In this episode, we talk about the rise of the Ottoman harem from a hidden inner chamber to the unofficial center of imperial power. We follow the story of Hürrem Sultan, a Ukrainian slave who became wife to Suleiman the Magnificent, and trace how her successors — Nurbanu and Kösem — turned the Imperial harem into a political powerhouse. We cover the execution of grand viziers, the use of eunuchs as political operatives, the rise of cage confinement for princes, and the ruthless competition among royal mothers. We also examine how public construction projects, state policy, and succession were shaped by the influence of women like Turhan Sultan. This is the story of survival, strategy, and statecraft — told entirely from inside the walls of the Ottoman harem.

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In this episode, we talk about how an archaeological dig in Hull, England unearthed skeletons with textbook signs of syphilis, including skeleton 1216, whose bones were radiocarbon dated to the 14th century — at least 70 years before Columbus sailed to the Americas. We examine the breakdown of the Columbus theory, long believed to explain the introduction of syphilis to Europe, and follow how paleopathologists, carbon dating labs, and dental analysis from sites like Metaponto and Pompeii helped dismantle the myth. We explain how urban life, not Indigenous Americans, transformed a mild childhood skin disease into the sexually transmitted epidemic that swept through Europe after 1492. We also explore how trade routes, port cities, and shifting social conditions allowed syphilis to mutate, and how the loss of natural immunity among Native populations turned the disease back on them with devastating effect.

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In this episode, we talk about the discovery of Orrorin tugenensis, also known as Millennium Man, by British, French, and Kenyan scientists in Kenya’s Tugen Hills. We break down how 13 fossil fragments dated to over six million years old may be the oldest known human ancestor ever found. We cover the anatomical evidence that shows this creature walked upright, the CT scans that confirmed its bipedal structure, and the geological analysis used to date the find. We also dive into the forest environment it lived in, its social behavior, diet, and how its discovery flips long-held theories about how and where bipedalism evolved. Featuring institutions like the French National Museum of Natural History, the University of Illinois, Chuo University in Japan, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the story of Orrorin tugenensis forces a major rethinking of the early human evolutionary timeline.

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