80 Days: An Exploration Podcast

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/jinglebells | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we're exploring the story behind the writer of the most well-known secular Christmas song: Jingle Bells, and some of its surprising backstory. We also reflect on whether AI will replace Luke, Mark or Joe first, and take on the now-traditional festive...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/ceuta | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast n this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about the autonomous city of Ceuta -- Spanish exclave, military post, and free port on the coast of Morocco, at the Mediterranean entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. Ceuta, Melilla (also an exclave), and other tiny islets along the coast of...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/shetland | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Shetland, a group of about 100 islands, fewer than 20 of them inhabited, in Scotland, 210 km (130 miles) north of the Scottish mainland, at the northern extremity of the United Kingdom, around 340km or 210 miles from Norway. The is...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/christmas2024 | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we have some trivia about winter celebrations around the world and also conduct our now-traditional Christmas quiz. We'll see you in 2025 with the rest of Season 6. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Ireland, Mark Boyle @markbo...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/socotra | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about the Central American country Socotra, an island in the Indian Ocean, lying between the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. It lies 380 kilometres (205 nautical miles) south of the Arabian Peninsula and 240 kilometres (130 nautical mil...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/belize | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about the Central American country Belize, formerly known as British Honduras.  This small country on the Yucatan Peninsula. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. This re...

LISTENER SURVEY: https://forms.gle/E4DYKT3fZKAVpQeH6 Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/wellington | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Wellington, New Zealand. Located at the south end of the country’s North Island, Wellington is the third largest city, and capital of New Zealand. Your hosts, as always, are Lu...

LISTENER SURVEY: https://forms.gle/E4DYKT3fZKAVpQeH6 Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/montserrat | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain, a spectacular mountain range not far from Barcelona. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/aland | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Åland, an autonomous and demilitarized archipelago of Finland, which lies between Finland and Sweden, although it is closer to the latter by around 20km. Åland (which can also be spelled Aaland) is the smallest region of Finland by b...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/burkina-faso | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Burkina Faso (formerly the French Upper Volta), a landlocked country in West Africa bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the south...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/christmas23 | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Ho ho ho! In this Christmas minisode, we’ll be talking about Christmas Markets and a few delicious festive treats, as well as where these things come from and how they've changed to the modern day.   Your hosts, as always, are...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/salem | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, which lies in the Tsushima Strait on the western side of Kyushu, the southernmost mainland island of Japan....

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/salem | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Salem, Massachusetts, which has a strong historical connection to the famous witch trials that took place there in the 1690s. Salem lies on Massachusetts Bay between Salem Harbor and Beverly Harbor, lying alongside the Danvers River,...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/northpole | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we're (sort of) exploring the history of the North Pole, and in particular, it's significance to the Christmas season. We also conduct our now-traditional Christmas quiz, and give a brief update on Season 6. From all of us, have a very merry festive se...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/kalmykia | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, thanks to our backers on Patreon, we’ll be talking about Kalmykia, a republic and country of Russia located directly north of the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe, between Ukraine and Kazakhstan, only around 200 miles or 350km north of Georgia. The Kalm...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/hawaii | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, Hawaii, and specifically the Big Island of Hawaii. Which is also called Hawaii. Hawaii is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, which make up the US state of Hawaii. The island makes up 63% of the archipelago's landmass, but only 13% of its total...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/jersey | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast,we’ll be talking about the Bailiwick of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands lying just off the coast of Northern France. Jersey is a Crown Dependency so is not actually a part of the UK, just like the Isle of Man, which we covered in Season 1. Today...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/quebec | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast Merch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/eightydayspodcast?ref_id=25321 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about the only walled city north of Mexico on the American Continent - Quebec City. The capital city of Canada’s Quebec province, the city is located on the St L...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/bougainville | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast Merch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/eightydayspodcast?ref_id=25321 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Bougainville, the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Located 1,000 kilometers east of the mainl...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/christmas-traditions | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast Merch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/eightydayspodcast?ref_id=25321 In this festive episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we'll be taking a look at some Christmas traditions from around the world that we've discovered. We're also joined by a special guest or two, as you'll hear...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/ulaanbataar | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast Merch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/eightydayspodcast?ref_id=25321 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Ulaanbaatar, meaning Red Hero, was originally founded in 1639 as a nomadic Bhuddist monastery, essentially a moveable city,  and was not permanently s...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/paris | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Paris, or rather, what lies underneath it -- The Paris Catacombs. What began as a network of mines beneath the city which spanned approximately 200 miles or 322 km soon morphed into something much more. A crisis in the 18th Century q...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/gabon | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast officially the Gabonese Republic, an equatorial country on the west coast of Africa. Originally inhabited by Bantu tribes, the area we now know as Gabon was first explored by Europeans in the 15th Century. Local inhabitants began to sell slaves to Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries, which established...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/paraguay | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Paraguay, a small South American nation sometimes referred to as the “heart of South America”, bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. One of only two landl...

Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/kaliningrad | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Kaliningrad, formerly Koenigsberg, a city on the Pregolya River, at the head of the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe B...