May 28, 2026 — Today is National Hamburger Day, which somehow fits surprisingly well with a day centered around movement, distance, and connection.

Today’s episode looks at the founding of Volkswagen and the rise of the “people’s car”… the two monkeys who survived one of the earliest successful spaceflights… and the unbelievable moment an 18-year-old pilot bypassed Soviet defenses and landed near Red Square during the Cold War.

Plus, the birthday of Burgess Meredith — the actor who somehow became unforgettable to multiple generations through completely different roles.

A lot of today’s stories ended up becoming about systems:

how humans build them…

how movement reshapes them…

and how surprisingly fragile they can sometimes be.

Anyway… that’s what I ended up finding while working through May 28.