Wonders of the World artwork

Wonders of the World

162 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 300 ratings

In this podcast, we'll visit 200 Wonders of the World, from the Pyramids to the Great Barrier Reef, to tell the story of our people, our civilization, and our planet. My name is Caroline Vahrenkamp, and I'm a travel junkie. The world is filled with amazing places that reflect the greatest achievements of human accomplishment. In these uncertain times, understanding our great shared history may help to bridge the divides between us. And if not, it will be a fun ride anyway! We'll discuss the history of each place and the story of the men and women who lived there. We'll cover travel notes, examine what else to see while you're in the area, and dig into the local cuisine. Expect a new episode every two weeks. And thanks for listening!

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Episodes

100 - The Wieliczka Salt Mine

September 07, 2023 04:00 - 52 minutes - 96.6 MB

In the late 1500s Poland and Lithuania joined to create the Commonwealth, a remarkable, if flawed, experiment in constitutional monarchy that would last more than 200 years. Its legacy of religious tolerance and representative republicanism is strangely overlooked in American history books - and I would guess in other histories as well. One of the chief economic engines of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the Wielizcka Salt Mine, an amazing wonder delved over 700 years. To visit Wiel...

098 - The Süleymaniye Mosque of Istanbul

August 15, 2023 01:10 - 44 minutes - 80.9 MB

Suleiman the Magnificent? Suleiman the Lawgiver? Suleiman the Bisexual Poet? No matter how you label him, Suleiman was a fascinating sultan of the Ottoman Empire who strode upon the world stage, and his private life was worthy of a scandalous Netflix show.  Among his greatest legacies was commissioning this phenomenal mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan, one of the history's most successul and significant architects. Listener and traveler Emma Browning returns to discuss visiting the mosque an...

097 - Machu Picchu

February 09, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 162 MB

The world-famous "lost city of the Inca".  It wasn't a city, and it wasn't lost, but yes, it was made by the Inca.  The incredibly scenic former estate of kings is a true marvel, as I can personally attest, but this episode is about so much more than the ruins that people come from all over the world to see. Joined by Nick Machinski of the History of the Inca Empire podcast, we talk about the dramatic rise and fall of the Inca Empire, their staunch resistance to Spanish conquest, and the w...

Mental Health Hiatus

December 07, 2022 18:20 - 3 minutes - 7.26 MB

It's all too much for me to take - the Beatles, 1969

096 - The Humble Administrator's Garden of Suzhou

August 18, 2022 04:00 - 23 minutes - 43.5 MB

He was from the richest city in Ming China, or one of the richest, and after his checkered political career, he came home and planted a garden.  500 years later, we can still visit his garden and marvel at the humility of Wang Xianchen, the Humble Administrator. This episode is a pleasant diversion beforewe get back to the big stories. And we'll have Suzhou "smoked" fish while we're here! Sources: Clunas, Craig. Fruitful Sites: Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China Lonely Planet China  ...

095 - The Migration of the Monarch Butterflies

July 14, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 119 MB

Monarch butterflies are tiny, ephemeral creatures, whose audacious color patterns makes them beloved across a continent, yet few realize how remarkable their migration from Canada and the US to their winter ground west of Mexico City really is.  Listener Livia Montovani joins us to talk about visiting the mountain reserves where hundreds of millions of butterflies spend their winter. We'll also cover the conquest of Mexico and the personalities involved, from Motecuhzoma of the Mexica to C...

Update and Intelligent Speech

June 12, 2022 17:41 - 15 minutes - 28.8 MB

A brief update about the show!

094 - Chambord Chateau

April 28, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 123 MB

Just a little 440-room hunting lodge built among other chateaux in France's Loire Valley, Chambord is the grand dame of them all.  Built for François Ier, it betrays the influence of the Italian Renaissance, specifically of Leonardo da Vinci, François' teacher and mentor. Gary Girod, host of the French History Podcast, joins us to discuss François and his place in French history, while listener Sarah Demetz shares her experience visiting the chateau and the Loire. Plus fish in a lovely w...

093 - Vatican City

March 31, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 189 MB

The largest episode on the smallest country. It's the city-state home of the Catholic Church, a neighborhood of Rome, home to some of the greatest art in the western world. In the early 16th century, the Catholic Church began to turn Rome into a capital glorious enough to serve as the capital of Christendom, and in the process, the popes drove Christendom apart. And Michelangelo was there the whole way. Bry Rayburn from the Pontifacts podcast joins us to talk about some of the most epic ...

092 - The Hieronymites Monastery of Lisbon

March 10, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 111 MB

The enormous church on the banks of the Tejo, carved with ropes and knots and anchors as though it were going to sea itself, represents the vast wealth and untold adventure of Portugal's Age of Discovery. Portuguese king Manuel I commissioned the monastery upon learning of the success of Vasco da Gama's first expedition to India, the longest sea voyage undertaken to that time, a voyage that would seal the fate of three continents. For good and ill. Listener Maria Fernandes joins to talk ab...

091 - The Great Mosque of Djenné

January 20, 2022 05:00 - 32 minutes - 60.4 MB

The best example of Sahelian mud-brick architecture, the great mosque seems like a sandcastle rising from the Niger Inland Delta in Mali. Originally built in the early days of the Mali Empire, the mosque also connects with the Songhai, Africa's largest and strongest empire, whose collapse came at key moment in world history. We'll follow the fates of two great kings and see how choices made in the early 1500s echo today. And we'll eat tiguedegana, a peanut tomato stew that is just so fre...

090 - The Bioluminescent Bay of Puerto Mosquito on Vieques, Puerto Rico

January 06, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 125 MB

Officially, this episode is on the amazing glowing algae living in the waters of three of Puerto Rico's bays, most notably Puerto Mosquito on Vieques, one of Puerto Rico's smaller islands. Listener and boriqueño native Roberto Cancel describes swimming in the bay on a dark night, surrounded by glowing blue waters. But most of the episode is devoted to perhaps the most important event in world history: 1493. Not 1492, but 1493. That's the year when Christopher Columbus returned to the Ameri...

089 - The Kremlin of Moscow

December 23, 2021 05:00 - 54 minutes - 100 MB

The once and future political center of Russia, the brick-walled Kremlin dates from the Middle Ages, but received its boost when a Byzantine refugee princess married an ambitious Muscovite prince, and together they created a fortress that would one day serve a superpower. Dr Charles Ward, professor emeritus of Foreign Languages and Literatue at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee shares his thoughts of the rise of Moscow under Ivan III and Sofiya Palaeologina and the construction of the ...

088 - The Tower of London

November 12, 2021 01:01 - 1 hour - 136 MB

Is it the world's most famous prison? Or a magnificent medieval castle steeped in history? The Tower has stood over London since the days of William the Conqueror and still amazes today. Its most famous story is that of the princes: Edward the V and his younger brother, killed in the Tower. But by whom? And how? It's a True Crime! episode. Graham Duke and Ali Hood from the Rex Factor podcast join us to discuss the theories, while listener Kassia Bailey shares insights into visiting both th...

Where the Heck Is Caroline?

November 04, 2021 14:29 - 7 minutes - 14.3 MB

A quick apology for the delay in the next episode

087 - The Topkapi Palace of Istanbul

September 16, 2021 04:00 - 53 minutes - 97.9 MB

It stands on a promontory jutting into the Bosphorus, a pleasure palace of sultans and their harem. Its tiled walls, fountains and pools are sumptuous legacies of the Ottoman Empire. 1453 marks the final fall of the Roman Empire and the ascendency of the Ottomans, led by Mehmet the Conqueror, the 21 year old who took the city with an audacious military strategy. Rosa Hayes of the History of the Ottoman Empire joins us to talk about Mehmet and Constantine IX, the final Byzantine Emperor. ...

000 - Introduction

August 26, 2021 20:12 - 16 minutes - 30.9 MB

Welcome to the Wonders of the World!  In this podcast, we'll visit the Earth's great places to tell the story of our people, our civilization, and our planet.  From history to travel and even to food, we'll examine what makes us great and what makes us human.  This NEWLY REVISED (as of August 2021) introductory episode covers where we'll go, why we'll go there, and what our plan will be.

086 - Shwedagon Pagoda of Yangon

August 19, 2021 04:00 - 43 minutes - 79 MB

Like a giant bell covered in gold, Shwedagon Pagoda lords over Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)'s skyline.  Its story is much like Burma's: elusive, mysterious. Shin Sawbu was a princess of the southern kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. Through an exciting life documented by practically nobody, she rose to become queen and then in retirement to bring the gold to the great pagoda. In this episode, we attempt as best we can to piece together her story and we make a Burmese curry while we're at it. Sourc...

085 - The Registan of Samarkand

July 22, 2021 04:00 - 55 minutes - 101 MB

Ulugh Beg was the Astronomer King of Samarkand, who in one of the richest cities of the Silk Road, built a madrassa and observatory to chart the stars. Wonderful astronomer. Not much of a king. His madrassa though stands on, one of the three grand buildings of the Registan square. Scott Chesworth of the Ancient World and Nadeem Ahmad of Eran ud Turan both visited Uzbekistan just before the pandemic, and they join us with tales of gorgeous tilework, empty museums, and more plov (Uzbek rice ...

084 - The Duomo of Florence

July 01, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 137 MB

It's the largest masonry dome ever built, its terracotta curves dominating the Florence skyline. The story of how that dome was built is the story of the birth of the Renaissance. But the real story is that of the artists, the petty, bickering, intensely human geniuses: the secretive, bitter Filippo Brunelleschi and the social climbing, self-promoting Lorenzo Ghiberti, not to mention their friends like Donatello. Yes. That Donatello. They bicker and feud and bring Florence new perspectives...

083 - The Karst Islands of Halong Bay

May 28, 2021 04:00 - 53 minutes - 97.9 MB

It's one of the most glorious seascapes on earth: thousands of limestone pillars rising from the bay, clothed in jungle green. Listener Emma Browning, who was literally just there, shares her experiences cruising among the islands and even shares the real-life sounds of the bay. When I say Vietnam, most Americans expect an episode on the US-Vietnam War of the 1960s, but no, I'm going to discuss another superpower's invasion of the land of the Viet and their subsequent failure against Vietn...

082 - The Forbidden City of Beijing

May 13, 2021 04:00 - 56 minutes - 103 MB

It's unfathomably huge.  The Forbidden City, a city within the city, and the Yongle emperor's crowning achievement, is almost too big to comprehend.  8,886 rooms, nearly 135 football fields in area, it's huge. The Yongle Emperor also sent out Zheng He and the Ming Treasure Fleet to exert China's superpower influence across Asia and even to Africa.  Chris Stewart from the History of China podcast returns to talk about the Forbidden City and the great naval voyages, while listener Jesse Op...

Bonus - The Floating Rock Gardens of Ryloth

May 10, 2021 21:00 - 7 minutes - 13.1 MB

A Star Wars special! For May 4, 2021, I contributed a mini-episode for the No Redeeming Qualities podcast's annual Star Wars Day special.  To spare you having to listen to 30 minutes of grown men complaining about the sequel trilogy, I'm offering this to you. In the early days of the Clone Wars, separatist forces were on their way to conquer Ryloth, an important trading point in the outer rim. One man would lead the Republic garrison: Jedi Master Ima-Gun Di. While on Ryloth, Master Di ...

081 - The Temple of Heaven of Beijing

April 22, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 116 MB

A majestic pavilion crowned in blue, the Temple of Heaven stands as one of the crowning architectural triumphs of the Yongle Emperor, a man responsible for three wonders. In this episode, we trace the origins of the Yongle Emperor.  Chris Stewart from the History of China podcast appears to take us on a whirlwind adventure that took his father from being an orphaned beggar in Anhui to emperor of all China. In the process, we discuss his rather unique brand of paranoia, and the path by whic...

080 - Malbork Castle

April 01, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 116 MB

The largest brick castle of its day sits along the delta of the Vistula, a testament to the power and prestige of the order of crusading knights who built it.  The Teutonic Order, from their castle at Marienburg, sought to Christianize and "civilize" the heathens of the Baltic. In this episode, we'll investigate the knights' relationship to its neighbors, Poland and Lithuania, united under the crown of Władysław Jagiełło, and the great but stupid war that broke out between them. And list...

Just Like Starting Over

March 15, 2021 16:00 - 10 minutes - 18.8 MB

A bonus episode introducing the new host of Wonders of the World

079 - Kinkaku-ji of Kyoto

March 15, 2021 04:00 - 39 minutes - 72.1 MB

Its gold walls reflected in the pond at its feet, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji, is glorious in any season. It was originally the retirement villa of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, former shogun and patron of the arts. How Yoshimitsu was able to be shogun is a story from some decades before, a story of betrayal, revolutions, and lots of samurai warriors committing ritual suicide. Listener Jaime discussing seeing the temple in various seasons, as well as the experience of visiting K...

078 - The Monasteries of Meteora

February 20, 2021 17:42 - 57 minutes - 105 MB

Stunning medieval monasteries perched on infinitely steep precipices, the monasteries of Meteora are sanctuaries in the sky. But what happened in Byzantium to convince monks to seek solitude in such forbidding locales? Stories of the collapse of Constantinople typically focus on the end, in 1453, but the fall really begins much earlier than that, fueled in many ways by the sheer incompetence of John V Palaeologos, the second longest serving Roman emperor, whose reign was a constant barrage...

077 - The Alhambra of Granada

January 28, 2021 19:00 - 33 minutes - 62.2 MB

Nestled in the mountains of southwestern Andalucia, Granada's magnificent Alhambra palace represents the last hurrah of Moorish architecture in Spain, but what a last hurrah! Delicate and intricate, the Alhambra feels like something from a dream. This episode, I talk about Muhammad V, who survived a coup, exile, murderous intrigue and cruel allies to inspire and create the most splendid part of the Alhambra. Fun with assassinations! And I'll talk about my favorite food on earth: jamón ib...

076 - Cologne Cathedral

January 14, 2021 05:00 - 55 minutes - 101 MB

It was the world's tallest building, 632 years after work started: an exercise in persistence. Cologne Cathedral is a Gothic masterpiece. Cologne itself is a good place to tell the story of the 13th century's great disaster: the Black Death, and the social upheaval it brought, including the pogroms that swept through the Rhineland. Willem Fromm of the History of Cologne podcast brings a local perspective to his home city, its magnificent cathedral and its 2000 years of history. And beer!...

075 - Bali

December 24, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 78.6 MB

A Hindu island in the world's largest majority Muslim country, Bali is world-renowned for its natural and cultural beauty. But underneath the surfing and partying and rituals is the last bastion of an empire that once ruled all of Indonesia. Gajah Mada was the prime minister for Queen Gitarja of the Majapahit dynasty, and together, they united the islands. That is, until a wedding massacre sent it all spiraling. Tracy deLuca of the Results May Vary podcast describes her experience in Bal...

036 - The Pantheon of Rome

December 07, 2020 14:18 - 1 hour - 139 MB

(This episode has been re-recorded since its initial release.) Back to Rome for a meeting with Hadrian, the roving emperor.  Sarah Yeomans, archaeologist and art historian specializing in Imperial Rome, comes by to discuss the peripatetic emperor and one of his most impressive monuments, the Pantheon: the best preserved Roman temple anywhere.  Sarah shares her experience visiting Hadrian's villa in Tivoli as well.  Hadrian is a fascinating soul: bearded, homosexual, flaunting conventiona...

074 - The Madrassas of Timbuktu

November 26, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutes - 89.2 MB

Some call him the richest person in human history. Whether that's true, Mansa Musa of Mali shook up the world with his gold-laden hajj through Cairo and his university in Timbuktu. That city at the edge of the Sahara might seem like the furthest place on earth, but it was a remarkable center of learning, home to as many as 700,000 manuscripts. Cody Michaels from the History Unwritten podcast comes by to talk about Musa, his gold, and his famous journey to Mecca, as well as how African hi...

011 - Santorini

November 23, 2020 13:17 - 47 minutes - 86.8 MB

We go to the Greek island of Santorini to learn about the eruption that devastated the Minoan civilization of nearby Crete. Plus minotaurs, donkeys, Atlantis and Cretan cuisine!  Thanks to Margo Anton and Seth Ruderman for their help.

020 - The Staircases of Persepolis

November 15, 2020 15:11 - 1 hour - 110 MB

East vs West? Maybe. We're off to Iran to greet the rise of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the world's greatest by this point in history. Between Cyrus and Darius, we'll deal with two Great rulers, but we've also got medieval Iranian love poetry, unappetizing royal banquets, Croesus making bad decisions, and kebabs! ` Even better, Yentl from theQueerClassicist.com comes by to bring her knowledge of Achaemenid Persia, as we climb the magnificent staircases of Persepolis.

073 - The Canals and Belfries of Bruges

November 07, 2020 12:30 - 1 hour - 111 MB

Note: This episode contains a bit of profanity. The swampy county of Flanders was the richest part of Europe in the 14th century, fueled by the international cloth trade, and Bruges was the center of that trade, spinning English wool into Flemish cloth. The trade brought power to the craft guilds, and that power brought those guilds into conflict with the aristocracy, and ultimately, the king of France. In this episode, Manuel Van den Eycke of the Random History of Belgium Podcast joins...

072 - The Great Wall of China

October 22, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 112 MB

It's a great wall. A really great wall. It also never really did its job. Among those who so easily moved past the Great Wall were the Mongols, and Khubilai Khan, Mongol conqueror of China and founder of the Yuan dynasty, is perhaps the best known Chinese emperor, even though he's maybe the least Chinese of them all. Thanks, Marco Polo. Joined by the phenomenal Chris Stewart of the History of China Podcast, we explore the wall, the Mongols, the Song Dynasty they vanquished, and Khubilai ...

071 - The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres

September 24, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 114 MB

Chartres Cathedral and its magnificent stained glass represent perhaps the greatest achievement of the High Gothic. Its story is linked to that of Blanche of Castile, one of France's most powerful queens, and her son Louis IX, later Saint Louis. In this episode, we talk architecture, stained glass, and the use of color with listener and medieval studies scholar Chris Shanley. You'll also hear about how Blanche set Louis up for success, which he kinda sorta achieved. And because we all ne...

070 - The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela

August 27, 2020 04:00 - 49 minutes - 91.4 MB

When you think of Ethiopia, you might think of famine in the 1980s. You might not think of a millenia-old culture, one of the powers of the ancient world. The ancient capital of Aksum, possible home of the Lost Ark, sits below mighty obelisks, testaments to the wealth still hidden below the city. In the middle ages, under the auspices of king Lalibela and with the alleged help of angels, workers carved remarkable churches by digging down directly into the rock. These rock-hewn churches st...

069 - The Grand Canal of Venice

August 06, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 126 MB

In 1204, Christian crusaders sacked the world's largest Christian city, destroying or pillaging countless artifacts, books, and works of art. Some of those works of art ended up in the Most Serene Republic of Venice, for which 1204 represents the beginning of her dominance of the Mediterranean world. The story of how a canal-lined city in a marshy lagoon became a superpower and how cross-wearing soldiers wrecked Constantinople is a sometimes shocking tale, one that only makes sense when yo...

068 - Mont-Saint-Michel

July 23, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 203 MB

The abbey on the lonely island rises from the tidal bay like a castle out of a Disney movie. Mont-Saint-Michel is one of France's best known sites, with a history to match. Some of that history connects with the story of one of medieval Europe's most renowned women: Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Married first to King Louis of France and then King Henry of England, she and her family would both reach incredible heights and fail spectacularly, all while leaving stories that would echo throughout ti...

Bonus - Your Questions, Answered

June 25, 2020 04:00 - 27 minutes - 49.7 MB

A quick break from the wonders narratives to answer many questions about Drew, the show, the wonders, food, travel and more!  Find out which wonders missed the list, why there won't be a WotW cookbook, and why Drew has issues with "synergy" and "win-win" scenarios. Plus a new Demetrios Poliorcetes!

067 - The Djemaa el-Fna of Marrakesh

June 11, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 114 MB

The greatest of squares throbs with life: the scent of spiced, roasted meat, the cacophony of voices and drums, the visual rainbow of color. The Djemaa el-Fna is everything and more. Its history reflects the great medieval golden age of Morocco under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, a golden age for prosperity but not necessarily for culture. Both dynasties began as fundamentalists determined to bring back religion to the libertine cities, and both eventually fell victim to cosmopolita...

066 - Angkor Wat

April 23, 2020 04:00 - 42 minutes - 78.7 MB

The Cambodian jungle hides one of the world's largest pre-industrial cities: Angkor. Highlighted by its magnificent main temple, Angkor Wat, the city's other monuments testify to the prosperity of the Khmer empire. Those other monuments, many still semi-ruined by the jungle, make for even more compelling travel than Angkor Wat itself. From Suryavarman's exploits in battle to Jayavarman VII's countless Buddha-like faces, Angkor's kings led a society built on pushing back the jungle, until t...

065 - Monument Valley

April 02, 2020 18:00 - 33 minutes - 60.6 MB

Perhaps America's most famous landscape, Monument Valley and its fantastically shaped red-streaked buttes have starred in countless films and television shows. But its story truly hearkens to the people who have lived here for centuries: the Navajo, and before them, the Ancestral Puebloans. In this episode, we'll discuss how the Ancestral Puebloans rose and then collapsed, victims of social breakdown in the face of climate change, and how the legacy of colonial oppression lives on in the d...

064 - The Old City of Sanaa

March 19, 2020 04:00 - 43 minutes - 79.9 MB

At the southern end of Arabia, Yemen was once rich from trade and frankincense.  By the 11th century, it had fallen off the map, but two strong queens led it back to prosperity, particularly Arwa Al-Sulayhi, whose reign did more for Yemen than 350 years of men who followed. There's assassins, executions, heads on pikes. Among Arwa's accomplishments was refurbishing the Great Mosque of Sana'a, Yemen's  capital, whose medieval old city features gingerbread-like skyscrapers. Despite the horro...

063 - The Western Group of Temples at Khajuraho

February 13, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 69.7 MB

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT. A group of temples sits in the hills of central India, stunningly studded with sculptures. Built by the Chandela dynasty, they are remarkably well preserved testaments to medieval power, but they are best known for their many erotic images. Anirudh Kanisetti of the Echoes of India podcast returns to discuss the Chandelas, their connection with tantra, their views of sex, their run-ins with the famed Turkic warlord Mahmud of Ghazni, and how all of t...

062 - The Bayeux Tapestry

January 16, 2020 05:00 - 55 minutes - 64.8 MB

It's the world's greatest comic strip. The Bayeux Tapestry, technically an embroidery, documents the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. We explore this cheeky document and tell its tale: the story of 1066, that most crucial year in English history. It's the tale of Edward the Confessor, powerful earl Harold Godwinson, one-man military machine Harald Hardrada, and William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy.  There's battles, invasions, and an insane amount of lu...

Bonus - Lake Ohrid

December 25, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 76.7 MB

It's our bonus holiday episode! Nestled in the mountains along the border of North Macedonia and Albania sits Lake Ohrid, a deep, blue lake as old as time. On its shores, in the town of Ohrid, Samuel, tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire, directed his kingdom's last hurrah against the mighty Roman Empire to his east. His opponent: Basil II, known now as the "Bulgar-Slayer."  I guess you can figure out how this goes. Eric Halsey of the Bulgarian History Podcast gives his thoughts on Samuel ...

3rd Anniversary Bonus - Fifty States Ranked

November 11, 2019 21:25 - 50 minutes - 58.3 MB

THIRD ANNIVERSARY BONUS EPISODE! People often ask me where they should go when they visit the US. Having been to all 50 states (plus DC and Puerto Rico, which should be states), I can actually answer this. And in this not-at-all-serious episode, I try to answer that question. Being a nerd, I created a spreadsheet and complex formula tanking each state in terms of natural scenery, historical sites, charm, cuisine, and debauchery.  I share the top ten on this episode. For the full list, ch...

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