Galileo is often credited with inventing the telescope, but he never made that claim. He simply whipped up his own take on the device and sold it to the Republic of Venice before his Dutch competitors could beat him to the punch. Galileo also gets credit for being the first person to point the telescope at the night sky. This is also untrue, but when he did ... Show More
Apr 14
Bonus Episode - Minor Miners, Activist Entertainers, and Spanish Painters
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes question from the listeners about the recent episodes on Henry Box Brown and Snow White. First, we hear some comments from a listener in Iceland who wanted to weigh in on the North American Vikings. Then Sebastian unpacks some tricky question ... Show More
35m 2s
Mar 24
Episode #247 - Was Box Brown Magically Emancipated?
One of the most celebrated stories from the Underground Railroad is that of Henry Box Brown, the man who mailed himself to freedom. In 1849 Henry Brown successfully had himself shipped out of slavery in a packing crate from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brown ... Show More
1h 29m
Oct 2024
Quel moine a, le premier, évoqué l’existence d’exoplanètes ?
<p>Né en 1548, près de Naples, et issu d'un milieu modeste, Giordano Bruno poursuit des études classiques et devient un moine dominicain. Mais sa réflexion, nourrie de lectures innombrables, et son goût de l'occultisme, le détournent peu à peu de l'orthodoxie catholique et de la ... Show More
2m 10s
Dec 2025
Cosmic Dawn with Nobel Laureate John Mather
The James Webb Space Telescope is doing something astronomers dreamed about for decades: peering into our universe’s early past, a period known as cosmic dawn. A new NASA documentary—also called Cosmic Dawn—chronicles the inside story of Webb’s design, construction, and launch. J ... Show More
18m 47s