80 Days: An Exploration Podcast

By Luke Kelly, Joe Byrne, Mark BoyleSociety & Culture History Places & Travel

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast episodes

February 20, 2020Utah (S4.06)
S04E06 Utah Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Utah, the Beehive State. Named for the Ute people, a Native American tribe that has occupied for area for hundreds of years, Utah became the 45th state admitted to the U.S. on January 4, 1896, after the territory was won in the Mexican-American War in 1848.
https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days-Utah.mp3
With a total land area of 82,144 sq mi (212,761 km), Utah is a shade larger than Uganda, and just smaller than Romania. The state is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, where the famous ‘four corners’ monument can be found. The state is currently home to around 3.2 million people, 62% of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or LDS, known to most people as Mormons. The LDS church migrated there in 1847, while it was still Mexican territory, to escape persecution, but it soon became part of the United States. Utah has the second highest birth rate of any US state, and it is the only state to have a majority of its population belonging to a single church.
This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland. Our guest in this episode is Prof. Greg Jackson from the podcast History That Doesn’t Suck. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
For more on the early history of Utah’s native settlers, see A History of Utah’s American Indians by Forrest Cuch.
The Fremont Culture discussed in this episode is detailed further in this whitepaper from the National Parks Service.
ThoughtCo discusses the Puebloans here.
The website of Hovenweep National Park, which Joe mentioned in this episode can be found here.
National Geographic’s discussion of “The Lost World Of The Old Ones” reveals more on the cliffside granaries used by the Puebloans.
For the more visually-minded, this YouTube documentary discusses the tragic fate of the Donner Party.
Prof. Greg Jackson’s History That Doesn’t Suck podcast also has an episode on the Donner Party
Joe touched on the design of Utah’s city blocks, which is elaborated on in this episode of the design podcast 99% Invisible.
The History Channel has a documentary on The Utah War, a clip of which is used in this episode.
David Roberts’ article on the same topic, entitled “The Brink of War” on Smithsonian.com is also worth reading.
Hubert Howe Bancroft’s History of Utah is also referenced in this episode.
The joining of the coasts by telegraph is detailed online by the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum.
Joe also quotes from Beehive History, Vol. 8, which can be found here.
Music that might interest listeners:
Utah State Song – “Utah, This Is The Place”
“Utah” by The Osmonds
“The Handcart Song” by FiddleSticks with Lisa Arrington
Traditional Music Of The Ute Tribe
80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 20 min
December 24, 2019 Houston, 1968 – Apollo 8
In this minisode, Mark takes us further than we’ve ever been before, in a story that’s out of this world! From Houston, Texas, in 1968, we tell the story of the USA’s space programme and how Christmas came to be the backdrop to the first voyage by humans around the moon. Often overshadowed by Apollo 11’s Moon Landing a few months later, Apollo 8 laid vital foundations, and took place during the festive season, watched by millions of families around the world.
http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_Houston1968.mp3
The most significant source for Mark’s (@markboyle86) script was Jeffrey Kluger’s book “Apollo 8: the Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon“. You will hear the voices of Joe (@anbeirneach), and Luke (@thelukejkelly) as well.
In addition to our theme music by the talented Thomas O’Boyle, this episode featured a lot of music and sound effects, graciously made available for free by contributors at FreeSound.org, and Free Music Archive for use under a Creative Commons license, by attribution.
The pieces of music you heard under the text were “Swiftwind” and “Expectations” by Lee Rosevere, Kai Engel‘s “Interception“, “Holiday Gift” and “Brand New World” (the latter two from his Christmas album Sustains), and “The Healing” by Sergey Cheremisinov, all available under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licence. Tristan Longherin’s ambient sound “Spaceship Atmosphere 01” and hello_flowers’ “Hypnotic Heartbeat Atmosphere” were also used in this piece under Creative Commons Licenses. Thanks to those artists who make their work available for podcasters like us. The version of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” that is heard in the minisode was uploaded by Mystery Mammal and is in the public domain.
If you want to hear more archive audio from the mission, highlights have been made available on the Internet Archive here.
The famous photo “Earthrise” taken by Anders duirng Apollo 8
80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
31 min
November 10, 2019Trinidad and Tobago (S4.05)
S04E04 Trinidad and Tobago Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Trinidad & Tobago, a twin island nation, located just off the northern coast of the South American mainland, around 11 kilometres or 7 miles from Venezuela. It is the southernmost of the West Indies island group, and today is home to around 1.3 million people.
http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/Trinidad-Tobago_80Days.mp3
Trinidad, the southernmost and larger of the two islands, has a landmass of around 4,760 km2 (1,840 sq miles), comprising 93% of the country’s territory. Tobago, around 40km or 25 miles to the northeast, is around 300 km2 (120 sq mi) in total. The islands enjoy a warm, tropical climate, and only have two seasons – a dry season for the first five months of the year, and a wet season for the remaining seven. Occupied by Amerindian tribes up to 1498, the islands were then discovered by Christopher Columbus and later became a Spanish colony. Sovereignty over the islands was disputed throughout the 19th century, before the two were unified as one British colony in 1888. Independent since 1962, the country has benefited greatly from the discovery of oil in 1857, and is today one of the richest and most ethnically diverse countries in the region. Trinidad and Tobago is also famous for its extravagant carnival celebrations, and is known as the birthplace of limbo dancing.
This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Click to view slideshow.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
Arie Boomert’s book on the indigenous people of these islands can be found here.
“An Introduction to the History of Trinidad and Tobago” by Bridget Brereton
“A Vision for the Indigenous People of Trinidad and Tobago” video
The Collared Peccary, which was obviously delicious to early peoples, can be researched on Wikipedia here.
As discussed in this episode, the native name for Trinidad was Caeri or Iere. You can find more on the native traditions here.
The Caribbean History Archives blog has a wealth of information on Trinidad and Tobago, and has a whole post on Jean-Baptise Philippe’s civil rights campaign on behalf of these islands.
MinorityRights.org also has extensive information on the current-day minority groups of Trinidad and Tobago.
“How Tobago Got its Name”
“A History of Tobago” from MyTobago.info
“1876 Labour Riot in Tobago” – an article from the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago’s blog about the “Belmanna Riots”
British National Archives information about Trinidad and Tobago in World War 1
Documentary about the country’s participation in World War 2
“A White Guy’s Guide to Canival” from blog The Constant Rambler
Arriana Talma’s article about slang you should know before going to these islands
VICE’s interview with Abu Bakr, the leader of the 1990 attempted coup makes for an interesting watch
CNN Special on the 1990 coup, with footage broadcast from the national television studios
Music that might interest listeners:
“A Celebration of Parang” Documentary by A Tree Without Roots Music, inlcuding “Bienvenido” by The Guerrero Sisters of Lopinot
Trinidad All Stars – Steel pan band
Yuke Yume Indigenous People music performance
Documentary about making a Tobago tambarin drum
Compilation of Tobago folk songs and dances
Calypso “Power” sung by David Bureau
Calypso “Black Power” by Mighty Fluke about the 1970 protests
Carnival Theme 2015, Soca song “Ola” by Olatunji
There is also soca produced by Indian-descended artists, such as Ravi: “D Key”
“O Maninga” by Jiahao Dong is an example of “chutney soca”
History of steelband music

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 11 min
October 14, 2019Luxembourg (S4.04)
S04E04 Luxembourg Audio
https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days-Luxembourg.mp3
In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Luxembourg, a small, landlocked European country at one of the central crossroads of Europe, bordered by Belgium, France and Germany. Officially known as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the country has around 600,000 inhabitants and spans a total area of around 2,500 square kilometres or 1,000 square miles, making it roughly the same size as Hong Kong and about two thirds the size of the smallest US state – Rhode Island. The world’s only remaining Grand Duchy, it has been referred to throughout history as the ‘Gibraltar of the North’ for its strong fortifications and although that fortress has been occupied many times throughout its long history, since the 10th century it has always been a separate, if not autonomous, political entity. Today, the capital city of Luxembourg is one of three capitals of the European Union and is much better known for its financial prowess rather than its military fortifications. Most citizens here are at least trilingual, speaking French, German and Luxembourgish, and although it has one of the EU’s smallest populations, Luxembourg also has the fastest-growing population in Europe.

This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Joe visited Luxembourg for us to do some research. Here are some photos from around the city and its fortifications:
Click to view slideshow.
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
World Atlas’ Luxembourg History timeline
Book: “Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands” (Britannica Educational Publishing)
An article from Carlow Museum about St Willbrord of Echternach and his connection to Carlow, Ireland (With videos of the ‘hopping’ traditions)
Siege engineer Vauban oversaw the siege of Luxembourg by the French and its re-fortification afterwards
‘La muette de Portici’ is the name of the opera that played an iconic role in the Belgian Revolution, which also threw much of Luxembourg into turmoil
UNESCO entry on Luxembourg’s “old quarters and fortifications” and their history, enrolling them as a world heritage site – dismantled as the price for neutrality. All that remains are the underground Bock Casemates, an important tourist attraction
Robert Schumann, one of the founding fathers of the European Union was born here, quite near to the new district of Luxembourg city where a number of EU institutions are now based
Expatica has a list of little-known facts about Luxembourg
International Encyclopedia of the First World War – Luxembourg
The Interwar Years – Luxembourg.public.lu
Joe visited during the Cavalcade carnival in Diekirch. Here are a selection of photos he took at the celebrations:
Click to view slideshow.

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 6 min
September 09, 2019Djibouti (S4.03)
S04E03 Djibouti Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Djibouti, a small nation located on the Northeast Coast of the Horn of Africa. Bordered by Eritrea to the North, Ethiopia to the West and Somalia to the south, Djibouti lies on the west side of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the narrowest point of Gulf of Aden.
https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/Djibouti_80Days.mp3
Around 30km across the strait lies Yemen. This chokepoint into the Red Sea, which overlooks the approaches to the Suez Canal, has long made Djibouti a desirable location for naval bases. Dominated by two main groups – the Afar and Issa Somali people, Djibouti today is balanced between these two factions, having endured a protracted civil war in the wake of winning its independence from France in 1977. Occupying a total area of around 23,000 km2 (9,000 sq mi), Djibouti is the third smallest country in continental Africa, and today has a population of around 880,000, the vast majority of whom live in the captial city of Djibouti City. Nearly 94% of the population is Muslim while the remaining 6% are Christian, and official languages are French and Arabic. Djibouti today attracts plenty of foreign investment, and aims to become “Africa’s Dubai.”
This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
Peter Tyson, writing for PBS Nova, attempts to tackle the “Where Is Punt” question here.
Brittanica has loads of additional info on Adal and the Adal Sultanate, discussed by Joe in this episode.
You can find additional info on the Ifat Sultanate which succeeded it at openedition.org.
The New World Encyclopedia has a wonderful, long form post on the Scramble for Africa, which Djibouti was caught up in.
For more info on our old friend Ferdinand de Lesseps and his ill-fated other canal project, you can listen to our season one episode on Panama.
We also touch on old friend Vasco Da Gama in this episode. The Christmas special minisode referenced is here.
The disastrous Cossack invasion of Sagallo in what was then French Somaliland is profiled in an excellent blog by towardsthegreatocean.com, which Luke quotes from in this episode.
Bruno Macaes profiles modern Djibouti in a recent article for Politico, entitled “The most valuable military real estate in the world.”
The LSE has a long-form article on Somali regiments during WW1.
The Guardian also profiles the “forgotten Muslim heroes who fought for Britain in the trenches” in WW1.
You can read the New York Time report on Djibouti’s declaration of independence in 1977 in the paper’s archives here.
To learn more about the Djiboutian Civil War, which broke out in 1991, see New World Encyclopedia’s lengthy article on the conflict here.
The plans to turn modern Djibouti into “Africa’s Dubai” are detailed by The Culture Trip here.
The SCMP journalist James Jeffrey details his experiences with the new Chinese-backed railway revitalisation project here.

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
1 hr 54 min
August 12, 2019Pitcairn Island (S4.02)
S04E02 Pitcairn Island Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Pitcairn Island, a tiny volcanic island in the South Pacific, most famous for its mutineer inhabitants, who fled there after the famous Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.
https://content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days_S04E02_Pitcairn.mp3
Pitcairn forms part of a four-island group known as the Pitcairn Islands, but is the only island in the group to be inhabited. Its nearest inhabited neighbours are Easter Island to the East and French Polynesia to the West. Pitcairn is the least populous national jurisdiction in the world, and by far the smallest place we’ve ever talked about in terms of population, boasting only around 50 residents as of 2018, all descended from the 9 Bounty mutineers and the few Tahitians they brought with them to the island. The island itself is rocky, and experiences warm weather year-round thanks to its location just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Today, Pitcairn is the only remaining British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. Its economy relies heavily on tourism, as well as the highly-prized honey produced by the bees on the island. While all islanders speak English, their first language is Pitkern, a creole language that has derived from 18-century English dialects and Tahitian.
This episode, just like all of our recent ones, is supported by our Patreon backers. If you want to help out the show, you can help out by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to. If you’re unable to support us financially, you can always leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
The Pitcairn Islands Study Centre has more info on the early history of the island group.
Joe speaks about his use of Librivox for this episode. He listened to both The Mutiny of the Bounty and Other Narratives by William Bligh and The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause and Consequences by Sir John Barrow, both giving markedly different accounts of the mutiny.
You can read/listen to more on the conspiracy theories surrounding the fate of Fletcher Christian on Skeptoid.
Sir Joseph Banks, the man behind the expedition, is profiled here in Britannica.
Two of the books mentioned by Luke include Mutiny on the Bounty by Peter Fitzsimons and The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander.
Byron’s The Island, inspired by the mutiny and discussed in this episode, can be found here.
An extended version of Mel Gibson’s “I am in hell” scene, a clip of which is used in this episode, can be found here on YouTube.
More on Pandora’s Box and the escape from the HMS Pandora can be found here.
The New Zealand Herald has a feature on the child abuse scandal on Pitcairn, and the island’s struggle to attract residents is detailed here in The Telegraph.
The European Commission has plenty of detail on the economy of the island here.
You can watch Errol Flynn’s 1933 film In the Wake of the Bounty here on YouTube.

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 13 min
July 10, 2019Faroe Islands (S4.01)
S04E01 Faroe Islands Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Faroe Islands, an autonomous group of islands in the North East Atlantic. Home to almost 50,000 people and with historical links to Denmark, Faroe Islands is a country within the Kingdom of Denmark, but has a distinct culture all of its own, in part due to their isolation and remoteness from the Danish mainland (and pretty much everywhere else also.)
https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_Faroes.mp3

The Faroe Islands have probably been inhabited since approximately 300 AD onwards according to archaeological evidence, but the first full settlement was established by legendary figure Grimur Kamban. The Faroe Althing, may be the oldest parliament in the world if, as thought, it was established in approximately 900AD. Faroe Islands were occupied by the British during World War 2 in order to prevent invasion by Nazi Germany. Fishing has always been a mainstay of the economy and advances in technology versus depleted fishing stocks have had opposing impacts on the fragile fortunes of the archipelago.
We also had the pleasure of speaking to Arni Zachariassen, a local Faroese who was able to give us plenty of interesting insights into the local culture and mindset. Big thanks to him for his time! (Listen to Arni on The Faroe Islands Podcast many years ago here)
This episode, is the first of Season 4, and while many things in life change, (Joe has just taken to wearing jaunty hats for example) our need for your support has not. If you like the show, and want to support, you can do us a major service by joining us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to give us whatever you can in terms of financial support and avail of all the lovely awards and extras that entitles you to.
If you do not have a ha’penny of course, firstly God bless you, but also you can help us for free by giving us an ole five star review on Apple Podcasts.
Waterfall at Gásadalur. Photo by Ævar Guðmundsson on Flickr | Creative Commons 2.0 By Attribution License
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Some further reading:
“The Faroe Islands: Interpretations of History” by Jonathan Wylie
“Faeryinga Saga” (full text in English here)tells the tale of Tróndur and Sigmundur and their relatives are the turn of the first millennium – History of the text
Various articles about newer research questioning if Vikings were indeed the first colonisers of the islands: The Independent (2013); The Icelandic Times (2016); Durham University (2013); Archaeology (2013)
The link between your Bluetooth headset and a Viking king (Smithsonian)
“The Sheep Letter”
Photos of St Magnus’ Cathedral (fotostrasse)
An explanation of Faroe Islands importance in World War 2 (YouTube)
For more info on the British occupation of Faroe Islands in WW2 see here
Thoughts of politicians today on Faroese independence (theLocal.dk)
The Faroese battle with: 1) Google Translate; and 2) Google StreetView/SheepView (official video)
Music:
Tróndur’s curse on the Christians was the subject of a poem by Janus Djurhuus (1881-1948) set to music by successful folk metal group Týr (1998-now)! https://youtu.be/E9AwVjRbhto?t=144
Flanders and Swann’s satirical song “Rockall“
An extract of “Lívsmynd” by Xperiment
The text of the poem “The Death of St Brendan” by JRR Tolkien, which you heard, can be found here
Watch: Sigmuds kvaedi – ring dance

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 8 min
June 21, 2019 Exclaves in Switzerland (Minisode)
In this minisode, Joe explores, literally, the idea of an exclave after wandering into one a couple of years ago. Although we’ve covered a couple of enclaves in the past (including San Marino and The Gambia), this episode is the first time we’ve examined the opposite concept – a tiny piece of a country marooned inside another’s borders.
https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/Swiss-Exclaves_80Days.mp3
This is also something of a personal episode for Joe (@anbeirneach), as it marks an end to his time living in Switzerland. Luke (@thelukejkelly) and Mark (@markboyle86) also feature, and we discuss briefly our upcoming fourth season, which is due in a couple of weeks.
For the curious, you can find more on the German enclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein here on Atlas Obscura, or read this article on BigThink. The New York Times article quoted in the episode can be found here, and further reading on Campione d’Italia can be found here and here. Photo’s from Joe’s trips to the exclaves can be found here.
Here is a summary of some data and statistics:
Name:
Büsingen am Hochrhein
Campione d’Italia
Population:
1,350 pop
2,190
Currency:
€, official (CHF, de facto; DM, formerly)
CHF, official (€, accepted)
Area:
7.62 square kilometres
1.6 square kilometres
Border 17.141 km
Country:
Germany
Italy
Meaning:
Settlement of the People of Boso
Campilonum – a Roman fort
Separation from country:
Cut off by 500m
Cut off by 1 km
In addition to our theme music by the talented Thomas O’Boyle, this episode featured a lot of music and sound effects, graciously made available for free by contributors at FreeSound.org, Free Music Archive and Incompatech, for use under a Creative Commons license, by attribution.
The pieces of music you heard under the text were “Swiftwind” and “How I Used to See the Stars” by Lee Rosevere, licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0. The Overture of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” was performed by the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra (musical director Barbara Schubert), used under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.
Alphorn music and yodelling clips (from the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest in Brig), as well as the Uileann pipes from the Uileann Pipers Club Schaffhausen Festival were recorded on location by Joe.

The side-by-side Swiss and German phone boxes in Buesingen
A beautifully Germanic house in Buesingen

The shorefront at Campione d’Italia, complete with Italian flag
Italian police car passing in front of the now-shuttered casino in Campione d’Italia

80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
23 min
April 01, 2019Western Sahara (S3.10)
S03E10 – Western Sahara Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Western Sahara, a disputed territory in North-West Africa. Home to roughly 550,000 people and bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the east, Mauritania to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara is partially controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and partially Moroccan-occupied, and is often called ‘Africa’s last colony.’
http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days_S03E10-Western_Sahara.mp3
Map of Western Sahara’s position on the west coast of Africa, between Morocco and Mauritania
First colonised by Spain in 1885, the territory’s sovereignty has been fiercely disputed for decades, particularly since 1975, when Spain officially relinquished its claim over the region. Today it is alternately known as Morocco’s Southern Provinces or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, however, we’ll be referring to the region as Western Sahara throughout most of this episode. At roughly 260,000 square kilometers or 100,000 square miles, Western Sahara is about the size of the US state of Colorado or just slightly larger than the UK. The territory consists mostly of uninhabitable desert, and nearly 40% of its inhabitants live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, while up to 100,000 people from the region are currently living in refugee camps in neighbouring Algeria.
This episode, the Finale of Season 3, is our first Patreon-nominated and voted-on episode. Thanks to Erik Tastepe, in particular, for suggesting this interesting location and to all of you who voted. Join us over on www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast to have a say in the direction of future seasons or get access to various awards.
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
In this episode, we carried out an extensive interview with Nick Brooks (@WSaharaProject), a climate scientist, who has worked over many years in Western Sahara, co-directing a project with archaeologist Jo Clarke. This “Western Sahara Project” has led to a recently-published book on the topic (see here). Nick also has a very interesting blog about his time spent there, the politics of the situation and related topics called “Sand and Dust”. Beautiful photo galleries of all the archaeological discoveries from the research project in the desert have been shared on Flickr.
Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:
Western Sahara: Historical Timeline 1884–2014 (“Cultures of Resistance”); BBC Profile and Timeline
The Western Sahara and the Frontiers of Morocco – Robert Rezette
How the US and Morocco seized the Spanish Sahara
Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution
UN Report: Political Ambiguity over Western Sahara, Polarizing Ideologies, Plight of Refugees Central to Fourth Committee Debate as Petitioners Appeal for End to Conflict
Newsweek: WESTERN SAHARA: WHAT IS THE 40-YEAR DISPUTE ALL ABOUT?
“Morocco and Western Sahara” by Stephen Zunes
Jay Gopalan, Frozen in the Desert: Western Sahara and the Forgotten Conflict – Harvard Political Review
Background of the UN Mission, as described on MINURSO’s own web page
“Behind the Baker Plan”, “Western Sahara: between autonomy and intifada” (Middle East Research and Information Project)
“Baker Quits Western Sahara Role” (BBC)
Reddit – Positions of countries on the status of Western Sahara [800×370][OS]
The music for today’s episode can be found here.
80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
2 hr 9 min
March 04, 2019Turkmenistan (S3.09)
S03E09 – Turkmenistan Audio
In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Turkmenistan, formerly known as Turkmenia, an independent nation in Central Asia. Bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west, Turkmenistan forms part of the historic Silk Road between East and West.
http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days_S03E09_Turkmenistan.mp3

Today, it has a population of around 5.5 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. With around 490,000 square km or 190,000 square miles of territory, Turkmenistan is the world’s 52nd-largest country, making it slightly smaller than Spain and somewhat larger than the US state of California.
Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, it later became a part of the USSR, gaining independence again in 1991. Dominated by plains and deserts, temperatures here are extreme to say the least. The height of summer can see highs of 50 degrees celsius (120 fahrenheit) which is the highest temperature ever recorded in the whole former Soviet Union, while in winter, temperatures plunge below freezing in many places. Although it’s a very dry country, Turkmenistan is rich in natural resources- beneath the Kara Kum desert, which dominates the middle of the country, lie massive deposits of oil, natural gss and coal. This is the only place we’ve talked about that has a flag with a carpet on it.
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)
Above is the location of Turkmenistan.
Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:
An extensive resource for early history in this region can be found here at weavingartmuseum.org.
The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great completed his conquest of Darius III’s Persian Empire is extensively explained on Brittanica here.
More information on the earthquake that destroyed Nisa can be found here.
Joe’s excellent quote from Abu Muslim on the unrighteosness of making war on fellow Muslims was sourced from here.
The ruined city of Merv is profiled in this Guardian article, which we quoted in this episode.
The ‘blood of the mighty’ quote on the sack of Merv comes from this book.
The Russian conquest of this region, the key engagement of which was the Battle of Geok Tepe, is explained in detail by RadioFreeEurope here.
Extensive information on the Trans-Caspian railway can be found at Railway Wonders of the World.
The Diplomat has an excellent in-depth article on the Panjdeh Incident between the British and Russians that almost led to war in 1885.
Further reading on the Central Asian revolt of 1916, also known as the Urkun, can be found here or here.
More info on the ‘Malleson Mission’ and the topic of British military involvement in Transcaspia can be found in this Conflict Studies Research Centre report.
Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan by Adrienne Lynn Edgar, which was quoted in the episode, can be found online here.
Some additional information on the Turkestan Legion, which fought with the Wehrmacht during WWII can be found on Wikipedia.
The country profile from the U.S. Library of Congress, which Joe mentioned during this episode, can be found here.
TIME magazine has a short section on the devastating and earthquake that hit Ashgabat in 1948 in its ‘Top 10 Deadliest Earthquakes’ article.
The Evolution of Authoritarianism in Turkmenistan by Kareem Al-Bassam profiles much of the misdeeds of Saparmurad Niyazov, also known as Turkmenbashi.
Below is a short video of the Darvaza gas crater or ‘Gates to Hell’, that has become a strange Turkmenistan tourist attraction.
The many varied flags of Turkmenistan throughout history can be seen here and here.
Some further reading on the choice of script in modern Turkmenistan is available here.
The music from this episode was sourced from here.
Thank you once again to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out our Patreon page. We really appreciate the support and input!
80 Days: An Exploration Podcast is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://80dayspodcast.com/
1 hr 52 min

About 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast

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80 Days is a podcast dedicated to exploring little-known countries, territories settlements and cities around the world. We're part history podcast, part geography podcast and part ramble.