Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Terminator, rogue chat bots, artificial intelligence replacing human workers ... over the last few years we have all seen numerous headlines about the existential threat posed to humanity by AI. But are these fears legitimate? Where do the fears come from? Are we really in danger from AI or something else? 

In this episode I speak with returning guest Prof. Margaret Schwartz of Fordham University. We discuss the cultural and societ...

We are all familiar with the Japanese Samurai: Sword wielding traditional warriors all consumed with a rigid honor code known as Bushido. But how much of this is true?

In this episode I speak with an expert Dr. Michael Wert Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Through his work which includes the book Samurai: A Concise History, he has cast aside the Hollywood stereotypes and uncovered a real history th...

At the end of ww1, the vast but ailing Russian empire collapsed. What followed was regicide, civil war and famine. But just a generation later, the world had changed. Russia, now part of the Soviet Union found itself uniquely positioned to itself on the global scene in a way it had done before. In this episode I speak with Russian born historian Sergey Rachenko, he Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger...

Climate change has accelerated efforts by some theorists to develop mechanisms for controlling Earth's weather patterns and even the biosphere. But human attempts to control our these elements are nothing new. In fact, our ancestors aspired to do the same in antiquity. But what attempts have been made already to alter the weather? Were they successful? What did we learn from these efforts? Is this fantasy? madness? or something we ...

WARNING: This episode includes eye witness accounts of a violent murder and subsequent execution.

Catherine Hayes was born into an unexceptional working class family at the end of the 17th century in Birmingham, England. Like so many of that era, and most of us today, she led a life that ordinarily wouldn't warrant mention in a history book. But one event caused her name to become synonymous with infamy: the murder of her husband. 

In recent years El Paso, Buffalo, Charleston, and Overland Park have joined the list of cities where right wing extremists have committed mass killings. Racial hate and fascism are not new. From slavery, into the civil war, Jim Crow, the civil rights era, onto the Oklahoma City bombing, Charlottesville and so on, right wing extremists have posed a threat to US society.

But, what happens when a violent far right extremist decides to...

By the mid Nineteenth century Europeans had conquered or explored all of the Americas, Asia and even remote Pacific outposts that we know today as Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. But bizarrely one area remained largely unexplored and it was right on Europe's doorstep: Sub Saharan Africa. 

As you might expect, explorers, missionaries and of course colonialists soon made their way down South. They encountered new languages, custo...

Originally aired 2022.

In 1990, astronaut Steven Hawley deployed the Hubble telescope in space as part of the crew of the space shuttle Discovery. Kansas-born Hawley was among the civilians selected to be part of the space program on the basis of his expertise in a specific area: astronomy. One of his subsequent trips into space involved completing maintenance on HST. More recently, he has used it at ground level during his resea...

Explore the captivating story of the Romanian revolution of 1989, a pivotal moment shaped by the country's rich history of resisting and embracing external influences. This intricate tapestry of events traces back to the second century AD when the Roman Emperor Trajan conquered the region, leaving an indelible mark in the form of plundered gold. Subsequent waves of invaders, including Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Magyars, and Ottomans, we...

Mata Hari -- publicly portrayed as a mysterious Javan princess who became famous for her exotic dance routines and high profile affairs -- has become the poster child for twentieth century female espionage. The bombshell sex symbol who can seduce any man. The cunning and ruthless individual who will betray anyone to enrich herself as a double agent. She is model for the Bond femme fatales that have become a cinematic trope.

But, is...

In 1912, the "unsinkable" jewel in the crown of White Star Line voyages -- The Titanic -- hit an iceberg and sunk on its maiden voyage. It is difficult to imagine how passengers enjoying the amenities of this luxury liner would have reacted when suddenly they realized the vessel had become a floating coffin. Only a third of the passengers and crew survived the harrowing journey. 

But, a touring exhibition now casts light on those p...

She has become the poster child for James Bond style cunning, honey-trap-setting, spying vixens but does reality match the myths around Mata Hari? In this upcoming episode I speak with Prof. Tammy Proctor of Utah State University, author of Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War. We discuss the Dutch girl who became a "Javan princess," a spy and ultimately a casualty of the first world war. Here is a sneak ...

Situated on the Mediterranean, just a short distance from Spain and the rest of Europe, Morocco attracts tens of millions of tourists every year. They flock to see the iconic mosques and bazaars.  But there's another, much larger structure that you won't find in any tourist guides and is seldom talked about. 

It's a 2700 kilometer long barrier wall constructed of dirt and brick that runs through the heart of the Sahara Desert.  And...

In 1937, Kansas native and pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart sought to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. It was a daring adventure but one that ended in tragedy.

Almost 9 decades later, a company named Deep Sea Vision produced evidence of a plane closely resembling Amelia’s at the bottom of the Pacific. Recovery attempts are ongoing and offer the potential for resolution to the enduring mystery of how and w...

An old Angolan proverb suggests it is the voyage not the ship that is important. And for the people of Angola the voyage has been a long one, from the era of the might Kongo empire, through the slave trade, colonialism, an independence struggle, and more recently decades of civil war. Despite this, in 2015 the capital city Luanda was in was listed as the most expensive city in the world, But new high rises built off the back of an ...

Imagine one day being cast out of your society, subjected to violence or killed simply because you continue to participate in the traditional rituals and activities your community have practiced for generations. It might sound extraordinary but as we’ve seen down the centuries this is what happens when age old activities are suddenly rebranded as witchcraft and it is something that is happening now  in the tropical paradise of Papu...

Imagine an alien world where a creature could create a sonic boom simply by whipping its tail. Look no further as such creatures once roamed the Earth. This is just one remarkable discovery made by the world renowned Paleontologist Philip J. Currie -- the man whose worked inspire Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

In this episode, I speak with Philip J. Currie about feathered dinosaurs, long necked giants, his fascinating career and...

In 1986, anthropologist Patricia Wright arrived in the tropical paradise of Madagascar. Seemingly, she was hunting  a ghost: the greater bamboo lemur — then believed to be extinct.

Lemurs predate humans by millions of years and have long been prevalent on Madagascar. In contrast, the first human settlers arrived on the Island within the last few thousand years. Despite our relatively short period of coexisting with these animals, h...

The Borat movies were a fun but far fetched parody right? Think again. The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan is currently ruled by the clownish Gurbangulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow and his son Serdar.

He has styled himself as an action hero. Unfortunately he isn't very good at racing, handling horses, firing guns, singing, dancing, weight lifting, rapping or any of the other "talents" he likes to demonstrate. 

He is also a tyrant, pre...