History of Technology
293 episodes · Page 11 of 13
#1958: Why Is Being Late Respectful?
We traded natural rhythms for the factory clock. Here’s how the Industrial Revolution rewired our relationship with time.
#1898: The Vinyl of Video: Why Laserdisc Refuses to Die
It spun at 1800 RPM, stored movies analog, and cost a fortune—yet Laserdisc’s legacy endures.
#1785: The FBI's Dual Identity: Cop and Spy
The FBI is unique among global intelligence agencies, blending high-stakes spy work with federal law enforcement in a single hybrid model.
#1749: How the Vatican Runs Without Births or Taxes
It has no maternity wards and no tax base, yet it functions as a sovereign state. Here’s how the Vatican actually works.
#1744: From Bridge Shouting to Bot Wars: A Stock Market History
How a bridge in 1602 Amsterdam created the modern market—and how bots now run the show.
#1726: 2500 Years of Bad Medicine: The Slow Surrender
Bloodletting dominated medicine for 2500 years. Here’s how science finally admitted it was wrong.
#1710: Two Hundred Years of Calling Sloths "Miserable Mistakes"
Why did early naturalists mistake sloths for bears, monkeys, and giant rats?
#1493: The Invisible Architecture of Global Food Prices
Discover how soybean futures dictate global food prices and reflect high-stakes geopolitical shifts in the modern commodities market.
#1478: Who Owns the Truth? The Evolution of the Encyclopedia
From ancient Chinese archives to the legal war between Britannica and OpenAI, we explore the shifting battleground of human knowledge.
#1367: The Third Force: Between the Military and the Police
Explore the thin line between soldiers and police, from medieval France to modern legal battles over the limits of federal power.
#1348: The Ghost in the Machine: Why Accounting Ignores the Planet
Why does the global economy feel disconnected from reality? Explore the 500-year history of the "blind spots" in our financial ledgers.
#1343: 1,100 Years in 11 Mottos: Compressing Human History
Can 1,100 years of history be boiled down to 11 sentences? Discover the "operating system" of every century from the 10th to the 19th.
#1305: The Victorian Flex: A Masterclass in Social Engineering
Discover how 19th-century dinner rules were used to exclude outsiders and how to use these ancient "bluffs" to signal social pedigree today.
#1297: From Fish Guts to Fame: The Secret History of Ketchup
Before it was red and sweet, ketchup was a salty fish sauce and a "miracle" pill. Discover the bizarre evolution of the world's favorite condiment.
#1177: The Race Against the Digital Dark Age
As vintage hardware goes extinct, archivists race to save film and tape from a "Digital Dark Age." Discover the engineering behind preservation.
#1166: The Morbegs: Myth, Memory, and the Burning Tree
Explore the hidden philosophy of the Irish classic The Morbegs and why a giant orange puppet still haunts our collective memory.
#1152: Off-Center: The History and Science of Being Weird
Explore the thin line between genius and madness, from Victorian "twilight zones" to the modern "red sneaker effect" of Silicon Valley.
#1110: The arXiv Effect: Inside the Engine of AI Research
Explore how a 1990s-style website became the central nervous system for AI breakthroughs and the power of the preprint revolution.
#1062: Why Silicon Won the Chip Wars
Why did silicon win the chip wars? Explore the "modern magic" that turns ordinary sand into the world's most powerful processors.
#1042: The Ship of Theseus: Is English Still English?
Travel through time to discover how English evolved from the guttural roots of Beowulf to the modern tongue we speak today.
#1041: Before the Hum: Life in the Pre-Refrigeration Era
Explore the high-stakes world of food preservation, from 19th-century ice trades to the biological secrets of 50-year-old perpetual stews.
#1037: From Scrolls to Software: The Engineering of Modern Hebrew
How did an ancient liturgical tongue become a language of tech and street talk? Explore the "black swan" resurrection of Modern Hebrew.
#1032: Ancient Backups: How History Survived the Delete Command
Discover how ancient civilizations used monks, clay jars, and geographic diversity to create the world's first distributed data networks.
#982: Jerusalem’s Street Cats: A History of Urban Evolution
Explore how Jerusalem became one of the world's most cat-dense cities, from British Mandate rat catchers to modern urban survivors.