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.
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.
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.
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Get in touch: 30Animals@bbc.com
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.
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.
Cities across the U.S. are suffering from dire housing crises. Housing supply is low, and prices are high — in some cities, sky high. And wages and income aren't keeping up. Many struggle to make rent, let alone save for a home.
So it’s no wonder that affordable housing programs often focus on getting people into homes — people need help now. But we also need long-term solutions that could help renters generate wealth they could pass on to their families and children. In other words, as essential as affordable housing is, it isn't enough on its own to close the wealth gap, which in the U.S. is particularly stark between Black and White Americans.
In the first episode of our new season of City of the Future, we talk to the founders of Esusu and Portland’s Community Investment Trust and explore new economic models that could help renters, particularly immigrants and new arrivals, become home or partial building owners — and have the opportunity to access multi-generational wealth as a result.
In this episode:
[00:00 - 04:24] Marc Norman, associate professor in affordable housing, talks about the racial wealth gap and new economic models that could help non-homeowners generate wealth to pass on their families and children.
[04:55 - 15:02] We speak with Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel, the co-founders of Esusu, which helps renters achieve and improve credit scores by paying their rent on time.
[15:03 - 26:34] Vanessa flies to Portland, Oregon to meet John W. Haines, organizer of Plaza 122, the country’s first Community Investment Trust. We also meet with Yonas Kassie, Hawi Muleta, and Sonya Damtew of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural and Resource Center.
City of the Future is hosted by Eric Jaffe and Vanessa Quirk, and produced by Guglielmo Mattioli. Story editing by Rough Cut Collective and Benjamin Walker. Mix is by Andrew Callaway. Art is by Tim Kau. Our music is composed by Adaam James Levin-Areddy of Lost Amsterdam. Special thanks to Marc Norman, Abbey Wemimo, Samir Goel, John W. Haines, Yonas Kassie, Hawi Muleta, Sonya Damtew, Annie Koo, Alison Novak, Jesse Shapins, and Chrystal Dean.
History is full of battles and conflicts. Most of them are forgotten over time as they don’t really impact history. Whether one king or another wins a battle usually doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things. However, there are moments that truly change world history. When civilizations clash and the outcome can affect the world for centuries. Such a moment occurred on May 29, 1453.