Month: November 2021

Posted on

Read Me a Poem - “The Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall

Amanda Holmes reads Dudley Randall’s poem “The Ballad of Birmingham.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.


This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.


See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Posted on

Everything Everywhere Daily - Gold! Gold! Gold!

Believe it or not, one of the most valuable elements on the Periodic Table was also the first one that was discovered by humans. Since then it has held a prominent spot in almost every culture on Earth. We use it to signify first place, we use it as a metaphor for important rules, and for thousands of years, it was the basis of money. It was even the obsession of James Bond’s greatest villain.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Posted on

NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Hail Mary’ sets the record straight on the history of the women’s football league

You're probably at least a little familiar with the WNBA, and even if you never actually seen A League of Their Own, everyone knows there's no crying in baseball. But did you know there was a whole professional women's football league in the 1960's? NPR's A Martinez spoke with Britni de la Cretaz about their book Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League, which they co-authored with fellow sports writer Lyndsey D'Arcangelo. And, disappointingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, de la Cretaz says it was homophobia and sexism that undermined the league's success.
Posted on

30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - Camel and desert architecture

S2 Ep 21. Take a peek into a camel’s nose! The science inside could help to cool desert homes. A camel re-absorbs the water normally lost in the breathing cycle, keeping its temperature down. An architect has copied this to create a system that could control the temperature of desert dwellings without the need for costly electricity. Let us know what you think. #30Animals Get in touch: 30Animals@bbc.com
Posted on

Everything Everywhere Daily - The Battle of Alesia (Encore)

In the year 52 BC, the Roman General Julius Caesar fought the last major battle in the conquest of Gaul. The implications of the battle have reverberated throughout history and can still be felt in the world today. But the real story isn’t the implications of the battle, but how it was won. It was one of the most audacious gambles in military history, and it worked. Learn more about the Battle of Alesia on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Posted on

Everything Everywhere Daily - Superconductivity

In 1911, a Dutch physicist named Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was experimenting with ultra low-temperature metals. He was measuring the electrical resistance of mercury to find out what would happen What he found was shocking and totally upended everything we know about physics and electricity. Learn more about superconductivity, how it works, and its applications, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices