Seward bought Alaska, but was it folly? This episode is not explicit. Voiced by Paul Eenhoorn and Michael Crowley of "Broken, Alaska" and written by Kari Aguila.

www.brokenalaskapodcast.com TRANSCRIPT Seward's Folly.

What are you reading, Mark?

I thought the cats and I would learn about U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward.

I heard that guy was a weirdo.

Most people thought he was a bit weird. See, he bought the Alaskan territory from Russia for at the time, a measly $7 million. It was cold, sparsely populated, and didn't show much promise. Congress people laughed and laughed, and called the whole Alaskan purchase "Seward's Folly".

See, sounds like a looser.

Seward died a few years later, and went to his grave thinking he was America's biggest loser for buying Alaska. But, in 1896, they found gold in the Klondike.

So, he never knew his Alaska purchase was an amazing deal?

Not in his life.

Wow.

This episode of Listen, Rinse, Repeat was voiced by Paul Eenhoorn and Michael Crowley of "Broken, Alaska" and written by Kari Aguila.