The Birthplace of Metropolitan Transportation

Guest: Robert Hulse, founding director (retired), The Brunel Museum, London, and co-author, "The Brunels' Tunnel" and "Brunel’s Great Eastern"

Constructed during the Victorian Era, the Thames Tunnel was the birthplace of the London Underground. But before trains ever started running, the tunnel had a life of its own—complete with a fairground, a ballroom, dancing horses, and a whole slew of pickpockets.

 

The Engineering Feat that Connected the World

Guest: John Steele Gordon, author, "A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable"

In today’s world, instant communication is a given. We can text, call, and email across oceans instantly. Before the transatlantic cable in 1858, communication could only travel overseas as quickly as the fastest steam ship. We spoke with author John Steele Gordon about the engineering feat that connected the world.

 

Why Ration When There's Enough to Eat?

Guest: Lizzie Collingham, Associate Fellow, Warwick University; Royal Literary Fund Fellow, Cambridge University; author, "The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food"

Following the Great Depression, WWII created an economic boom in the US,drastically changing American diets. On the home front, new nutrition standards and enforced rationing characterized the public’s relationship with their newfound abundance of food. But why ration, if everyone has enough to eat? 

 

Cork Wars

Guest: David Taylor, author, "Cork Wars: Intrigue and Industry in World War II"

Sometimes conflict, strife, family life, and fortune can all revolve around the most innocuous of substances—during World War II, one of these was cork. This is the story of how cork changed the course of the war.

 

Best Way to Fast

Guest: Valter Longo, Science Director, Valter Longo Foundation; Director, Longevity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and Director, Oncology and Longevity Program, IFOM, Milan

Valter Longo was looking for a way to slow human aging when he found that starving yeast and worms actually made them live longer. He took the lessons learned and is helping humans live longer and healthier lives. In this excerpt, he explains what he believes is the healthiest way to fast.