Month: January 2021

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Everything Everywhere Daily - The Dionne Quintuplets

Multiple births happen very infrequently. The odds decrease dramatically the more children are born at once. The odds of twins is 1 in 250 pregnancies. The odds of triplets are about 1 in 62,000. The odds of quadruplets are one in 15 million. And the odds of quintuplets, five children, is an astonishing 1 in 55 million. In fact, the first case of natural quintuplets surviving infancy occurred 86 years ago during the Great Depression.

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Everything Everywhere Daily - Operation Plumbbob

In 1957 the United States embarked on its most controversial series of nuclear tests. These tests took place on US soil in the state of Nevada. They detonated 29 devices and tested a wide number of things, including how blasts would damage builds, pigs, and soldiers. They detonated bombs on towers, from balloons, and even underground. And, according to legend, they might have even accidentally launched the first man-made object into space.

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Byzantium And The Crusades - The Third Crusade Episode 6 “The Road to Jerusalem”

King Richard the Lionheart has won a great victory over Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf in 1191. The tide seems to have turned in the Crusaders' favour. The road to Jerusalem lies open. Or is it? Saladin's army has been defeated but not destroyed. The Crusaders remain divided in their loyalties between King Guy and Conrad of Montferrat, and between the English and French Kings. In this episode, we hear how the path ahead for King Richard was fraught with problems.

Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War, my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

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The NewsWorthy - Special Edition: Vaccine Skeptics & Persuasion Strategies

Today we’re talking about Americans’ attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccines, and the strategy and efforts to convince more people to roll-up their sleeves.

This includes one of the largest public education campaigns in U.S. history.

Be sure to tune-in again each weekday (M-F) for our regular episodes to get quick, unbiased news roundups in ~10 minutes! 

Today's episode is brought to you by BlueNile.com and Ritual.com/newsworthy 

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - The Rapid Test Row

A ferocious row has broken out among scientists about new coronavirus tests. Lateral flow tests provide results within minutes and some scientists believe they are offer accurate enough results at a speed that could allow us to resume business as usual. Others think they are so poor at detecting the virus that they could pose a huge danger.

In this week?s More or Less, Tim Harford looks at the evidence and what we know about these new tests.

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The Gist - Arizona Lawmaker Says, No Vote For You

On the Gist, an Arizona Representative has a plan to win - throw out votes.

In the interview, it’s all about the voice; John Colapinto’s new book, This is the Voice, that is. From sexy baby voice to deep baritones, Colapinto talks about his linguistic journey in writing his new book about the importance of the sounds and the musicality of voice that come out of our mouths, and how a good bedside manner can save you from lawsuits. Colapinto is a staff writer at the New Yorker.

In the spiel, crackpot as croackpots.

Email us at thegist@slate.com

Podcast production by Margaret Kelley and Cheyna Roth.

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