Don't Look Now

This week we discuss Floriography better known as the Language of Flowers.  Floriography is a long practiced means of coded communication through the arrangement and display of flowers.  Want to tell…

The Pony Express only functioned for about 18 months in 1860-61, but the mail delivery service has somehow managed to sink it's way into the zeitgeist of the America West due to the influence of the …

The concept of the Holy Grail as ultimate quest item, the true goal of any quest has sunk into the fabric of our culture.  When did the concept of the Grail and the Grail quest get started?  What is …

Take a listen and learn about the history of the hit cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.  Created in the late sixties and still going strong today, it was originally made as part of an attempt to push back…

In today's podcast we discuss the phenomenon of The Wild Hunt, a bit of folklore shared under various names and guises all over much of Europe.  The core principle is a spectral hunt of spirits roami…

Take a listen and learn about Nellie Bly, or Elizabeth Cochran.  She was a pioneer in the filed of investigative journalism, famous for going undercover as a patient to expose the horrible conditions…

The Voynich Manuscript is a roughly 240 page hand written and illustrated manuscript that appears to be from the early renaissance which appears to be filled with information about plants, biology, a…

In 2016 the Tromp family living on a farm near Melbourne, Australia appeared to suffer a group delusion and went on an impromptu family road trip.  The disappeared suddenly, leaving behind, money, ve…

When you think of Western philosophy, science, and thought, almost everything traces back to the philosophers of ancient Greece.  Take a listen as we discuss Socrates and friends.

Today's episode is about the history of automobile safety.  From improvements in roads and signage, to improvements in driver training, to improvements in crash survivability, we recount the long (sa…

The Third Man Syndrome or Third Man Factor is a phenomenon wherein a person in extreme duress will suddenly feel the presence of another that helps guide them through the ordeal.  Is this an example …

In 1970 a the remains of a woman were found in the Isdal valley near Bergen, Norway.  She was burned over the front of her body and unrecognizable and strangely all of the tags on her clothing were r…

Charles Babbage was a 19th century inventor and polymath who is most famous for inventing the programmable digital computer in a purely mechanical as opposed to electrical form.  He was joined by Ada…

Gather your pocket full of posies and plague doctor's mask, it's time to discuss the Black Death.  The bubonic plague struck Europe in the 1340s and resulted in one of he most devastating pandemics i…

King Tutankhamun or King Tut is probably the most well known Egyptian pharaoh due to his unspoiled tomb being found and unsealed by Howard Carter in 1923.  Learn a bit about his life, when he reigned…

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was an Oxford mathematician and photographer with a knack for telling stories and entertaining the children of his friends.  At the request of Alice Liddell he wrote down the…

Ever wonder where your fork and spoon came from?  This episode is all about the invention of eating utensils: Chop Sticks, Spoons, Forks, and the backwards cousin of the table setting, the Spork.  Ta…

Our topic this week is the HIV virus and what science has uncovered about how and when it crossed over and mutated from the SIV virus that infects African primate populations.  We also discuss when t…

Come learn about the history of New Year's Day and New Year celebrations from around the world.  Time to sit back, eat some Hoppin' John, much on some Niangao, and taste some Samanu as we tour some t…

It's the Christmas season, and what better way to kick it off than to discuss Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Come learn a bit about what inspired Theodor Geisel to create the Grinch, ho…