Surface Scratchers

By Ronny Jacob

Sawant and Ronny scratch the surface of some topics. PSA: Research is earnest, but often half-done.... more

· Education

5

22 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Surface Scratchers:

How many episodes does Surface Scratchers have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.

Surface Scratchers episodes:

April 09, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep11 - Gin
Gin, gin, gin! Hear all about it!
Show notes:
The 'dry' in London Dry Gin just means the Gin is not sweetened (sorry we missed this in the podcast) | The many Gin Acts, enacted to curb Gin drinking in England (spoiler: not all were successful) | A nice read and a few made-in-India Gins worth trying | G&T and the British Raj | 5 easy-to-make Gin cocktails
...more
35min
April 02, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep10 - Festivals
Sawant & Ronny talk about festivals - a few for which we get days off from work or school; but don't really know much else about
Show notes
Chemetz (pronounced Hemetz) - the practice of avoiding fermented (leavened) bread during passover | Possible explanations to the 10 plagues that struck Egypt, that convinced the pharaoh to release the enslaved Jews | Navroz in the Mughal court | Robin Williams on Good Friday - Easter (YouTube) | Stoning the devil in Mecca (YouTube) | Thaipusam (Graphic, NSFW) being celebrated in Penang | A few hip hop artists from Dharavi worth listening to: Dopeadelicz, 7bantaiz
...more
35min
March 26, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep9 - Bombay, Mumbai and everything in between!
Another origins episode, this time on everyone's favourite city - Mumbai!
Shownotes:
A short film on Gilbert Hill | The BDL museum's collections on the history of Mumbai | The Forts of Mumbai | The English in Tangier | Haffkine and his vaccine for the plague | The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946 that made the British realize that their time was up | A few more origin stories of names of areas in Mumbai here and here
...more
39min
March 19, 2021 Surface Scratchers Extras Ep8 - Belgium in Africa
Learn more about a not-so-well-known colonizer, Belgium
Show notes:
A BBC article on King Leopold II and his legacy | The scramble for Africa (Wikipedia) | Prisoners of geography by Tim Marshall (Amazon) | A profile of Edmund Morel, an abolitionist who exposed slavery in the Congo | How Janssen, J&J's pharma arm with a Covid-19 vaccine, is connected to Belgium's colonization of the Congo (YouTube)
...more
16min
March 13, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep7 - Idioms & Phrases
Discover the origins of commonly used phrases in the English language!
Shownotes: Slightly less popular pirate flags | Read more about the 'Mad' Marquis of Waterford and his town-painting | A really nice sea-shanty on Nelson's Blood, if you prefer to drink it yourself, here's the recipe for the cocktail | Nelson's strategy during the Battle of Trafalgar | An interesting paper on surgery in ancient Egypt | Read more about Geronimo, the Apache Indian chief | The evolution of the crocodile
...more
33min
March 05, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep6 - McDonald's
Sawant and Ronny explore McDonald's. We're lovin' it - making this podcast, and hope you do too!
Shownotes:
Watch The Founder (Netflix) | Mark Knopfler on Ray Kroc's view on the origins of McDonald's - Boom, like that (YouTube) | An image of the McDonald's at Guantanamo Bay (Wikipedia) | The Big Mac Index (The Economist) | The dictionary entry for the McJob (Merriam-Webster) | Why McDonald's McFlurry Machines Are Always Broken (Thrillist)
For suggestions and feedback, do write to us at: [email protected]
...more
35min
February 28, 2021 Surface Scratchers Extras Ep5 - eSports
All you need to know to get into eSports!
If you like stats, here's E-sports-Stats | Learn more about DOTA2's flagship annual tournament - The International | Stats about one of the winningest eSporters - N0tail
...more
9min
February 19, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep4 - Sports
Ronny and Sawant dive into the origins of a few sports. Find everything from Golf to Lagori in this episode.
Show notes:
Sport in ancient Greece | The first Marathon | Cuju - the grandfather of football | The oldest football trophies | Robin Williams on Golf | How his love of tennis killed King James I | Car colours in motorsport - find out India's allotted color here | How motorsport is improving our lives | Rahul Dravid on Indian cricketers fielding | French Cricket being played | Go play Lagori - rules here | Watch and enjoy - World Chase Tag | Monty Python - Hide and Seek
...more
48min
February 12, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep 3 - National Anthems
Sawant & Ronny explore National Anthems. Origins, lyrics, records, the whole shabangg.
Show notes: A playlist with all the 25 or so anthems discussed in this episode | Spain's effort to add lyrics to their anthem | New Zealand's effort to crowdsource a flag | The British freeing slaves in the 1812 War in America | Italy's football team singing their anthem
...more
38min
February 06, 2021 Surface Scratchers Ep2 - Battles & Wars
Ronny & Sawant discuss two battles (the war type) that aren't 'popular' but changed the world as we know it!
Show notes:
William Dalrymple, The Anarchy (Goodreads) |
A list of Indian battles (does not feature The Battle of Diu) |
50 battles that changed the world (does feature The Battle of Diu) |
Wars that went on for a bit longer than they were supposed to |
Find Nagorno Karabakh |
The Armenian Script, The Aremnian Genocide, The Armenian Revolution 2018 |
Turkey and natural gas |
Armenia- India relations
...more
34min

FAQs about Surface Scratchers:

How many episodes does Surface Scratchers have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.