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 - We're tackling one of the most famous couples in history this week on Crimes ... Show More
Sep 2024
25: The smartest man who ever lived - history of William James Sidis
Meet William James Sydis, the “smartest man who lived.” Sydis’ IQ score is estimated by some, to be somewhere between 50 and 100 points greater than that of Albert Einstein. By the time he was just 18 months old, Sydis was able to read The New York Times. At age 2, he taught hims ... Show More
42m 32s
Jul 2017
Tagore’s Nobel Prize Theft
Rabindranath Tagore, the celebrated Bengali writer, is one of the greatest figures in modern South Asian history. In 1913, Tagore became the first non-westerner to win a Nobel Prize, but just over a decade ago, his Nobel medal was stolen – and still hasn’t been found. This episod ... Show More
16m 17s
Dec 2020
Kiran Klaus Patel, "Project Europe: A History" (Cambridge UP, 2020)
Project Europe made waves when it was published in German in 2018 (CH Beck) and was soon translated into English as Project Europe: A History (Cambridge UP, 2020).
A clue to its crossover appeal can be found in its original subtitle: "A Critical History." Avoiding the traps of eu ... Show More
41m 5s
Aug 2025
#563 | The Curious Origins of The Nobel Prize
✨ The Great Speeches Challenge 📆 Starts Monday, 19th January---Find out more: https://bit.ly/45woKrt---Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was shocked to read his own obituary branding him the "merchant of death." While the story might not be entirely true, it pushed him to ... Show More
24m 14s
Jul 2025
CLASSIC: The Ridiculous Story of the World’s First (Documented) Serial Killer
Locusta of Gaul, also known as Locusta The Poisoner, was one of the most infamous criminals of ancient times. Alternately sponsored and betrayed by the noble class, she committed crimes with impunity for years — even, at one point, opening an academy to teach her poisoning skills ... Show More
35m 31s
Oct 2024
Pourquoi n'y a-t-il pas de prix Nobel de mathématiques ?
<p>L'automne est la saison des récompenses, au cours de laquelle sont notamment décernés le prix Goncourt et les différents prix Nobel. Concernant ces derniers, il existe d'ailleurs une curieuse lacune.</p><p> </p><p> En effet, Alfred Nobel, qui a donné son nom à ce prestigieux p ... Show More
2m 14s