Best Caroline Vahrenkamp Podcasts (2024)

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103 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa and Galileo Galilei 46:55

12d ago46:55

46:55

You've seen it on a million pizza boxes, in a thousand Italian restaurants, and in photos of your Dad pretending to hold it up. It's the Leaning Tower! Why does it lean? And why is it so gracefully elegant in its leaning? Most of this episode, however, is about the most famous person to be associated with the tower: the astronomer Galileo. Did he r…

1
102 - The Harmandir Sahib of Amritsar and the Beginning of Sikhism 27:21

2M ago27:21

27:21

The youngest of the world's seven largest religions is Sikhism, founded in Punjab in the 16th century. Nanak, a guru, or teacher, from outside Lahore, spent three days lost along a river and returned with an undestanding of one God: the Ultimate Reality. Nanak created a religion founded on equality, service, and openness, yet his successors would s…

1
101 - The Uffizi Gallery of Florence and Cosimo I de' Medici 47:09

4M ago47:09

47:09

One of the world's great museums of Renaissance art: the Uffizi. Meaning "the offices," the Uffizi were quite literally built as an office buidling for the growing administration of Cosimo I de' Medici, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, the leader who brought authoritarian rule, if also stablity, to Florence. Bry Rayburn from the Pontifacts podcast,…

1
Bonus - The Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 7:35

4M ago7:35

7:35

A quick bonus episode about how eclipses connect with human historyBy Caroline Vahrenkamp

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099 - The Meenakshi Amman Temple of Madurai and the Fall of Vijayanagar 33:54

5M ago33:54

33:54

Towering above the city of Madurai, the gopurams or gateways of the Meenakshi Amman Temple are medieval skyscrapers, awash in color, writhing in movement, beautiful and otherworldly at the same time. In this episode we'll discuss the rise of the Mughal Empire, the fall of Vijayanagara, and of course, masala dosa, that most incredible of South India…

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100 - The Wieliczka Salt Mine and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 52:41

12M ago52:41

52:41

In the late 1500s Poland and Lithuania joined to create the Commonwealth, a remarkable, if flawed, experiment in constitutional monarchy that would last more than 200 years. Its legacy of religious tolerance and representative republicanism is strangely overlooked in American history books - and I would guess in other histories as well. One of the …

1
098 - The Süleymaniye Mosque of Istanbul and Suleiman the Magnificent 44:10

1y ago44:10

44:10

Suleiman the Magnificent? Suleiman the Lawgiver? Suleiman the Bisexual Poet? No matter how you label him, Suleiman was a fascinating sultan of the Ottoman Empire who strode upon the world stage, and his private life was worthy of a scandalous Netflix show. Among his greatest legacies was commissioning this phenomenal mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan…

1
097 - Machu Picchu and the Rise and Fall of the Inca 1:28:29

1+ y ago1:28:29

1:28:29

The world-famous "lost city of the Inca". It wasn't a city, and it wasn't lost, but yes, it was made by the Inca. The incredibly scenic former estate of kings is a true marvel, as I can personally attest, but this episode is about so much more than the ruins that people come from all over the world to see. Joined by Nick Machinski of the History of…

1
Mental Health Hiatus 3:51

1+ y ago3:51

3:51

It's all too much for me to take - the Beatles, 1969By Caroline Vahrenkamp

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096 - The Humble Administrator's Garden of Suzhou 23:40

2y ago23:40

23:40

He was from the richest city in Ming China, or one of the richest, and after his checkered political career, he came home and planted a garden. 500 years later, we can still visit his garden and marvel at the humility of Wang Xianchen, the Humble Administrator. This episode is a pleasant diversion beforewe get back to the big stories. And we'll hav…

1
095 - The Migration of the Monarch Butterflies and the Conquest of Mexico 1:04:59

2y ago1:04:59

1:04:59

Monarch butterflies are tiny, ephemeral creatures, whose audacious color patterns makes them beloved across a continent, yet few realize how remarkable their migration from Canada and the US to their winter ground west of Mexico City really is. Listener Livia Montovani joins us to talk about visiting the mountain reserves where hundreds of millions…

1
Update and Intelligent Speech 15:37

2y ago15:37

15:37

A brief update about the show!By Caroline Vahrenkamp

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094 - Chambord Chateau and François I 1:07:00

2+ y ago1:07:00

1:07:00

Just a little 440-room hunting lodge built among other chateaux in France's Loire Valley, Chambord is the grand dame of them all. Built for François Ier, it betrays the influence of the Italian Renaissance, specifically of Leonardo da Vinci, François' teacher and mentor. Gary Girod, host of the French History Podcast, joins us to discuss François a…

1
093 - Vatican City and Michelangelo and the Renaissance Popes 1:43:00

2+ y ago1:43:00

1:43:00

The largest episode on the smallest country. It's the city-state home of the Catholic Church, a neighborhood of Rome, home to some of the greatest art in the western world. In the early 16th century, the Catholic Church began to turn Rome into a capital glorious enough to serve as the capital of Christendom, and in the process, the popes drove Chri…

1
092 - The Hieronymites Monastery of Lisbon and Vasco da Gama 1:00:22

2+ y ago1:00:22

1:00:22

The enormous church on the banks of the Tejo, carved with ropes and knots and anchors as though it were going to sea itself, represents the vast wealth and untold adventure of Portugal's Age of Discovery. Portuguese king Manuel I commissioned the monastery upon learning of the success of Vasco da Gama's first expedition to India, the longest sea vo…

1
091 - The Great Mosque of Djenné and the Songhai Empire 32:59

2+ y ago32:59

32:59

The best example of Sahelian mud-brick architecture, the great mosque seems like a sandcastle rising from the Niger Inland Delta in Mali. Originally built in the early days of the Mali Empire, the mosque also connects with the Songhai, Africa's largest and strongest empire, whose collapse came at key moment in world history. We'll follow the fates …

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090 - The Bioluminescent Bay of Puerto Mosquito and the Columbian Exchange 1:08:22

2+ y ago1:08:22

1:08:22

Officially, this episode is on the amazing glowing algae living in the waters of three of Puerto Rico's bays, most notably Puerto Mosquito on Vieques, one of Puerto Rico's smaller islands. Listener and boriqueño native Roberto Cancel describes swimming in the bay on a dark night, surrounded by glowing blue waters. But most of the episode is devoted…

1
089 - The Kremlin of Moscow and the Beginnings of the Russian Empire 54:39

2+ y ago54:39

54:39

The once and future political center of Russia, the brick-walled Kremlin dates from the Middle Ages, but received its boost when a Byzantine refugee princess married an ambitious Muscovite prince, and together they created a fortress that would one day serve a superpower. Dr Charles Ward, professor emeritus of Foreign Languages and Literatue at the…

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088 - The Tower of London and the Princes in the Tower 1:14:22

3y ago1:14:22

1:14:22

Is it the world's most famous prison? Or a magnificent medieval castle steeped in history? The Tower has stood over London since the days of William the Conqueror and still amazes today. Its most famous story is that of the princes: Edward the V and his younger brother, killed in the Tower. But by whom? And how? It's a True Crime! episode. Graham D…

1
Where the Heck Is Caroline? 7:41

3y ago7:41

7:41

A quick apology for the delay in the next episodeBy Caroline Vahrenkamp

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087 - The Topkapi Palace of Istanbul and the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople 53:25

3y ago53:25

53:25

It stands on a promontory jutting into the Bosphorus, a pleasure palace of sultans and their harem. Its tiled walls, fountains and pools are sumptuous legacies of the Ottoman Empire. 1453 marks the final fall of the Roman Empire and the ascendency of the Ottomans, led by Mehmet the Conqueror, the 21 year old who took the city with an audacious mili…

1
000 - Introduction 16:46

3y ago16:46

16:46

Welcome to the Wonders of the World! In this podcast, we'll visit the Earth's great places to tell the story of our people, our civilization, and our planet. From history to travel and even to food, we'll examine what makes us great and what makes us human. This NEWLY REVISED (as of August 2021) introductory episode covers where we'll go, why we'll…

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086 - Shwedagon Pagoda of Yangon and Shin Sawbu 43:08

3y ago43:08

43:08

Like a giant bell covered in gold, Shwedagon Pagoda lords over Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)'s skyline. Its story is much like Burma's: elusive, mysterious. Shin Sawbu was a princess of the southern kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. Through an exciting life documented by practically nobody, she rose to become queen and then in retirement to bring the gold to …

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085 - The Registan of Samarkand and Ulugh Beg, the Astronomer-King 55:15

3y ago55:15

55:15

Ulugh Beg was the Astronomer King of Samarkand, who in one of the richest cities of the Silk Road, built a madrassa and observatory to chart the stars. Wonderful astronomer. Not much of a king. His madrassa though stands on, one of the three grand buildings of the Registan square. Scott Chesworth of the Ancient World and Nadeem Ahmad of Eran ud Tur…

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084 - The Duomo of Florence and the Birth of the Renaissance 1:14:31

3y ago1:14:31

1:14:31

It's the largest masonry dome ever built, its terracotta curves dominating the Florence skyline. The story of how that dome was built is the story of the birth of the Renaissance. But the real story is that of the artists, the petty, bickering, intensely human geniuses: the secretive, bitter Filippo Brunelleschi and the social climbing, self-promot…

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083 - The Karst Islands of Halong Bay and Lê Lợi 53:22

3y ago53:22

53:22

It's one of the most glorious seascapes on earth: thousands of limestone pillars rising from the bay, clothed in jungle green. Listener Emma Browning, who was literally just there, shares her experiences cruising among the islands and even shares the real-life sounds of the bay. When I say Vietnam, most Americans expect an episode on the US-Vietnam…

1
082 - The Forbidden City of Beijing and the Voyages of Zheng He 56:21

3+ y ago56:21

56:21

It's unfathomably huge. The Forbidden City, a city within the city, and the Yongle emperor's crowning achievement, is almost too big to comprehend. 8,886 rooms, nearly 135 football fields in area, it's huge. The Yongle Emperor also sent out Zheng He and the Ming Treasure Fleet to exert China's superpower influence across Asia and even to Africa. Ch…

1
Bonus - The Floating Rock Gardens of Ryloth 7:07

3+ y ago7:07

7:07

A Star Wars special! For May 4, 2021, I contributed a mini-episode for the No Redeeming Qualities podcast's annual Star Wars Day special. To spare you having to listen to 30 minutes of grown men complaining about the sequel trilogy, I'm offering this to you. In the early days of the Clone Wars, separatist forces were on their way to conquer Ryloth,…

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081 - The Temple of Heaven of Beijing and the Yongle Emperor 1:03:32

3+ y ago1:03:32

1:03:32

A majestic pavilion crowned in blue, the Temple of Heaven stands as one of the crowning architectural triumphs of the Yongle Emperor, a man responsible for three wonders. In this episode, we trace the origins of the Yongle Emperor. Chris Stewart from the History of China podcast appears to take us on a whirlwind adventure that took his father from …

1
080 - Malbork Castle and Jagiełło vs the Teutonic Knights 1:03:06

3+ y ago1:03:06

1:03:06

The largest brick castle of its day sits along the delta of the Vistula, a testament to the power and prestige of the order of crusading knights who built it. The Teutonic Order, from their castle at Marienburg, sought to Christianize and "civilize" the heathens of the Baltic. In this episode, we'll investigate the knights' relationship to its neig…

1
Just Like Starting Over 10:08

3+ y ago10:08

10:08

A bonus episode introducing the new host of Wonders of the WorldBy Caroline Vahrenkamp

1
079 - Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto and the Start of the Ashikaga Shogunate 39:19

3+ y ago39:19

39:19

Its gold walls reflected in the pond at its feet, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji, is glorious in any season. It was originally the retirement villa of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, former shogun and patron of the arts. How Yoshimitsu was able to be shogun is a story from some decades before, a story of betrayal, revolutions, and lots of samur…

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078 - The Monasteries of Meteora and John V Palaeologos 57:25

3+ y ago57:25

57:25

Stunning medieval monasteries perched on infinitely steep precipices, the monasteries of Meteora are sanctuaries in the sky. But what happened in Byzantium to convince monks to seek solitude in such forbidding locales? Stories of the collapse of Constantinople typically focus on the end, in 1453, but the fall really begins much earlier than that, f…

1
077 - The Alhambra of Granada and the Reign of Muhammad V 33:56

3+ y ago33:56

33:56

Nestled in the mountains of southwestern Andalucia, Granada's magnificent Alhambra palace represents the last hurrah of Moorish architecture in Spain, but what a last hurrah! Delicate and intricate, the Alhambra feels like something from a dream. This episode, I talk about Muhammad V, who survived a coup, exile, murderous intrigue and cruel allies …

1
076 - Cologne Cathedral and the Black Death 55:03

3+ y ago55:03

55:03

It was the world's tallest building, 632 years after work started: an exercise in persistence. Cologne Cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece. Cologne itself is a good place to tell the story of the 13th century's great disaster: the Black Death, and the social upheaval it brought, including the pogroms that swept through the Rhineland. Willem Fromm of …

1
075 - Bali and the Majapahit Empire 42:54

3+ y ago42:54

42:54

A Hindu island in the world's largest majority Muslim country, Bali is world-renowned for its natural and cultural beauty. But underneath the surfing and partying and rituals is the last bastion of an empire that once ruled all of Indonesia. Gajah Mada was the prime minister for Queen Gitarja of the Majapahit dynasty, and together, they united the …

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074 - The Madrassas of Timbuktu and Mansa Musa 48:41

3+ y ago48:41

48:41

Some call him the richest person in human history. Whether that's true, Mansa Musa of Mali shook up the world with his gold-laden hajj through Cairo and his university in Timbuktu. That city at the edge of the Sahara might seem like the furthest place on earth, but it was a remarkable center of learning, home to as many as 700,000 manuscripts. Cody…

1
020 - The Staircases of Persepolis and the Rise of the Achaemenids 1:00:09

4y ago1:00:09

1:00:09

East vs West? Maybe. We're off to Iran to greet the rise of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the world's greatest by this point in history. Between Cyrus and Darius, we'll deal with two Great rulers, but we've also got medieval Iranian love poetry, unappetizing royal banquets, Croesus making bad decisions, and kebabs! ` Even better, Yentl from theQue…

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073 - The Canals and Belfries of Bruges and the Battle of the Golden Spurs 1:00:31

4y ago1:00:31

1:00:31

Note: This episode contains a bit of profanity. The swampy county of Flanders was the richest part of Europe in the 14th century, fueled by the international cloth trade, and Bruges was the center of that trade, spinning English wool into Flemish cloth. The trade brought power to the craft guilds, and that power brought those guilds into conflict w…

1
072 - The Great Wall of China and Khubilai Khan 1:01:20

4y ago1:01:20

1:01:20

It's a great wall. A really great wall. It also never really did its job. Among those who so easily moved past the Great Wall were the Mongols, and Khubilai Khan, Mongol conqueror of China and founder of the Yuan dynasty, is perhaps the best known Chinese emperor, even though he's maybe the least Chinese of them all. Thanks, Marco Polo. Joined by t…

1
071 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres and Blanche of Castile 1:02:08

4y ago1:02:08

1:02:08

Chartres Cathedral and its magnificent stained glass represent perhaps the greatest achievement of the High Gothic. Its story is linked to that of Blanche of Castile, one of France's most powerful queens, and her son Louis IX, later Saint Louis. In this episode, we talk architecture, stained glass, and the use of color with listener and medieval st…

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070 - The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela and Medieval Ethiopia 49:54

4y ago49:54

49:54

When you think of Ethiopia, you might think of famine in the 1980s. You might not think of a millenia-old culture, one of the powers of the ancient world. The ancient capital of Aksum, possible home of the Lost Ark, sits below mighty obelisks, testaments to the wealth still hidden below the city. In the middle ages, under the auspices of king Lalib…

1
069 - The Grand Canal of Venice and the Fourth Crusade 1:08:43

4y ago1:08:43

1:08:43

In 1204, Christian crusaders sacked the world's largest Christian city, destroying or pillaging countless artifacts, books, and works of art. Some of those works of art ended up in the Most Serene Republic of Venice, for which 1204 represents the beginning of her dominance of the Mediterranean world. The story of how a canal-lined city in a marshy …

1
068 - Mont-Saint-Michel and Eleanor of Aquitaine 1:51:01

4y ago1:51:01

1:51:01

The abbey on the lonely island rises from the tidal bay like a castle out of a Disney movie. Mont-Saint-Michel is one of France's best known sites, with a history to match. Some of that history connects with the story of one of medieval Europe's most renowned women: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Married first to King Louis of France and then King Henry of …

1
Bonus - Your Questions, Answered 27:06

4y ago27:06

27:06

A quick break from the wonders narratives to answer many questions about Drew, the show, the wonders, food, travel and more! Find out which wonders missed the list, why there won't be a WotW cookbook, and why Drew has issues with "synergy" and "win-win" scenarios. Plus a new Demetrios Poliorcetes!By Drew Vahrenkamp

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067 - The Djemaa el-Fna of Marrakesh and the Almohads 1:02:24

4y ago1:02:24

1:02:24

The greatest of squares throbs with life: the scent of spiced, roasted meat, the cacophony of voices and drums, the visual rainbow of color. The Djemaa el-Fna is everything and more. Its history reflects the great medieval golden age of Morocco under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, a golden age for prosperity but not necessarily for culture. B…

1
066 - Angkor Wat and the Khmer Empire 42:57

4+ y ago42:57

42:57

The Cambodian jungle hides one of the world's largest pre-industrial cities: Angkor. Highlighted by its magnificent main temple, Angkor Wat, the city's other monuments testify to the prosperity of the Khmer empire. Those other monuments, many still semi-ruined by the jungle, make for even more compelling travel than Angkor Wat itself. From Suryavar…

1
065 - Monument Valley and the Ancestral Puebloans 33:04

4+ y ago33:04

33:04

Perhaps America's most famous landscape, Monument Valley and its fantastically shaped red-streaked buttes have starred in countless films and television shows. But its story truly hearkens to the people who have lived here for centuries: the Navajo, and before them, the Ancestral Puebloans. In this episode, we'll discuss how the Ancestral Puebloans…

1
064 - The Old City of Sanaa and Queen Arwa Al-Sulayhi 43:36

4+ y ago43:36

43:36

At the southern end of Arabia, Yemen was once rich from trade and frankincense. By the 11th century, it had fallen off the map, but two strong queens led it back to prosperity, particularly Arwa Al-Sulayhi, whose reign did more for Yemen than 350 years of men who followed. There's assassins, executions, heads on pikes. Among Arwa's accomplishments …

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063 - The Western Group of Temples at Khajuraho and the Chandelas 1:00:49

4+ y ago1:00:49

1:00:49

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT. A group of temples sits in the hills of central India, stunningly studded with sculptures. Built by the Chandela dynasty, they are remarkably well preserved testaments to medieval power, but they are best known for their many erotic images. Anirudh Kanisetti of the Echoes of India podcast returns to discuss t…

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