Half-Truths

Half-Truths

By Half-Truths PodcastScienceSocial SciencesEducationCourses
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Half-Truths episodes

  • EP61 - The Spanish Flu: A Pandemic Born in Kansas and Named by Censorship
    The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more people than the Great War it interrupted, and history remembers it as the Spanish Flu. But why was a neutral country blamed for a global catastrophe that likely began in the American Midwest? This episode uncovers how wartime propaganda and censorship allowed the true origin of the virus to escape detection, leaving Spain to take the fall for history's deadliest plague.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
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    22 min
  • EP60 - The Great Hemisphere Heist: Why You Are Not Left-Brained or Right-Brained
    We have all heard that logical people are left-brained and creative types are right-brained, a binary label that shapes how we view our own potential. But this episode uncovers the split-brain experiments that started it all to reveal why your brain is less of a divided house and more of a highly connected superhighway.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    23 min
  • EP59 - The Ostrich Paradox: Cowardice, Camouflage, and Roman Rumors
    We all know the idiom about the foolish bird that thinks it can hide by burying its head in the sand. But what if this symbol of willful ignorance is actually a misunderstood survival tactic from one of nature’s most formidable parents?
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    19 min
  • EP58 - The Liquid Sweater: Why Alcohol is the Worst Winter Coat
    We’ve all seen the image of the St. Bernard dog carrying a barrel of brandy to save a freezing traveler, and we all know the warming burn of a stiff drink on a cold night. But we uncover why that sensation is a biological lie and how a teenage painter’s artistic license accidentally created one of history's most dangerous survival myths.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    20 min
  • EP57 - The Great Shaving Deception: Why Your Stubble Is Lying to You
    We have all been warned that shaving our hair will cause it to grow back thicker, darker, and faster. But does a razor really have the power to alter your DNA, or is this century-old belief merely a trick of the light and touch?
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    17 min
  • EP56 - Seeing Red: The Matador’s Cape and the Myth of Colorblind Rage
    We all know the image of the enraged bull charging at a matador’s red cape. But what if the beast isn't reacting to the color at all? In this episode, we dissect the science of bovine vision, the history of the bullring, and reveal why the color red is actually meant for the audience, not the animal.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    23 min
  • EP55 - The Grim Reality Behind George Washington's Wooden Teeth
    We all know the story of the first American President and his clumsy set of wooden dentures, a symbol of his rustic humility. But the truth of Washington's smile reveals a dark history of physical agony, primitive dentistry, and the exploitation of enslaved people that the history books tried to hide.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    20 min
  • EP54 - The Horned Helmet Hoax: Unmasking the Real Vikings
    We all know the image of the Viking: a hulking, dirty brute in a horned helmet, interested only in pillage and destruction. But what if that iconic helmet was a costume designer's mistake, and the "mindless barbarians" were actually the best-groomed, most sophisticated traders of their age?
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    21 min
  • EP53 - Saved by the Bell: Buried Alive or Just Knocked Out?
    We all know the spooky Victorian origin of the phrase "saved by the bell," involving safety coffins and strings attached to fingers. But what if that perfect gothic story is a complete fabrication? Join us as we dig up the truth behind safety coffins and reveal the surprisingly sporty origins of our favorite macabre idioms.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    22 min
  • EP52 - The Crumbled Myth: How a Japanese Tea Cake Become a Chinese Icon
    We crack open the crispy shell of the fortune cookie to reveal a history that has nothing to do with China and everything to do with a Japanese temple tradition. Join us as we trace the journey from Kyoto to California, revealing how World War II and a shift in American taste buds created the ultimate culinary half-truth.
    If you enjoy the show and want to support it, you can buy me a coffee:
    https://paypal.me/podcast8
    21 min

About Half-Truths

From the publisher's feed

Remember that neat, tidy version of history and science you learned in school? The one with brave explorers discovering continents, brilliant inventors having a single "eureka!" moment, and a food pyramid that was definitely going to make you healthy?