Episodes

  • Bone Wars and The Ghost Town Rhyolite

    Bone Wars and The Ghost Town Rhyolite
    Oct 30 2024
    Our 99th Episode! This episode features the narration talents of musician Will Oldham, also known as Bonnie Prince Billy. Will tells the story of Rhyolite, a town once founded in Death Valley after the discovery of gold by Frank "Shorty" Harris. Today it is a ghost town. But first, Mick tells the story of the Bone Wars, when Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope should have gotten along, but didn't. Still, they made some major paleontology and dinosaur discoveries. Stories written by Mick Sullivan, with editorial help from Will Oldham. Music arranged and performed by Mick Sullivan.
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    37 mins
  • A Very Special Desk - an Election Season Special Episode

    A Very Special Desk - an Election Season Special Episode
    Oct 17 2024
    The Resolute Desk is a fixture in the Oval Office. American Presidents have used it during some of the country's most pivotal moments. But what does the Resolute Desk have to do with England's dangerous expeditions into the Arctic in the 1800s? Find out on this episode - and learn about ghost ships, the search for the Northwest Passage, and a gift in honor of international friendship and diplomacy. This episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/PCPOD and get on your way to being your best self.
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    28 mins
  • Microscopes and Telescopes

    Microscopes and Telescopes
    Sep 30 2024
    Episode 98 goes to the Netherlands. There is something remarkable about the Dutch when it comes to glass lenses and scientific tools. Maybe Hans Lippershay invented the telescope. Maybe it was some kids in his town. Or maybe it was one of two other guys who seem to have come up with the idea at the same time and place. And as far as microscopes go, a dutch man named Antonio van Leeuwenhoek got obsessed with microscopes. He is remembered as the father of microbiology.
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    37 mins
  • I Scream for Ice Cream

    I Scream for Ice Cream
    Aug 31 2024
    Episode 97 is all about ice cream. Eat it anytime of year - it's a treat that we might take for granted today. It used to be expensive, impossible, or potentially dangerous. From George Washington to Edmund Albius to Nancy Johnson to the Hokey Pokey Man, the stories around ice cream are richer than double chocolate chunk.
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    32 mins
  • No Chill - Pioneers in Ice

    No Chill - Pioneers in Ice
    Aug 16 2024
    Episode 96 is all about Ice - in preparation for our following episode about Ice Cream. Boston's Frederic Tudor became the "Ice King" by taking ice to places in the world where it had never been before. But it wasn't easy Dr. John Gorrie was looking for ways to care for the sick and became one of the first humans to make ice himself. It sparked a cool revolution.
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    30 mins
  • International Games: Field of Cloth of Gold and Olympic Marathon

    International Games: Field of Cloth of Gold and Olympic Marathon
    Jul 29 2024
    Episode 95 covers two great stories of international competition. First, The Field of Cloth and Gold was a historic summit that brought together Henry VIII and Francis I with the hopes of peace, competition, and maybe a bit of wrestling. Second, the 1904 Olympics put a Cuban runner named Felix Carvajal on the map. He didn't win the Olympic marathon, but his spirit made him the winner among the crowds who saw him.
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    36 mins
  • Park People

    Park People
    Jun 28 2024
    Minerva Hoyt was a wealthy socialite who loved to escape to the desert of California and sleep in the sand. Her hard work and dedication in convincing people about the value of the desert led to preservation of today's Joshua Tree National Park. Col. Charles Young was born before the end of the Civil War and he would go on to be the third Black graduate from West Point Military Academy. When the Buffalo Soldiers under his command were put in charge of Sequoia National Park he became the first Black superintendent of a National Park.
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    37 mins
  • Bad Milk

    Bad Milk
    May 27 2024
    Episode 93: Milk has been a lot of things through the years, but it was often poisonous, spoiled or both. Learn about how far we've come in making milk safe, and who may or may not have helped us get to the root cause of what was making milk dangerous. From Dr. Anna Bixby and the mystery of Milk Sickness to Gail Borden who invented condensed milk, it's been a long road to your grocery store.
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    38 mins