Heroic explorer Frederick Cook has just returned from the very roof of the world, the first man to reach the North Pole. Or so he says. Journalist Philip Gibbs has been watching him, and he’s convinced he’s lying. When Gibbs publishes that belief, he stands alone....
What colour is the sky? The ocean? You might think the answer is obvious: they’re blue. Maybe not, though. Homer’s seas were “wine-dark”, and he never referred to the colour blue. He wasn’t unusual in this; most ancient texts don’t use the word. Exactly why this might...
We're releasing an epic three-part series about the V2 rocket - a terrifying and also bafflingly expensive weapon. How did Nazi Germany ever decide to build such a thing, and what does it teach us about grandiose projects today? Also - what does the shameful...
Fact-checkers are level-headed people in my experience. They see claims circulating online — or in parliament — and check them, clarifying the confusing ones and refuting the lies. They are not prone to moral panics or conspiracy theories. But some of my favourite...
This week I present a personal reflection on what the late Henry Petroski meant to me and how he influenced my thinking and writing, followed by our classic episode "Death on the Dance Floor". The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski remains...
Be prepared! It’s the scout’s motto. But prepared for what? In The Lion King, the song “Be Prepared” is a rousing celebration of fratricide, while Tom Lehrer’s song of the same title advised boy scouts: “Don’t solicit for your sister, that’s not nice / unless you get...
This week I speak to Ben Nadaff-Hafrey about his podcast The Last Archive, the time the US started panicking about parakeets, population control, Ursula Le Guin, and more. Enjoy! If you want to read my essay about the wonderful Elinor Ostrom and her intellectual...
Fifty miles north of what is now Edinburgh and nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman empire’s Twentieth Legion began to build a fort near the River Tay. By Roman standards, it was unremarkable, despite its 20-hectare size and earthworks several metres thick. It boasted a...
“If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss..." Those words -- from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" -- were based on charismatic nineteenth century doctor Leander Starr Jameson. In Britain, Jameson was worshipped as a plucky...