Mighty Things Podcast

Everyone knows the name Christopher Columbus. Almost nobody knows what actually happened. Before 1492, Columbus spent nearly a decade being rejected by every court in Europe. When he finally sailed, his crew nearly mutinied. He made four voyages across the Atlantic — each one more dramatic than the last — and faced political betrayal, shipwreck, chains, and exile. He died believing he'd reache...

They had no degrees, no funding, and no lab. Wilbur and Orville Wright ran a bicycle shop in Ohio, yet somehow they beat the best-funded scientists in the world to build the first powered airplane. In this episode, we break down the Wright Brothers' journey from self-taught tinkerers to aviation pioneers: the thousands of hours of wind tunnel experiments, the crashes, the rivals who should hav...

In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States overnight — but almost no Americans had ventured west of St. Louis. There were rumors of towering mountains, dangerous wildlife, and unknown tribes, but no one knew what was actually out there. To find out, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led a crew of over 30 explorers on an 8,000-mile journey of scientific discovery lasting...

Theodore Roosevelt wasn't supposed to make it. Born sickly and asthmatic, doctors told his father he wouldn't survive childhood. But through sheer determination and what he called "the strenuous life," young Teddy transformed himself from a frail boy into one of history's most accomplished figures. In this episode, we follow Roosevelt's extraordinary journey from his diff...