Everything Everywhere Daily
1,469 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1.1K ratingsLearn something new every day!
Everything Everywhere Daily is a daily podcast for Intellectually Curious People. Host Gary Arndt tells the stories of interesting people, places, and things from around the world and throughout history. Gary is an accomplished world traveler, travel photographer, and polymath.
Topics covered include history, science, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, geography, and culture.
Past history episodes have dealt with ancient Rome, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, China, Egypt, and India. as well as historical leaders such as Julius Caesar, Emperor Augustus, Sparticus, and the Carthaginian general Hannibal.
Geography episodes have covered Malta, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Monaco, Luxembourg, Vatican City, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, the Isle of Man, san marino, Namibia, the Golden Gate Bridge, Montenegro, and Greenland.
Technology episodes have covered nanotechnology, aluminum, fingerprints, longitude, qwerty keyboards, morse code, the telegraph, radio, television, computer gaming,
Episodes explaining the origin of holidays include Memorial Day, April Fool’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, May Day, Christmas, Ramadan, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Canada Day, the Fourth of July,
Famous people in history covered in the podcast include Salvador Dali, Jim Thorpe, Ada Lovelace, Jessie Owens, Robert Oppenheimer, Picasso, Isaac Newton, Attila the Hun, Lady Jane Grey, Cleopatra, Sun Yat Sen, Houdini, Tokyo Rose, William Shakespeare, Queen Boudica, Empress Livia, Marie Antoinette, the Queen of Sheba, Ramanujan, and Zheng He.
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Episodes
The Night the Stars Fell Down
June 09, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutesIn the early morning of November 13, 1833, one of the greatest astronomical spectacles in recorded history took place. It was seen by millions of people, and no one was sure what was happening. Some thought it was the end of the world or judgment day. Both common people and scientists recorded the event, and it turned out that the explanation for what happened was just an extraordinary occurrence of a very ordinary event. Learn more about the Night the Stars Fell Down on this episode of Ever...
England, Britain, and the United Kingdom: What's the Difference?
June 08, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesLocated off the Northwestern Coast of continental Europe lies an archipelago of islands that most of you are familiar with. The thing is, the name of the islands and the names of the places that make up the islands are often used incorrectly. Moreover, how all the various parts of this archipelago are related to each other is pretty confusing as well. Learn more about England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles and how they are not the same thing on this episode of Eve...
Bell Labs (Encore)
June 07, 2023 09:00 - 9 minutesWhat do lasers, photovoltaic cells, the transistor, digital cameras, cell phone technology, the communication satellite, computer networking, radio astronomy, and the UNIX operating system have in common? They were all invented or developed at the same place by the greatest collection of scientists and engineers ever assembled. Learn more about Bell Labs, the greatest research laboratory in history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform th...
The Cadaver Synod
June 06, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesIn January 897, something unprecedented took place in Rome. Pope Formosa, the leader of the Catholic Church, was put on trial. What made this unprecedented wasn’t that the pope was on trial, although it was unprecedented. The remarkable thing was that Pope Formosa had died seven months earlier, and it was his exhumed corpse that was in the courtroom. Learn more about the Cadaver Synod, perhaps the oddest trial in history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp...
How The Secret to Silk Was Smuggled Out of China
June 05, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesThere was no product more important to the economy of the ancient world than silk. Silk was transported thousands of miles to be purchased by people so far away from its source that they had no clue where it came from. The source of silk, however, was China, and for centuries, they had a monopoly, which brought them tremendous wealth. That was until they didn’t. Learn more about how the secret to silk was smuggled out of China, and the silk monopoly was broken on this episode of Everythin...
The Town That Forgot It Was Part of the United States
June 04, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutesInternational borders can be very strange things. Sometimes they measured down to the millimeter and a heavily marked and fortified. Other times they run through desolate areas where hardly anyone pays attention to the actual location. The latter was the case with much of the US/Mexican border in the early 20th century, and it caused a great deal of confusion. Learn more about Rio Rico, the American town that everyone thought was a Mexican town, and then it actually was, on this episode o...
Questions and Answers: Volume 7
June 03, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesIn June of every year, the sun has its solstice. In the north, the days are long; in the south, the days are short, and we can plan our calendars around this event. Just as certain as the sun follows its path in the sky, so too do the listeners of this podcast have questions. Just as certain as there are questions, so too do I have answers. Stay tuned for volume seven of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that p...
The East African Rift
June 02, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesThere is a giant rift in East Africa today. It is a rift that literally tearing countries apart. This rift isn’t cultural, political, or economic, it is geologic. Africa is quite literally being torn apart. In several million years, Africa will be split into two continents, and while the process will take a long time, you see ample evidence for it right now. Learn more about the East Africa Rift and how it has shaped the modern continent of Africa on this episode of Everything Everywhere Da...
The Fermi Paradox (Encore)
June 01, 2023 09:00 - 9 minutesIn a previous episode, I spoke about the Drake equation and the odds of there being intelligent extraterrestrial life. Many people have used the Drake equation to argue that it is almost impossible for there not to be intelligent life in our galaxy. However, in the summer of 1950, physicist Enrico Fermi pushed back against this by asking a very simple question: if there are so many intelligent civilizations, where are they? Learn more about the Fermi Paradox and some possible answers to the ...
Uncontacted Peoples
May 31, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesIf you are listening to me speak these words, regardless of where in the world you live, you are part of a global network we call human civilization. You share in the ideas, technology, and goods created worldwide and by people in your community. Most people on the planet are a part of this system. But not everyone. Some people have remained separated from this system and still live in their traditional ways today. Learn more about uncontacted people, who they are, and where they live on this...
The History of Insurance
May 30, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesInsurance seems like a pretty modern concept. There are insurance commercials on television, and insurance companies sponsor major sports teams. Most of us have to buy insurance, or we are at least under someone else’s insurance policy. However, insurance is far from a modern concept. It is actually one of the oldest financial arrangements in human history. Learn more about insurance, how it was created, and how it works on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is...
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
May 29, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutesIn 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh established an English colony on an island in what is today the state of North Carolina. After a slow start, over 100 people moved to the island to start a new life and establish this English outpost at the edge of the new world. When a ship returned to the colony in 1590, what they found shocked them and began a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Learn more about the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the puzzle that still challenges historians on this episode of...
Why Is The Sky Blue? (Encore)
May 28, 2023 09:00 - 9 minutesChildren are highly inquisitive and are always asking questions. One of the most common questions that children have is, “why is the sky blue?” It is a simple and reasonable question, yet the answer is rather complicated, and most adults really aren’t sure why the sky is blue. Learn why the sky is blue and how to answer a child’s most common question on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provides therapy and counseling services to ind...
Attila the Hun
May 27, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesDuring the 5th century, one name struck fear into the hearts of almost every European: Attila, leader of the Huns. For a period of almost 20 years, Attila ravaged Europe, conquering various tribes and causing one of the largest migrations ever seen on the continent. Then, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, the conquests of Attila stopped, and the Huns were no longer a major power. Learn more about Attila the Hun and how he changed the course of European history on this episode of Everything Ev...
Tsutomu Yamaguchi: The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs
May 26, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesThere were millions of stories that came out of the second world war. However, there were none like that of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. On August 6, 1945, he survived an event that no one in world history had encountered before. Just three days later, he had the misfortune of having to go through it again. Learn more about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the man who survived not one but two atomic bombs, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provides the...
The Meteor That Determined the Outcome of a Battle
May 25, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesThere are many factors that go into the outcome of a battle. The number of soldiers, training, supplies, the weather, and the terrain the battle is fought on all play a part in determining the outcome. However, the biggest factor is the one that no one can control: luck. There has never been a battle where luck played a greater role than one that took place over 2,000 years ago. Learn more about the astronomical event that determined the outcome of a battle on this episode of Everything Ever...
Terra Nullius (Encore)
May 24, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesImagine you want to start a brand new country. Only, you don’t want to go through the messy process of starting a revolution or a civil war in a currently existing country. You want to find an empty piece of land for yourself that no one has claimed. Is such a thing possible? Learn more about the doctrine of Terra Nullius and where it could still theoretically be exercised in the world today, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that pro...
The Solomon Islands
May 23, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesLying northeast of Australia and almost east of Papua New Guinea lies one of the world’s lesser-known and seldom visited countries: The Solomon Islands. The country has few resources, is located on no major shipping routes, and is seldom mentioned in any news stories whatsoever. Yet it played a major role in the Second World War and is one of the most linguistically diverse places on the planet. Learn more about the Solomon Islands, it’s past and present, on this episode of Everything Everyw...
Irrational Numbers
May 22, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesThere is a particular type of number that is so common we have keys on calculators to handle them. However, thousands of years ago, their discovery was so upsetting to one group that it may have led to the destruction of their religion and possibly the murder of the man who made the discovery. Today, they are commonplace enough to be taught in grade schools. Learn more about irrational numbers and their place in the world of mathematics on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Spons...
The Origin of Words and Phrases: Sports
May 21, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesThe English language is a very odd thing. We use many phrases and idioms every day that make no sense if you don’t understand the cultural references behind them. In particular, we have a large number of idioms that come from the world of sports. Idioms which are often used by people who know nothing about the sport being referenced. Learn more about idioms and phrases in the English language that have their origin in sports on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHe...
Why Wasn’t the Wheel Invented Sooner? (Encore)
May 20, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutesIf you were to ask most people what the very first invention that humans came up with is, many of them might say the wheel. It isn’t a bad guess, but believe it not, the wheel was nowhere close to being the first invention. In fact, as far as we know, there were a whole bunch of things that were invented before the wheel, and in fact, probably had to have been invented before the wheel. Learn more about why the wheel wasn’t invented sooner on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sp...
Mount St. Helens
May 19, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesOn May 18, 1980, one of the most violent and cataclysmic natural disasters of the modern era took place. Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano located approximately 100 miles or 160 kilometers south of Seattle, exploded. The effects of the explosion could be noticed over 1,000 miles away, and it forever changed the landscape of southern Washington State. Learn more about Mount Saint Helens, the explosion, and its future, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an...
Stealing the Mona Lisa (Encore)
May 18, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesThe Mona Lisa is unquestionably the most famous painting in the world. Heck, it is probably the most famous work of art in the world. Yet the reason why it is so famous is due to an event which happened on the 21st of August 1911. It was wasn’t for the events of that day, the Mona Lisa would probably just be another painting hanging on the walls of the Louver. Find out what happened to make the Mona Lisa so famous in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an onl...
The World's Most Dangerous Substances
May 17, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutesThere are a great many chemicals that are dangerous to work with. Things that you wouldn’t want to get on your skin or somehow ingest. However, there is a category beyond that of substances that are so dangerous that many chemists wouldn’t want to work with them under any circumstances. Things are so dangerous that even the smallest error could result in a disaster in the laboratory. Learn more about the most dangerous substances in the world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. ...
Moneyball and the Rise of Advanced Statistics in Sports
May 16, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutesEver since organized sports began, people have been collecting statistics. These statistics were originally collected to let people know what happened during a game they might have missed. However, over time, these statistics became more and more sophisticated, and they eventually began dictating how the games themselves were to be played by uncovering truths that were overlooked. Learn more about Moneyball and the rise of statistics in sports on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily....
Namibia
May 15, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesLocated in Southwest Africa is the nation of Namibia. Namibia doesn’t make the news very often, which is a good thing. It is one of the most stable countries in Africa and one of the safest. It also has some of the most spectacular geography on the planet, wildlife that can be found nowhere else, and a history, unlike any other country in Africa. Learn more about Namibia, its ancient past, and its modern history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an onli...
Mother’s Day (Encore)
May 14, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesEvery year, on the second Sunday in May, 96 countries around the world celebrate Mother’s Day. Dozens of other countries celebrate the same thing on different days throughout the year. Mother’s Day wasn’t always a thing, however. Its creation was due to a small number of very determined people…and, of course, greeting card companies. Learn more about Mother’s Day and how it became a holiday on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provi...
Thorium
May 13, 2023 09:00 - 15 minutesLocated in the 90th place on the periodic table is the element Thorium. Thorium, as with every element, has unique properties, making it useful in certain applications. However, Thorium’s best days might still be ahead of it and might move it to the front of the list of the world’s most important elements. Learn more about Thorium, how it was discovered, and its potential uses on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provides therapy a...
The Domestication of Cats
May 12, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesDogs and cats are both domesticated, four-legged, fur-bearing mammals. Beyond that, they really don’t have much in common. One of the things that they don’t have in common is how they wound up in the lives of humans. Cats established their relationship with humans at a totally different point in history and for a totally different reason. Learn more about the domestication of cats and how these wild animals wound up as pets on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHe...
The Trinity Test (Encore)
May 11, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesOn July 16, 1945, at 5:29 am, 35 miles southwest of Socorro, New Mexico, the world’s first nuclear bomb was detonated. This was the culmination of the Manhattan Project, one of the largest and most expensive programs in world history. Yet, just before the event, the scientists and engineers who worked on the project weren’t entirely sure it would work and, if it did, just what the results would be. Learn more about the Trinity Test, the world’s first atomic bomb detonation, on this episode...
The Manila Galleons
May 10, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesGlobalization consists of a system of interlinked markets and economies. Most people think of this as a modern phenomenon, however, its roots go back much further. One of the earliest examples of globalization took place as early as the 16th century. The Spanish empire had a global spanning operation that linked together three continents and several of the world’s greatest civilizations. Learn more about the Manila Galleons and the Spanish system of globalization on this episode of Everythi...
How Wild Was the Wild West?
May 09, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesThe media portrayal of the wild west is filled with gunfights in the middle of the street, bank robberies, and vigilantes. In fact, it is very difficult to find a media portrayal that doesn’t use the wild west as a backdrop for some struggle of good vs. evil and of criminals vs. lawmen. But how accurate is this portrayal? Have Western movies been lying to us? Learn more about just how wild the wild west was and the accuracy of its portrayal in movies on this episode of Everything Everywhere ...
The International Space Station
May 08, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesEven before humans first went into orbit, there had been dreams of establishing a permanent presence in space. For almost the last 25 years, humanity has achieved just that. At least one human being has been in Earth orbit without interruption for almost a quarter century. What has allowed this to happen is one of the most complex and expensive things ever built. Learn more about the International Space Station, its history, and its future on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. S...
Questions and Answers: Volume 6
May 07, 2023 09:00 - 14 minutesAccording to the laws of supply and demand, an equilibrium will eventually be researched where suppliers will meet the demands of consumers at a given price and quantity level. In the case of this podcast, the supply and demand for questions are met at an equilibrium point of exactly one episode every month. Stay tuned for volume six of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provides therapy and counseling servic...
British Coronation Traditions
May 06, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesOn May 6, 2023, something will happen in London that hasn’t occurred in 70 years. A British monarch will be crowned. An event for which King Charles has spent his entire life in preparation. The ceremony, which will take place in Westminster Abbey, will incorporate centuries of traditions, both civil and religious. Many of those traditions had specific origins and reasons for their incorporation into the ceremony. Learn more about the British coronation ceremony and the traditions behind it ...
Cinco de Mayo
May 05, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesEvery year Mexico and Mexican culture are celebrated during the holiday of Cinco de Mayo, which in Spanish just means May 5th. However, many people, especially those outside of Mexico, have no idea what exactly is being celebrated on May 5, and many of those who think they know have the wrong idea. The location of most of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations is also surprising to most people as well. Learn more about Cinco de Mayo and the real reason for the celebration on this episode of Everythi...
How Many Countries Are There? (Encore)
May 04, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesIf you wanted to know how many countries there were in the world, it should be a pretty easy thing to find out. Go to a map, count all the countries, and voila! However, it isn’t even remotely close to being that simple. Defining what a country is is extremely difficult and has been a point of contention in many wars and conflicts. Find out the problem of determining out how many countries are in the world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online pla...
Separated at Birth
May 03, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesIn the 1960s, a New York clinical psychiatrist and an adoption agency conducted an experiment. They separated multiple sets of identical twins and one set of identical triplets into different families to test how much of personality is due to genetics or the environment. None of the children or families were ever told about this. The results of this experiment, and other cases like it, have proved to be fascinating. Learn more about identical twins and triples that were separated at birth o...
Galaxies
May 02, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesFor most of human existence, we looked up at the night sky and thought that was all there was to the universe. However, in the 20th century, as telescopes improved, we made a shocking discovery. The universe was much, much larger than we supposed, and some of those points of light in the sky were, in fact, collections of stars themselves. Learn more about galaxies, what they are made of, and all about our own, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor Sponsors BetterHelp is an...
Lady Jane Grey: Queen of England?
May 01, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesProbably the most consequential monarch in British history was Henry VIII. He upended much of English society by changing the religion in the country from the top down. He also left in his wake a century of controversy and turmoil about the succession of the monarchy. In all of that controversy, one figure wound up being an asterisk in the list of British Monarchs. Someone who only ruled for nine days, if it can be said they ruled at all. Learn more about Lady Jane Grey, the shortest-servin...
Why The Map In Your Head Is Wrong (Encore)
April 30, 2023 09:00 - 10 minutesAll of us have some sort of mental map inside our heads for how the world is laid out. North America is north of South America. Europe is west of Asia. et Cetra. However, even the greatest geography minds often have a flawed mental map of the world. Places aren’t often where were think they are in relation to other places. Learn more about why almost everyone’s mental map of the world is wrong and why it is so on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor BetterHelp is an online ...
The Pantheon
April 29, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesLocated in the heart of Rome is one of the oldest standing buildings in the world. Unlike other ancient structures, it isn’t a ruin. For almost 2,000 years, it has been in continuous use. When it was built, it was an unrivaled architectural masterpiece. Today, it remains the largest building of its type, having never been surpassed in all of history. Learn more about the Roman Pantheon, how it was built, and what makes it unique on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor Bett...
Arbor Day
April 28, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesEvery year the last Friday in April in the United States is Arbor Day. Arbor Day is not the sexiest holiday on the calendar. I don’t think anyone listening is getting the day off from work, and you don’t see used car dealerships offering Arbor Day sales. Nonetheless, for over 150 years, Arbor Day has highlighted the importance of trees and has encouraged their planting, and it is something that has been adopted all over the world. Learn more about Arbor Day and the importance of tree planti...
The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation
April 27, 2023 09:00 - 13 minutesIn 1897, the visionary Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky discovered an equation that governed how rockets worked. His equation, which was independently discovered by several other rocket scientists, immutably governs how we can send rockets into space. The variables in his equation have determined everything surrounding spaceflight and rocketry since its inception and will for the foreseeable future. Learn more about the Tyranny of the Rocket Equation on this episode of Every...
Was the Holy Roman Empire, Holy, Roman, or an Empire? (Encore)
April 26, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesIn the 18th century, the French writer and philosopher Voltaire said, ??”This body which was called, and which still calls itself, the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” Since then, some variation of this quote has found itself into history classes around the world. So what exactly was the Holy Roman Empire, and was Voltaire right? Learn more about the Holy Roman Empire and find out if it was holy, was Roman, and if it was an empire on this episode of Everything...
The Aral Sea
April 25, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutesAt the start of the 20th century, the world’s third-largest lake was located in Central Asia. It had been known to the people of the Asian steppes for thousands of years. However, by the end of the 20th century, the lake had all but disappeared. Somehow, over the course of a century, one of the world’s largest bodies of fresh water had all but vanished, stranding the many ships which once sailed the lake. Learn more about the Aral Sea and how it disappeared on this episode of Everything Eve...
ANZAC Day
April 24, 2023 09:00 - 11 minutesEvery year on April 25, Australia and New Zealand celebrate a holiday that is unique to those two countries. It is one of the most important days on the calendar, and it was created to celebrate an event that took place over 100 years ago. Today the holiday has taken on a broader meaning and has developed traditions all its own. Learn more about ANZAC Day, its origins, and how it is celebrated on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor BetterHelp is an online platform that pro...
Venus
April 23, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesAs long as humans have looked up in the sky, they noticed something. There was an unusually bright star that would show up in the early morning or early evening. This star was one of the few points of light in the sky that moved. They were dubbed planets, and the one that appeared in the morning and evening was thought to be two different ones. Today, we know much more about that moving star in the sky and found that it is one of the most dangerous places in the solar system. Learn more abou...
Han van Meegeren: Forgery As an Art Form (Encore)
April 22, 2023 09:00 - 10 minutesIn 1945 after the conclusion of the Second World War, a Dutch man was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and plundering the Netherlands of some of its greatest artistic works. During the trial, he came up with a defense that seemed to everyone to be preposterous yet wound up being true. Learn more about Han van Meegeren, the painter who duped the Nazis, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor BetterHelp is an online platform that provides therapy and counseling service...
The Origin of Words and Phrases: Volume 1
April 21, 2023 09:00 - 12 minutesThe English language is full of very quirky idioms and phrases. Every language has them, and these are just some of the things which make each language unique. Most native speakers of English may use these idioms and phrases all the time, even though they have no idea where they came from. For people who don’t speak English as their first language, these phrases can often make no sense. Learn more about the origin of common English words and phrases on this episode of Everything Everywhere ...