Best Qwerty Podcast Podcasts (2024)

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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The Morgenthau Plan (Encore) 16:36

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1d ago16:36

16:36

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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The Apollo 1 Disaster 15:13

1d ago15:13

15:13

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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The Herculaneum Papyri 15:22

1d ago15:22

15:22

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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The Passenger Pigeon (Encore) 14:34

1d ago14:34

14:34

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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The Worst Roman Emperors (Encore) 14:21

2d ago14:21

14:21

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 14:48

3d ago14:48

14:48

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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Unintended Consequences 17:06

4d ago17:06

17:06

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 English Premier League 15:17

5d ago15:17

15:17

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) 11:56

6d ago11:56

11:56

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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How to Lie With Statistics 13:32

7d ago13:32

13:32

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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Questions and Answers: Volume 20 17:01

8d ago17:01

17:01

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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The Declaration of Independence (Encore) 13:45

9d ago13:45

13:45

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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Broadway 15:05

10d ago15:05

15:05

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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Thorium (Encore) 15:04

11d ago15:04

15:04

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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The Unfortunate Bank 11:45

12d ago11:45

11:45

Sometimes the objects that are important to you aren't the prettiest. Sometimes they're best left in a box, but that doesn't mean they're unimportant or forgotten. In this episode, hear the heartwarming story about an unfortunate-looking bank and its sweet history, and learn three important questions to ask yourself about the past, present, and fut…

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The Abdication of Edward VIII 13:49

12d ago13:49

13:49

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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The Drake Equation (Encore) 10:44

13d ago10:44

10:44

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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The North Africa Campaign 13:54

14d ago13:54

13:54

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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Corn aka Maize 14:55

15d ago14:55

14:55

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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Ep. 124 Margaret Juhae Lee 27:11

16d ago27:11

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Margaret Juhae Lee has been been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive and most recently in The Rumpus and Ploughshares Blog. She received a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korean Foundation in support of research for her recently published book, book, Star…

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Gregor MacGregor and the Biggest Scam in History 16:11

16d ago16:11

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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) 12:50

17d ago12:50

12:50

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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Air Conditioning 14:18

18d ago14:18

14:18

One of the biggest problems that humanity has faced for thousands of years is heat. Excessive heat made it difficult to work in the middle of the day. Heat was especially problematic in the tropics, where a shockingly large percentage of humanity lived. As cities became more developed, excess heat, all year round, became a limiting factor in how ta…

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The Formation of the United Nations 15:04

19d ago15:04

15:04

In the midst of the Second World War, the Allied powers began planning ahead for what the post-war world was going to look like. The Legion of Nations had failed to prevent World War II. If they were to prevent another major war from breaking out in the 20th century, they needed something else. Learning from the lessons from the past, they created …

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The Marginal Revolution (Encore) 12:38

20d ago12:38

12:38

In most academic disciplines, there is often a single idea or discovery which makes everything fall into place. All of the things which didn’t make sense before suddenly do when looked through this new lens. These eye-opening discoveries usually occur in the hard sciences, but one such advancement also took place in the field of economics. Learn mo…

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The French Foreign Legion 14:03

21d ago14:03

14:03

A popular topic of films has been the French Foreign Legion. The French Foreign Legion was supposed to be an organization where someone could get a new identity and a new start on life, even if they were criminals. They were often stationed in hot, desolate places, where they served out their tour of duty before starting a new life. But how much of…

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The Domestication of Cats (Encore) 13:27

22d ago13:27

13:27

Dogs and cats are both domesticated, four-legged, fur-bearing mammals. Beyond that, they really don’t have much in common. One of the things that they don’t have in common is how they wound up in the lives of humans. Cats established their relationship with humans at a totally different point in history and for a totally different reason. Learn mor…

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The History of Skyscrapers 14:52

23d ago14:52

14:52

If you were to pick a single visible icon to represent the 20th century, it would probably be the skyscraper. Skyscrapers didn’t really even exist before the 20th century, but by the end of the century, they became ubiquitous in major cities around the world. The skyscraper didn’t just appear out of nowhere. They wouldn’t have been possible if it w…

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The Moon 14:06

24d ago14:06

14:06

About 384,400 km or 238,900 miles above the surface of the Earth is our planet's only natural satellite, The Moon. Every culture and civilization on the planet has had the moon play a role in its legends, and they have also used the moon to keep track of time, plant, and harvest. Scientists have wondered where the moon came from and how it was form…

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Phillip II of Macedon 14:19

25d ago14:19

14:19

Alexander the Great was one of the most famous people from the ancient world. He defeated a vastly larger Persian Empire and conquered everything from Egypt to India. Yet, what Alexander achieved wouldn’t have been possible without his father. In fact, if Alexander hadn’t accomplished what he did, his father would probably be the one given the titl…

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Charles Ponzi and His Scheme (Encore) 14:10

26d ago14:10

14:10

In January 1920, an Italian American businessman in Boston started a new company. In order to raise money, he took $100 investments from 18 people and offered them a fabulous return on their money in only 45 days, and he delivered on his promise. Soon people were lining up to give him their money and everything worked great…. …until it didn’t. Lear…

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The Danube River 14:09

29d ago14:09

14:09

Located in Central and Eastern Europe is one of the continent's longest and most rivers: the Danube. For thousands of years, the Danube has been a vital river for commerce and agriculture, and it has served as a natural boundary for empires and kingdoms. Today, it is still vitally important to ten countries and has become one of the top tourist att…

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The History of the Toilet 13:55

30d ago13:55

13:55

It is one of the most important inventions in history. Almost everyone listening to this has one. You use one almost every day, and if we didn’t have them, the world would be a very different place. I am talking about toilets. It isn’t something we like to talk about in public, but the sanitary removal of waste has been one of the critical componen…

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Wu Zetian: China’s Only Female Emperor (Encore) 13:36

1M ago13:36

13:36

In the very long history of China, it has had exactly one female ruler. She was a woman who managed, against all odds, to inch her way closer to power over a period of years until she reached a point where she could claim power for herself. By all accounts, she was beautiful, brilliant, cunning, and absolutely ruthless. Learn more about Wu Zetian, …

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Ep. 123 Lissa Soep 30:35

1M ago30:35

30:35

Lissa Soep knows how to reanimate the voices of the dead, and she is here to teach you how to get those voices into your memoir writing. She is a senior editor for audio at Vox Media and special projects producer and senior scholar-in-residence at YR Media. She has a PhD from Stanford, where she studied education, social theory, and linguistic anth…

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The US Occupation of the Philippines 15:04

1M ago15:04

15:04

The Philippines is one of the largest countries in the world. With a population of 115 million people, it is the 14th largest country in the world in terms of population. However, for a period of 48 years, it was a colony of the United States. That half-century was one of the most important in the history of the Philippines. It saw two major wars, …

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The Origins of Wine (Encore) 14:38

1M 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…

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The War of 1812 16:19

1M 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…

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The History of Books 15:08

1M 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 …

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College Sports 15:21

1M 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 …

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Ninjas (Encore) 12:42

1M 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…

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The Five Good Emperors 14:50

1M 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…

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D-Day 15:01

1M 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…

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The Apollo Lunar Module 15:14

1M 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…

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A Brief History of Central America 16:16

1M 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 …

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The History of Money (Encore) 14:00

1M 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…

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The St. Scholastica Day Riot 13:57

1M 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…

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Questions and Answers: Volume 19 15:20

1M 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…

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