the events surrounding it. Even a hundred years later, it remains…
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A History of Textiles, Fabrics, and Cloth
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I would say that there is a very good chance that almost everyone listening to the sound of my voice right now is wearing something made of cloth. Cloth, textiles, and fabrics go back a very long way, but despite their ancient origins, not every culture had them. Yet, where they existed, they were often some of the most valuable commodities, and th…
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In the year 53 BC, Rome suffered one of the greatest military defeats in its history. A Roman army led by Marcus Lucinisu Crassus was led into the desert in present-day Southern Turkey and was systematically destroy by an army from the Kingdom of Parthia. The defeat itself didn’t radically weaken Rome, but the death of Crassus led to a chain of eve…
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Located between China and India, Pakistan, Buthan, and Nepal is the world’s highest chain of mountains, The Himalayas. The Himalayas aren’t just very tall, picturesque mountains that are the home of Mount Everest. They are perhaps the most important mountain range on Earth. The Himalayas serve as the source of several of the world’s most important …
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Sharing an episode of “What It’s Like to Be...” from author Dan Heath. On the podcast, Dan explores the world of work, one profession at a time, and interviews people who love what they do. He finds out: What does a couples therapist think when a friend asks for relationship advice? How does a stand-up comedian come up with new material? What are t…
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In September 1944, despite over half a year still remaining in World War II, the Allies began preparing for an eventual post-war world. One of the biggest questions being discussed was what to do with Germany. After two world wars with Germany in just a quarter century, no one wanted a third. One American official developed a plan that would basica…
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In the early 1960s, the United States was always a step behind the Soviet Union in the space race. By the mid-1960s, the Americans had caught up. They didn’t have many glamorous firsts, but they were doing increasingly difficult things in space. All of that came crashing to a halt on January 27, 1967, when three astronauts died in what was a seemin…
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In the mid-18th century, excavations in the ancient town of Herculaneum, just outside the city of Pompeii and destroyed by the same volcano, discovered something….interesting. They found a villa that contained 1800 ancient scrolls. Unfortunately, the volcano's heat carbonized them, making them illegible and incredibly fragile. Still, for over 250 y…
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In the early 19th century, the most abundant bird in North America, and perhaps the entire world, was the passenger pigeon. An estimated three billion of them would fly in flocks so large that they could blot out the sun. However, within a century, the entire species had gone extinct. It was one of the fastest and most disastrous turnarounds for an…
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Depending on how you define it, there were somewhere between 70 to 100 Roman emperors between the ascension of Augustus to the fall of the western empire in 476. A period of about 500 years. Some of them managed to be just and competent rulers who ruled for extended periods of peace and prosperity. Others….were not. Learn more about the worst Roman…
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The Origin of Words and Phrases: Common Idioms
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Let me cut right to the chase. This episode is going to be a deep dive into the origin of some common idioms. I don’t want to dance around the subject or have to walk on eggshells, so I’m using this introduction to break the ice. Whether you’re feeling under the weather or ready to burn the midnight oil with us, you’re in for a treat. I will spill …
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One of the most famous lines in poetry comes from the poet Robert Burns, who spoke of ‘The best-laid schemes of mice and men.’ The line has been used in reference to the fact that no matter how good the plan or the intentions behind it, things will often not go according to plan. Indeed, there have been times in history when plans have made things …
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The most popular sports league in the world in terms of the number of people who follow and watch is the English Premier League. Unlike other sports leagues, the English Premier League is relatively new. It was only created in the early 90s in response to the poor condition of top-division football at the time. Since then, it has brought in billion…
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The Horrible Voyage of the 1905 Russian Baltic Fleet (Encore)
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In February 1904, the Russian Empire found itself at war with the Empire of Japan over what was territory in the current nation of China. The problem for Russia was that a big chunk of its navy was located in the Baltic Sea, and the war was in Asia. The Baltic fleet was sent on an incredibly long and interesting voyage to get the ships into battle.…
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Mark Twain once said, 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.' The reason why he placed statistics into its own category is because it is possible to use numbers to misrepresent the truth, distort reality, or outright lie. However, if you know what to look for, you can catch misuses of statistics, and if really pay attent…
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The month of July is named after Julius Caesar. In 44 BC, after his assassination, the Roman Senate renamed the month of Quintilis after him in honor of the month he was born. The fact that he was appointed dictator for life probably had something to do with it. All the emperors that came later never changed it, so instead of Quintilis, we have Jul…
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On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the 13 British colonies in North America issued a document addressing their grievances with the British Crown and stated to the world why they considered themselves to be a free and independent country. That document and its legacy have had a much bigger impact than its signatories could have ever imagin…
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One of the leading destinations for live stage performances is Broadway. The term Broadway, derived from the street in New York City, is not just a name. It's a rich history of notable theaters and a style of performance that has become synonymous with it. But why did theater develop on that particular street in that particular city, what divides B…
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Located in the 90th place on the periodic table is the element Thorium. Thorium, as with every element, has unique properties, making it useful in certain applications. However, Thorium’s best days might still be ahead of it and might move it to the front of the list of the world’s most important elements. Learn more about Thorium, how it was disco…
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In December 1936, the United Kingdom underwent its greatest constitutional crisis of the 20th century. The king, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee. This might not seem like a scandal today, but at the time, it threatened to collapse the entire British government when Europe was on the brink of war. The aftermath of the…
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In 1961, at the Green Bank observatory in West Virginia, a small conference was held for astrophysicists. The meeting was organized by Cornell University professor and astronomer Frank Drake. The subject of the conference was the search for extraterrestrial life. In preparation for the conference, he jotted down his thoughts in the form of an equat…
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Before the Allied invasions of Normandy or Sicily in World War II, the ground war against Germany and Italy was first fought in North Africa. The reason why there was even a conflict in Africa was a combination of geography and history. Even though it doesn’t get the attention the war in Asia or Europe receives, the war in North Africa was pivotal …
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The biggest agricultural crop in the world today, by total weight, is corn. Also known as maize, corn is a crop of the New World. The ancients in China, India, Mesopotamia, and Rome never knew about corn. Yet, since the Columbian Exchange, it has become one of the world’s most important commodities as a source of food, animal feed, and the basis of…
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Gregor MacGregor and the Biggest Scam in History
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One of the most audacious scams in history took place in the early 19th century in Britain. A man sold thousands of people a dream of land in the New World. His claims attracted large investments, encouraged hundreds of people to move around the world, and even suckered in members of the royal family. However, his promises were empty, and in the en…
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The Discovery and Burial of the Remains of Richard III (Encore)
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The death of a British monarch is a very big event. Thousands of people may take part in the funeral and procession, with millions more lining up to pay their respects and billions more watching on television. This didn’t always use to be the case, however. In particular, there was one English King who not only didn’t get an elaborate funeral, no o…
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