We Love The Internet

In this episode, Harrison learnt about the time that the worldwide courier company, UPS, shipped two whales from Taiwan to Atlanta, Georgia. Overnight. Yep, they shipped two whale sharks over night. How insane is that!

Chris meanwhile found at about the time in 1814 that the British attacked, ransacked and burnt all the government buildings to the ground in Washington DC. It remains the only time that a foreign power has occupied the United States capital city. We somewhat believe it will never happen again either!

Welcome to our first episode of 2021 and what a treat we have for you! Chris learns about the often times crazy gifts world leaders get each other. If you’re the French President, what do you get Queen Elizabeth II, a women who wants for nothing? Why a large wine cooler/table in the guise of a massive grasshopper of course! What about when two long-standing enemies, America and Russia meet? Potatoes from Idaho of course.

Harrison meanwhile found out all about a genius grandfather who broke a US state lottery, winning an estimated $26m over a number of years for his syndicate. How did he do it? Maths of course! The craziest thing about the whole story is that the company running the lottery were quite happy with the situation. That is until the media blew the whole thing wide open.

I’m sure we can all agree 2020 hasn’t been the best of years, and that’s an understatement, but Harrison found 20 great things that did happen this year and tells us all about them in this end of year episode. Everything from a whale’s tail sculpture saving a train from crashing over the end of the line to conjoined twins, Ervina and Prefina, being separated at a hospital in the Vatican City. Inspiring stuff!

Chris meanwhile follows on from the special Christmas episode by find out what bonkers New Year’s traditions people around the world do to celebrate seeing in the new year. From Colombians that run around the block with a suitcase to make sure they’ll be able to travel in the new year (we wish them better luck in 2021!) to Peruvian's who live in the Andes mountains fighting each other to clear the slate for the coming year!

In this special Christmas episode, Chris learns about some strange and crazy Christmas traditions practiced around the world including a German Christmas pickle decoration (that isn’t German) and what the Christmas meal of choice in Japan is (hint: it’s not turkey that’s for sure)!

Harrison meanwhile finds out that UPS trucks never turn left (or right if they drive on the left side of the road). It’s really quite fascinating and Chris thinks it’s the kind of company he could work for because they’re all about efficiency…

Harrison discovers various animals that have been promoted to high ranks within militaries around the world. There is even one British Army regiment that picks a goat from a bloodline gifted to Queen Victoria.

Chris meanwhile finds out about some seriously crazy submarine facts, including the British Royal Navy submarine that can run for 25 years without ever having to surface. Of course, the sailors may die long before from the lack of food before that ever happens…

Chris learns about some of the many inventions that were either invented during World War I or gained in popularity during the conflict. There may be some pivots from tea bags to passports so be prepared for a wild ride!

On the flip-side, Harrison found out about Cocaine Bear. This poor bear died tripping off his face after overdosing on 40kg of cocaine that he found in a Georgia forest. But his story doesn’t end there as he was stuffed and sold to a famous Country & Western singer. Honestly, you need to hear the story of Cocaine Bear!

In this episode, Harrison learns about some of the unluckiest people alive, including Alice Roth who was hit in the face by a baseball, then once she’d made it to the stretcher - and medical attention, she was hit again by another baseball from the same player! You could be mistaken for thinking he had it in for this poor grandmother…

Meanwhile, Chris investigates the story of DB Cooper who is the only hijacker to never get caught. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 in November 1971, demanded a ransom on $200,000 and jumped out of the plane at 10,000ft. What happened to him? Listen now to find out!

This week, inspired by Chris’ topic of the real life spy who inspired Ian Fleming to create James Bond, Harrison has been researching some actual spy weapons which sound like something right out of a 007 movie!

Then Chris has found out about two great apes, who both lived very different lives. One lived it up in the Cotswolds, drinking cider and coffee, the other went on a grand adventure in the name of science!

This week, Chris learnt about the greatest con man to ever have lived. He managed to sell the Eiffel Tower once, sold non-existent Broadway plays to first class passengers and almost made people lose trust in the might US dollar! That was until the Secret Service caught up with him…

Harrison meanwhile looks into some imaginative ways that elections which were too close to call have been decided. You might think coin flips, drawing cards and lots are the order of the day and shockingly you’d be right! Just don’t ask the British to go back to the polls again if they think you lost the first time, that’s just not cricket.

Could you ever imagine a dog being elected as a mayor of a city? Well imagine no longer, as Harrison tells you all about dogs (and other animals!) have been elected as mayors in mainly the United States, to be fair…

Chris meanwhile finds out about the “greatest spy of all time”. Sidney Reilly was an incredible man who led a life of glitz and glamour, charming powerful people all around the world, working for the British intelligence community and eventually being shot by the Russians in 1925, on Stalin’s personal orders. He even inspired Ian Fleming to write James Bond!