Constant Wonder

Scott Seligman explains how Orthodox Jewish housewives boycotted kosher beef in 1902 to bring down the prices set by a monopolistic collective. Jason Turbow tells us about the time a bagel union beat the mafia. Andrew Hager shares the long and sometimes odd history of presidential pets.

Deborah Madison made vegetarian cooking accessible for everyone. This is her life story. Ernest Freeberg explains how Henry Bergh single-handedly started the animal rights movement during the Gilded Age.

Harvard Medical School's Dr. Paul Farmer was one of the first international responders to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Emory's Walter Orenstein explains how smallpox was eradicated.

Adrian Goldsworthy shows how Philip and Alexander of Macedonia conquered far away lands. Paul Cartledge of Clare College Cambridge clears up some of the misconceptions about the ancient Greek city of Thebes.

Philip and Alexander of Macedonia

Guest: Adrian Goldsworthy, Greek and Roman historian, and author of "Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors"

When Philip II came to power, Macedonia had all but fallen apart. The next 23 years were spent conquering, negotiating, marrying, and laying the groundwork for empire. Alexander the Great used the confidence and war techniques he learned from his father to lead Macedonian armies to Greece, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and even India.

 

Thebes, the Forgotten Greek City

Guest: Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow Emeritus of Clare College Cambridge, and author of "Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece"

Frequently overshadowed by its Greek counterparts Athens and Sparta, Thebes too often gets a bad rap. But Thebes was actually pretty important, mythically and historically; it was the birthplace of Hercules, and played a key role in the Peloponnesian War. But it had to be resurrected after it was thoroughly crushed by Alexander the Great.

One Man’s Quest to Climb Everest Unassisted

Guest: Ed Caesar, author of "The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War, and Everest," and a contributing writer to The New Yorker

Maurice Wilson was a troubled veteran of WWI, who sought to soothe his demons through adventure. Hopping along Europe in a Moth airplane, he set his sights on being the first to climb Mount Everest unassisted.

Ed Caesar shares the story of Maurice Wilson, an amateur climber who wanted to be the first to scale Mt. Everest.

The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean

Guest: Sharika Crawford, Associate Professor of History at the United States Naval Academy, and author of "The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean: Waterscapes of Labor, Conservation, and Boundary Making"

For hundreds of years, sea turtle fishing was a major part of Caribbean life. Eventually, demand for turtle spread across America and Europe, and the depletion of sea turtles led to the decline of turtle trade. Environmental awareness was the nail in the coffin for the turtemen's livelihood, though you can still eat turtle in the Caymans.

 

Animal Stories

Guest: Sam Payne, host of the Apple Seed

Sam Payne's father often brought home unusual pets and Sam often had to screw up his courage to domesticate them. His experiences provide more than a few laughs, and Marcus Smith decides he can be more brave as well.

Sharika Crawford explains how turtle fishing shaped the Caribbean lifestyle and culture. Sam Payne describes the unusual animals his father gave him as pets.

A Political History of Project Apollo

Guest: Teasel Muir-Harmony, curator of the Project Apollo collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Instructor at Georgetown University, and author of "Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo" 

The Space Race involved American scientists in massive PR campaigns throughout the United States. Astronauts went on world tours, exhibits attracted millions, and billions of people listened to broadcasts of missions to space. President John Kennedy looked to the space program to provide him a win when political events like the Bay of Pigs fiasco threw a long shadow on his administration.

 

Earthrise

Guest: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Emmy nominated filmmaker and director of "Earthrise: The Image that Shared our World"

The Apollo 8 mission captured an image of Earth that amazed the billion people watching it on TV at the time: the cratered but barren surface of the moon in the foreground, and the Earth in the black sky beyond, nearly half-eclipsed by the shadow of the moon. Referring to this view, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell said, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth."  How the "Earthrise" photo changed our perspective on our planet.