Curious Minds Podcast

Curious Minds Podcast episodes:

• 09.02.2017

  The Awful and Wonderful History of the Mir Space Station | Curious Minds Podcast

  The Mir Space Station was a true Soviet engineering wonder, an achievement comparable with the US landing on the Moon. Yet in its later years, Mir survived some horrific & hair-raising accidents...

  
• 07.27.2017

  The Lost Manuscript of Archimedes | Curious Minds Podcast

  Archimedes is famous for being Ancient Greece's greatest engineer. Yet a random discovery - a prayers book found in an old church in Turkish Istanbul, casts this mysterious genius in an even more surprising light.

  
• 06.29.2017

  The Dark Avenger [From: Malicious.Life] | Curious Minds Podcast

  In 1989, a message was found in a virus: "Eddie Lives…Somewhere in Time!". 'Eddie' was a particularly nasty virus, and its discovery led a young Bulgarian security researcher down a rabbit hole, on a hunt for the prolific creator of...

  
• 02.04.2017

  Are Software Bugs Inevitable? Part 2: The Most Expensive Failed Software Project Ever | Curious Minds Podcast

  After describing the Software Crisis in the previous episode, we discuss the various methodologies and practices implemented over the years to combat the complexities of software development. We'll tell the sad story of the FBI's VCF project - perhaps the...

  
• 01.23.2017

  Are Software Bugs Inevitable? Part 1: FORTRAN and the Denver Airport Baggage Disaster | Curious Minds Podcast

  Software errors and random bugs are rather common: We’ve all seen the infamous Windows “blue screen of death”... But is there really nothing we can do about it? Are these errors – from small bugs to catastrophic mistakes – inevitable?...

  
• 12.18.2016

  Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense (SDI) Initiative, AKA – “Star Wars” | Curious Minds Podcast

  In 1983, president Ronald Reagan shocked the world when he announced that the United States was developing an ultra-modern defense system against intercontinental ballistic missiles. Hundreds of billions of dollars were invested in the system’s development - But then, in...

  
• 11.16.2016

  The History of File Sharing, Part 2: Grokster & BitTorrent | Curious Minds Podcast

  The fall of Napster (see Part I of this series) has left a vacuum in the world of file sharing - and as the saying goes, the Internet abhors vacuum... Various File Sharing programs such as Gnutella, Kazaa and others...

  
• 11.02.2016

  The History of File Sharing, Part 1 (of 2): The Rise & Fall of Napster | Curious Minds Podcast

  Napster, a revolutionary Peer-to-Peer file sharing software, was launched in 1999 - and forever changed the media world. In this episode, we'll tell the story of Sean Fanning and Sean Parker, its creators, and talk about the legal battle it...

  
• 10.04.2016

  Heroes Of Podcasting #5: Aaron Mahnke, Lore Podcast | Curious Minds Podcast

  Heroes of Podcasting: An interview with Aaron Mahnke about the role of storytelling in podcasting, his inspirations and how he started Lore.

  
• 09.04.2016

  Heroes Of Podcasting #4: Todd Cochrane, CEO of RawVoice (Blubrry) | Curious Minds Podcast

  Todd has an amazing story which begun with a serious injury - but ultimately led to a surprising career as an early entrepreneur in the new media of podcasting. He wrote the first book on podcasting and signed one of...

  
• 08.28.2016

  Heroes Of Podcasting #3: Leo Laporte, This Week In Tech | Curious Minds Podcast

  This series explores the history and future of podcasting, and each episode will feature a single guest who is a pioneer of podcasting. This time, we're interviewing Leo Laporte, from This Week In Tech.

  
• 08.16.2016

  Heroes Of Podcasting #2: Jay Soderberg (The PodVader), VP of BlogTalkRadio | Curious Minds Podcast

  Jay Soderberg started in podcasting back in 2006. Jay’s story is rather unique, since his first steps in podcasting were in the corporate world, whereas the vast majority of podcasters back then were independent creators.

  
• 08.04.2016

  Heroes Of Podcasting #1: Inventor of MP3, Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg | Curious Minds Podcast

  This series explores the history and future of podcasting, and each episode will feature a single guest who is a pioneer of podcasting. This time, we're interviewing Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg - inventor of the popular MP3 format which a critical...

  
• 06.27.2016

  The History of Open Source & Free Software, Pt. 2 | Curious Minds Podcast

  In 1998, a group of people broke away from the Free Software Foundation and created instead the Open Source Initiative. What were their motives? Richard Stallman, the founder of the FSF, and Tim O'Reilly who helped popularize the term 'Open...

  
• 06.14.2016

  The Solar System’s Little Known Members – Astronomy Shorts 4 | Curious Minds Podcast

  This episode will focus on a few of the lesser-known children of the Solar System neighborhood: The Oort Cloud, Kuiper's Belt & Dwarf Planets.

  
• 06.03.2016

  The History of Open Source & Free Software, Pt. 1, w/ Special Guest: Richard Stallman| Curious Minds Podcast

  In the early 1980's Richard Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF): a socio-technological movement that revolutionized the software world. In this episode we'll hear Stallman himself talking about the roots of the movement, and learn of its early struggles.

  
• 05.23.2016

  Astronomy Shorts 3: Crazy Weather On Other Planets| Curious Minds

  Humans have yet to have set foot on a different planet, but today, from their limited vantage point on Earth, astronomers are able to notice a few breathtaking phenomena that are beyond human imagination. This episode reveals some of the...

  
• 05.09.2016

  The Indo-European Language, Pt. 2: Linguistics & Genetics| Curious Minds Podcast

  In the previous part of the episode we learned how linguists were able to reconstruct bits of the ancient & long lost Indo-European language. In this episode we'll discover what can these words tell us about life in the Bronze...

  
• 04.15.2016

  The Indo-European Language, Pt. 1 | Curious Minds

  A surprising discovery made by a British judge in India uncovered the existence of an ancient language, the ancestor of an amazing variety of modern languages - from English and French, to the Persian Farsi and Indian Sanskrit. The speakers...

  
• 03.31.2016

  Astronomy Shorts 2: Three Breathtaking Views within the Solar System | Curious Minds

  A journey to outer space has many dangers and challenges; but for those courageous astronauts, the trip might be worthwhile. Some of the planets and moons in the Solar System have views that are really, but really, out of this...

  
• 03.31.2016

  Astronomy Shorts 1: The Scale of the Universe | Curious Minds

  The universe we live in is really big: It's vastness is difficult to even comprehend. That vastness is why, even if our universe is teeming with life, it is unlikely that we will ever meet other intelligent life forms. Let's...

  
• 03.21.2016

  The Longitude Problem (Maritime History) | Curious Minds

  How a single navigation error cost the Royal Navy Four battle ships and 1,505 men - and led a humble carpenter to solve one of the most difficult & important engineering challenges of the last 300 years.

  
• 01.17.2016

  LSD History, Pt.2: Timothy Leary | Curious Minds

  Dr. Timothy Leary help kickstart the LSD's involvement in the Hippie movement of the 1960's - and was imprisoned for it. But what really makes LSD so dangerous? We'll delve deep into the effects of LSD on the human brain.

  
• 01.04.2016

  LSD History | Curious Minds

  When Albert Hofmann accidentally discovered Lysergic Acid Diethylamide – LSD – he hoped that the unusual compound would help psychiatrists treat patients by inducing ‘temporary insanity’. It was the CIA who tested the LSD’s mind-bending potential as a psychological weapon,...

  
• 12.09.2015

  The Bubonic Plague | Curious Minds

  In the 19th century, two brave (and some might say - insanely brave) French physicians took to the streets of Hong Kong and Bombay, and risked their own lives in the name of ridding Mankind - and the fleas -...

  
• 11.30.2015

  Molecular Clock, Pt. 2: Y Chromosome | Curious Minds

  The male Y Chromosome holds tantalizing clues about our own, personal past - but that past can turn out to be very troubling. Tatiana Zerjal's research on DNA samples brought by Spencer Wells from central asia revealed uncomfortable truths, such...

  
• 11.17.2015

  Molecular Clock, Pt.1: Mitochondrial DNA | Curious Minds

  It's a Paleoanthropological mystery: Earth was once home to many different Human Species - from Homo Erectus to the Neanderthals. Yet today, they are all gone. When and how did the other humanoids disappear? The answer is hidden, of all...

  
• 11.04.2015

  Arsenic Poisoning – A History | Curious Minds

  When Life Insurance was invented, poisoning became a plague in Victorian Britain. For many women, the poison of choice was Arsenic. What made the 'inheritance powder' the perfect murder weapon? (Note: This episode is not recommended for young children)

  
• 10.12.2015

  Digital Preservation & The Domesday Project | Curious Minds

  In the 1980's, the British BBC invested millions of pounds on what should have been a technological marvel: a modern version of the famous medieval Domesday Book. Less then 15 years later, it's system was unusable. What can we learn...

  
• 10.04.2015

  U Boats in WWII, Pt. II: Wolf Packs and Floating Coffins | Curious Minds

  In 1941 the British and Canadian navies managed, with great effort, to turn the tide and curb the U-Boats threat in the North Atlantic – but Admiral Dönitz was about to introduce a new kind of U-Boat – one that...

  
• 09.25.2015

  U Boats in WWII, Pt. I: The Battle of the Atlantic | Curious Minds

  How did the small, outgunned German fleet manage to strike painful blows to the Great British Navy? The credit for this success belongs to the German flotilla of submarines: the Unterseeboots, or U-Boats.

  
• 09.03.2015

  Medical History: Rontgen, Hounsfield & Radiology | Curious Minds

  In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen was an honored and admired physics professor. But reputation aside, Röntgen was 50 years old - and at that age, it is rare for a scientist to make a significant contribution to his or her field.