History Repeating Itself

In this episode, I talk about what football meant to me, and how I feel about it today. 

This week Ben and Michelle discuss the changing shape of the work week over the past ten thousand years, and they find some interesting statistics about ancient rest periods that put our current models to shame. 

In this episode, I interview Dr. Will Oliver, who recently wrote a book on lawman August Vollmer. Vollmer held contrary views on most issues of his time, but his ability to apply logic to every situation made him a legendary figure in the world of law enforcement and criminal justice. 

Internet trolls did not invent the act of anonymous harassment. So who did? In this episode we track the progress of troublemakers hiding in the shadows. 

In this episode we explore some strange words and explain why maybe all children should have the right to vote. 

In this episode we explore the roots of our scavenging past, and we talk about our current role in the food chain. 

Certain gestures, like saying "Happy Birthday," used to relate much more to our ability to remember. But now as we rely more on technology to remember for us, how are the effects of these gestures changing? 

How can images replace text in our writing? We look to the past, and to China, for the answer to this question. Also, many schools in the U.S. and around the world are no longer teaching cursive, or even print writing. What does this mean for our brains? 

Learning how to read and write rewired our brains in fascinating ways. But where did writing come from, and for that matter, where did language originate?