From the Vault: Pacific Navigation, Part 1

In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert chats with Sam Kean about his new book “Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations.” (originally published 7/3/2025)See omnystudio.com/liste ...  Show more

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss 1953’s “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” a pivotal entry in the history of giant monster movies directed by Eugène Lourié and with effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen. It stars Paul Hibschmid, Paula Raymond and Cecil K ...  Show more

Despite sporadic food sources and the dangers of the deep sea, the remote islands of the Pacific Ocean have been home to Polynesians for more than a millennium. But what was life like for the first people to venture between Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island, to name a few? In ...  Show more

Modern genetics tells us that the residents of the far-flung Polynesian islands are one of the most closely related people in the world. But, thanks to the exploration of their ancestors, they’re also the most widely dispersed. Polynesian exploration of the Pacific has been compa ...  Show more

In small wooden canoes and with just the stars for navigation, how did the first Polynesians conquer the largest ocean on earth? For centuries this has perplexed scholars and anthropologists. The Polynesian Triangle is drawn by connecting the points of Hawaii, New Zealand, and ...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the science of Oceanography. In 1870 Jules Verne described the deep ocean in 2,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He wrote: “The sea is an immense desert where man is never alone for he feels life, quivering around him on every side.” This was actually clo ...  Show more