logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2025
23m 19s

#563 | The Curious Origins of The Nobel ...

Leonardo English
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Oct 8
#636 | Victor Lustig: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower
In 1925, Victor Lustig convinced a Paris scrap-metal dealer that the French government was selling the Eiffel Tower. His secret was a mixture of official papers, careful acting, and victims too embarrassed to report him. He later returned to Paris and tried to sell it again. Vict ... Show More
24m 34s
Sep 24
#634 | Nuclear Power's Unlikely Comeback
Nuclear power was meant to disappear in much of Europe, but Germany, Belgium and Italy are changing their minds. Rising energy demand, climate concerns and artificial intelligence are making old reactors and new designs attractive again. Germany’s Chancellor admits closing nuclea ... Show More
23m 30s
Sep 10
#631 | The Dark Side of Psychology | The Milgram Experiment
In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram tested how far ordinary Americans would go when an authority figure told them to hurt someone. His disturbing experiment revealed the power of obedience and raised frightening questions about how easily good people can do terrible things. Ado ... Show More
26m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2025
Bonus episode from English Learning for Curious Minds: The Curious Origins of the Nobel Prize
This is an episode of the podcast English Learning for Curious Minds. If you enjoy this episode you can find English Learning for Curious Minds in your podcast app, or at leonardoenglish.comTranscript / Study pack : https://bit.ly/474GafO-------------------Alfred Nobel, the inven ... Show More
22m 44s
May 2019
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
The prize most coveted by the best and brightest minds in society owes its name to one man: Alfred Nobel. This Swedish inventor born in 1833, has a complicated history after battling through childhood poverty in which only three of his seven siblings reached adulthood. Parcasters ... Show More
42m 48s
Jan 2021
#163 Alfred Nobel
What I learned from reading Alfred Nobel: A Biography by Kenne Fant. ---- [16:24] The self-awareness that would become so characteristic of him was awakening and with it the determination to be the master of every situation. He was not going to throw himself into the world and le ... Show More
1h 1m
Feb 2022
How the Nobel Peace Prize Works
The Nobel Peace Prize is perhaps the most prestigious award in the world, yet there are plenty of other similar awards. What is it about this one that makes it so honored? And how did the guy who invented dynamite end up creating a peace award? Learn more about your ad-choices at ... Show More
50m 29s
Oct 2021
Nobel Prize 2.0
The Nobel Prize has rewarded some amazing discoveries. It’s also contributed to scientific tunnel vision. This week, how the Nobel impacted our understanding of an enormous cosmic mystery, and what a new and improved Nobel Prize could look like. For more, go to http://vox.com/une ... Show More
25m 37s
Apr 2020
Dynamite: The Controlled Explosion | S25-E1
In 1846, an Italian chemist discovered the volatile compound nitroglycerine, the first major breakthrough in creating man-made explosions since the invention of gunpowder a thousand years earlier. But almost everyone who experiments with the compound thinks it’s too dangerous for ... Show More
34m 14s
Jul 2023
Mr. Dynamite
Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, who demonstrated it in Britain for the first time on 14th July, 1867. He had discovered that when nitroglycerin, an explosive liquid, was absorbed by kieselguhr, a porous siliceous earth, it produced a solid that was resistan ... Show More
13m 5s