No Character Limit

In this episode we continue to explore the global scientific effort of working together across boundaries in order to better understand our place in the Universe. While the 1760s Transit of Venus (explored in the last episode) did bring scientists together regardless of nationality that level of global collaboration didn't occur again for over 100 years. As explorers from across Europe attempted t...

Today, we take what we know about the sky for granted but for most of humanity it was a mysterious black abyss. Just like an eclipse a new object appearing in the sky became associated with all sorts of good and bad omens. So when was it that we collectively began to understand the heavens? In her amazing book, Chasing Venus, Andrea Wulf makes a case that it truly began in the 1760s when scientist...

In the last couple of episodes we focused on how we understood time in terms of the Sun and the Moon, using them to guide us through the annual seasons and celebrating their solstices and equinoxes. But there are other seasons as well - deep seasons - that take thousands of years for just a single cycle. In this episode we focus on the deep season of the precession, how it was discovered, and how...

In the last episode we explored how the ancients conceptualized time with the Sun and the Moon as well as how they were deified. In this episode, we explore the four most critical anchors to our year given to us by the interplay between the Sun and the Earth- the solstices and equinoxes. Despite the dizzying movement of celestial bodies through the sky four times a year humans could feel a semblan...

Today, most of us barely pay attention to how time is derived from space, and yet they are inextricably intertwined. Time - what it is, how to measure it, and how we relate to it - has perpetually baffled humanity as the ultimate puzzle. Even today we have difficulty understanding what time truly is. In this episode we explore how humans came to understand time using an ancient number system that...

In this episode we finish talking about the legend of Thales of Miletus and explore other ways that he may have possibly predicted the famous 585 BCE eclipse by focusing on the most commonly cited possibility - the Saros Cycle. The Saros Cycle is a predictable method in order to determine the next eclipse, but was it even possible for the ancient world to know about it? Edmund Halley thought so bu...

In the last episode we learned about the historic Battle of the Eclipse, which is widely referenced as the earliest known event in history tied to a specific date. While neither the leaders of Lydia or Media knew what to make of the unusual eclipse that occurred over the final battle of the Lydo-Median War apparently one man had predicted the eclipse, centuries before the ability to predict eclips...

In this episode we leave the Sahara and move north to Anatolia and learn about the ancient empires of Lydia and Media over 2,500 years ago. Lydia was a kingdom that was centuries old by the time the Medes overthrew the powerful empire of Assyria and took control for themselves. An established and wealthy kingdom faces off against an upstart that now controls the largest empire ever known to the an...

This is the first episode of my book Ultima Thule: Unraveling the Unknown . Since the days of the ancient Greeks Ultima Thule has represented only one thing - the unknown. And while in those days the unknown lay in far-flung corners of the world the true unknown has always lay above our heads in the vast depths of the celestial ocean. What is outer space? In this 29 part series I explore a variety...

I've gotten a lot of feedback and have had a few more thoughts since I finished releasing God in the Frontier and thought I would make a bonus episode to share! I discuss a variety of topics related to the 12 part God in the Frontier series and expand on them. In this episode learn about the Thomas Indian School, the Shakers, Benjamin Fish and his Fourier community, as well as a personal review of...

In this final episode of God in the Frontier we explore what role faith has in the future of humanity and civilization itself. How do we overcome the barrier of religious exceptionalism while still not let go of our ability to believe? Today, we know better, we know that every human we meet shared a deep ancestor with each other. What we now know to be true due to science is more beautiful than an...

Why did new religions pop up so frequently in the Burned-Over District of New York during the 19th century? Did God decide it was special or was there something special about the area that made it prone to New Religious Movements. In this episode we describe some of the science behind New Religious Movements whether they're from the 19th century or today. We also explore in what ways faith provide...

Is there a universal message between all religions? What exactly is an epiphany and why do so many religious movements seem to begin with one? Why do some religions flourish while others fail? Is God picking and choosing or is there something else going on here? Perhaps its worth exploring more deeply into the role of the brain and its evolution in all of this. Very well-known cognitive processes...

The final 4 episodes of God in the Frontier are about reflecting on what we learned over the first 8 episodes in the Burned-Over District. How does the Christian prism look to those who see it through the Calvinist wavelength compared to those who see it through an Evangelical one? And how does Evangelicalism impact the relationship between the United States and Israel today? Finally, what can 19t...

Who was Joseph Smith? How did he end up becoming the founder of an entire religion? And how does learning about Mormon history inform us about the relationship between faith and violence in all religions? In this episode we follow Joseph Smith from his origins on the outskirts of Rochester, NY and his push westward where he and his followers demonstrated a willingness to commit increasing acts of...

In this episode learn about the birth of the most powerful religion of the Americas - Mormonism. How do Mormons worship differently than other forms of Christianity? What was the role of Brigham Young in its development? Why is there such a strong pushback against the faith by both Christians and non-Christians alike? And how can understanding Mormonism help us understand ourselves? (7/12) Subscri...

A magician faces off against a group of fortune tellers in front of the US Congress - who wins? Harry Houdini takes on Congress to warn of the very real dangers of Spiritualism in one of the most dramatic demonstrations in American history only to be accused of being a secret Spiritualist himself. Also, the largest Spiritualist community in the world still exists in Western New York - Lily Dale -...

The birth and rise of Spiritualism - first in Rochester, then in New York City, then the world - giving rise to "spirit photography" and permeating the highest echelons of society, including the Lincoln White House. But what happens when scientific investigation tries to get a closer look at the phenomenon and what is the truth when one of the founders admits its all a fraud? Who is lying and what...

How do you know when you've reached peak Christian Perfectionism? When one man was confident he had found it he started a commune that led to one of the most successful businesses in American flatware. Or what do you do when you read the Bible only to discover a message of when the world was going to end hidden within its text? Would you tell the world or just keep it to yourself?... And what if y...

What happened when Evangelicalism met Calvinism on the New York frontier in Rochester, NY? The little known history of the underpinnings of how the United States shaped its Christian foundation with one man seemingly behind it all - Charles Grandison Finney. Learn about Col. Nathaniel Rochester, his nemeses the Brown family, and how the influx of rootless young men from downstate made them ban tog...

How did one of the most powerful Native American confederations of the Americas give way to European and US encroachment? And how did Christians feel about this shift of power? In this episode we are introduced to the New York frontier and how a little remembered campaign of total destruction - the Sullivan Expedition - led to the fall of Haudenosaunee land. Using local history books we discover h...

What is religion? How are there so many faithful and yet at the same time so much disagreement over how to worship? In the first episode of my book God in the Frontier: The Impact of the 19th Century Burned-Over District and The Psychology of Faith I dive into a very brief history of Christianity from its inception to early 18th century America, setting the background for the rest of the book focu...

Ever wonder why animals can live outside 24/7 in the middle of winter while we huddle indoors and turn up the heat? So have I! And so has Harvard Biological Anthropologist Professor Richard Wrangham whose book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human is the main source of information for this episode. Did we outsmart the rest of the animal kingdom and conquer fire or did we make a Faustian pact wi...

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