Hitler was a failure who achieved the opposite of nearly all of his stated intentions.  But was he insane as well?   His life and legacy might argue he was, but what do the experts say? If he was insane, what was the diagnosis? And if he was not insane, how do you account for his actions? Was he a meth head, dragon chaser, narcissist, psychopath, schizophrenic, oedipal conflicted anal regressive, or what?   In this episode we explore the body of literature devoted to explaining the...

He's one of the most reviled people in Western history -- a man whose cruelty, jealousy, and violence are proverbial. And yet his legacy is much more nuanced, his person more complicated than most of us know. One thing that is not in question is that he died a miserable death; in pain, angry, and resentful. Was it, as Josephus said, divine justice? Was it foul play? Spoiler: as bad as it was, it appears to have been neither, and can be easily explained.

I have released my first TouTube video and this is the audio -- see the episode here: https://youtu.be/uVfn5Ar1rmg?si=e3TE_6tCWEuQxf7h Schrodinger's Cat Quick and Easy Yes, this is based on a longer podcast episode -- but hey, you've got to start somwhere!

The OG, greatest generation of Human ever! At least if your metric is a dogged determination to keep existing. For 2 million years these prehistoric hominins wandered far and wide, high and low, filling every available lakeshore and riverbed. What can we know about them? Their looks, abilities, traits? Did they use fire? Language? Clothing? Where did they come from and get to? And why, after such a successful run, did they exit the world stage? Today on the History of Being Human, the...

This week I wander off the topic of Life Extension (more next episode) to take advantage of an opportunity to interview an anthropologist about the White Sands footprints. Not since the Laetoli Australopithecus prints has a set of human footprints rocked the world of paleontology like those found in White Sands, New Mexico. Studies have dated these prints to 21-23,000 year ago, more than 6000 years older than humans were known to have arrived in the Americas! Many scientist are convinced...

It is time to take a trip to that Undiscovered Country and visit our greatest teacher. How long do we live, how long did we live, and why don't we just keep on going? Never mind that we do the world and our gene pool a great service by only taking up space for a finite time, what are the chances we can extend our time for a while? Indefinitely? This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at...

In this episode we cover the underpinnings of the either/or, cause-then-effect, deterministic, distance-separates-things, no-info-travels-faster-than-light, orderly world of classical physics. It is the world inhabited by such luminaries as Newton and Einstein. Then we descend into the merely probabilistic, action-at-a-distance, neither/both world of Quantum Physics to cover the most bafflng and counter intuituve (nay, SPOOKY in the words of Einstein) phenomenon in nature -- Quantum...

To paraphrase Richard Feynman: If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics. Along the same lines, if you have made sense of Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment, you don't understand it. But that's not to say it can't be explained. Which is exactly what we do in this episode of the history of being human - present one of the most enduring, and most popularly recognizable, legacies of early quantum theory. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime...

At Long Last - Pilate's Old Question Will Get an Answer! This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5806452/advertisement

In this episode, the massive, rapacious king power lizards of the Cretaceous are finally taken off the board by an asteroid. We trace the origins and progress of the skulking night vermin that are unleashed in their absence. These night vermin, with their whiskers and fur and fancy new brains, become the superpowers of the Cenozoic (our current era). This is the story of the mammals, from a time long before their origin until the last common ancestor between humans and chimpanzees....

Continuing with the origins of everything that is, I present the history of planet Earth, from its birth to the age of mammals. Included: How old is the earth?What are the oldest rocks ever found?How old is life itself?When did multicellular organisms arise?When did life leave the sea for land?What percentage of species has survived until the current time?What were the 5 biggest mass extrinction events in history?And much more...information that sounds, admittedly, tedious, but only because...

In this episode: 9 billion years of prehistory made dangerously accessibleThe broadest, easily understood, fascinating ideas of the "Big Bang"Mysteries of the Big BangWhat can we theorize?Where do our theories fail?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Big Bang model?What are the philosophical and identity implications of Big Bang CosmologySummary of the development of the universe until the beginnings of our solar systemThis episode is an updated and expanded presentation of episode...

Attention: This is the episode that started the podcast -- the story of the maxim Know Thyself, the Prophetess at Delphi, Apollo and the python, Zeus and the omphalos, and the much more ancient Egyptian origins of the injunction. What did it mean to the ancients? Is it still relevant today, or has it cone the way of alchemy and phrenology?

In this brief announcement I discuss the philosophy and rationale for content choices and discuss a few changes coming to the podcast. It is my belief that these changes will add value to my listeners, albeit indirectly, as they will enable me to produce more content and extend the reach of the podcast. Thank you for all your support. I am excited to be moving the podcast to the next level and hope you will continue to listen!

From the new Studio P, provided by Peyton, comes the death of Poe. In a sad case of life imitating art, Edgar Allen Poe, the master of the macabre and father of the mystery story presents us with a real-life masterpiece of both genres in his own tragic death. Poe boarded a train, disappeared for days, and turned up in a gutter outside a tavern/polling station wearing someone elses clothing. He was rushed to a hospital where he languished for day before dying. In his feverish delirium, he was...

Alexander was a prodigy in all things military and administrative, as unaccountably great in his own field as Mozart was in music or Michelangelo in art. By age 32, he had conquered the mightiest empire ever known and extended the boundaries of his kingdom to the edges of the known world. Against men, beasts, and entire armies, Alexander never lost a battle. But in the prime of his life and the apex of his power, he became ill and soon died. What, exactly, conquered the greatest conqueror...

At the age of 44, Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most influential philosophers and writers of his age, suffered a psychotic breakdown. For the next 11 years until his death from pneumonia, he evidenced profound dementia and was totally dependent on the care of others. For many years Nietzsche's decline was blamed on syphilis, but lately that diagnosis has come under increasing scrutiny or outright attack. In its place researchers have posited tumors, hereditary illnesses, rare metabolic...

Even King Tut had a mother. Once. And not for very long, it seems. This episode is actually several mysteries in one. Who was King Tut's mother?  Why did she die, esecially so young? Was it sickness, childbirth, accident, or murder most foul? A story of 18th Dynasty Egypt, tomb robbers, trauma before and after death, sneaky priests and vile heretics, sprinkled with rather dry medical research. Links: Tour of KV 35, where Younger Lady was found (down to the exact chamber):...

Tutankhamen died at 19 years old. No one is sure why or how.  His tomb, his mummy, and his DNA offer some tantalizing clues, but no definitive answer.   Here is the life and death of one of the best known mummies, from one of the least known Pharohs, in ancient history; a dive deeper than any other podcast is capable or willing to take.  It is a tale of sorrows and pains, of bizarre family dynamics, of deformities and deat, and of intrigue and possible murder. In the end, we answer what...

The third and final member of the Milesian school, once considered the weak little sister of the philosphers, now appreciated in all his Air-udite glory. This is his story, as we have it, which may or may not correlate roughly to some things he actually said or did. As a synthesizer of the works of Thales and Anaximander, he held onto the best and abandoned the worst of their ideas, and in so doing became a father of empirical science.   

Today we take a long, hard look at the great Anaximander, the second member of the Milesian School, and possibly one of the most influential thinkers of all time.  The first metaphysician, the greatest astronomer of his age, the teller of time and builder of colonies, the man who dared disagree with his teacher and mentor and ended up transcending his theories, is here presented to you in all his glory. Such as it is.    

In this episode we begin a series on the beginnings of "Western" thought and science. We start with the catastrophy of the Mycenean Collapse, the Greek Dark Ages, and the Archaic Age, then continue with a discussion of Miletus and its most revered citizen, Thales. Thales has left his mark on the planet with his work. As a brilliant sage whose ideas were the beginnings of science, he helped set a trajectory for all future generations of philosophers and scientists.     

Today, part 2 of the Dyatlov Pass mystery. What killed the 9 expert, fit trekkers on Dyatlov Pass in 1959?  Is the mystery finally solved? In this episode we dig deep and look hard into what we can know about what happened to the ill-fated expedition.   FF to 53:45 if you want the TL;DR version of the episode. Or, if you want to know the why behind the what, we spend the better part of an hour building our case -- for the intrepid listener only! Guaranteed to be the most detailed study of...

This is actually the story of the Dyatlov Pass deaths of 1959 -- an event that remains mysterious and controversial to this day.  9 healthy Russian Athletes on a ski trip die under stange circumstances.  The location and conditon of the bodies is both distrubing and bizarre.  Many conspiracy, supernatural, and naturalistic explanations have been attempted with varying levels of acceptance.  None accounts for every fact.   Today, the events and people in this riveting mystery. Next episode,...