EPISODES

The eccentric world renown terrorist. The man who paved the way for bombings, hijakings, and kidnappings for others like Abu Nidal and Osama Bin Laden. This is the story of Carlos The Jackal.
Dr. Jonathan McDowell is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. A staff member of the Chandra X-ray Center, he studies black holes, quasars and X-ray sources in galaxies, as well as developing data analysis software for the X-ray astronomy community. Dr. McDowell has a B.A in Mathematics (1981) and a...
1666 was a watershed year for England. An outbreak of the Great Plague, the eruption of the second Dutch War, and the devastating Great Fire of London all struck the country in rapid succession and with devastating repercussions.

Shedding light on these dramatic events and their context, historian Rebecca Rideal reveals an unprecedented period of...
Today's episode was a great chat with Dr. Jenina Ramirez, about her just recently released book "Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, through the Women Written Out of it."

Bio: I'm a cultural historian, broadcaster and author based at the University of Oxford with a passion for communicating ideas about the past. As a lecturer...
How did SpaceX turn from a scrappy group of engineers in an office in California, into a leading provider of space rocket launch services? What makes Elon Musk unique and how does he run his businesses? Today I dove into the space rocket industry with Eric Berger and talked about his book "Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days...
Terrorist groups attain notoriety through acts of violence, but threats of future violence are just as important in attaining their political goals. Today, I talked with Dr. Joseph Brown about how terrorists use threats, true and false, to achieve key outcomes such as social control, economic attrition, and policy concessions.
Bio: I am an...
America has faced four major drug epidemics, and many argue we're in another epidemic today. Today I spoke with Dr. Beau Kilmer about his research surrounding the problems, and possible solutions to our drug issues. Bio: Beau Kilmer (he/him) is the McCauley Chair in Drug Policy Innovation, director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, and a...
What is the draft process like for new Major League Baseball stars? What is life like for these athletes? How do they train? How are they coached? And why are finances such a problem for many players? Today I spoke with former MLB pitcher, and 9th pick in the 2009 MLB draft about his experiences. Bio: Drafted 9th overall in...