Education
**Wiki Walks**

Wiki Walks is a short podcast devoted to some of the more intriguing and, “huh! Who knew?” articles you can run across in the seemingly unending cavalcade of bizarreness that is Wikipedia. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Latest Episodes:

Ep.33 – Capgras Delusion Aug 13, 2020

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Episode Notes

Those who suffer from Capgras Delusion believe that their friends, family members, even lovers, have been replaced by uncanny imposters. Today we delve into the bizarre and frightening world of unusual delusional disorders.

Capgras Delusion Wiki

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Ep.32 – The Bhopal Disaster Aug 11, 2020

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Episode Notes

In 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide chemical plant had a major gas leak that caused a huge poisonous cloud to descend over the town of Bhopal, India during the middle of the night. The sun rose on a town that had been gassed and thousands were left dead or dying in the wake of incredible negligence and corporate malfeasance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

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Ep.31 – The Radioactive Boy Scout Jul 30, 2020

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Episode Notes

David Hahn was just your normal teen in the 90s. He loved sports, science experiments, the Boy Scouts...and he built an actual working nuclear reactor in a garden shed and got shut down by the FBI. The crazy true tale of one very radioactive Boy Scout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn

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Ep.30 – Lawnchair Larry Jul 28, 2020

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Episode Notes

In 1982, LA resident Larry Walters took a 45-minute flight in a homemade airship made of an aluminum lawn chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons, armed only with a CB Radio and a pistol. The aircraft rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet where it was nearly hit by passing aircraft as he sailed closer to the Pacific. Ever see the movie, “Up”? Yeah…they based it off this guy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight

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Ep.29 – The Lioness of Brittany Jul 23, 2020

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Episode Notes

In the 1300's, French noblewoman Jeanne de Clisson's husband is wrongfully executed by France for treason. Enraged, Jeanne sells everything, raises a pirate navy, paints her boats black and her sails blood-red, is known as the "Black Fleet", and terrorizes French ships for over 13 years. What a Badlass! The Lioness of Brittany might be my new favorite historical character, ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_de_Clisson

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Ep.28 – The Straw Millionaire Jul 21, 2020

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The Japanese Buddhist folk tale of The Straw Millionaire tells a story where a peasant is able to, through a series of trades, move up from one piece of straw to being a millionaire. As crazy as it seems, this happened in real life, as a Canadian man was able to trade up from just one red paperclip to owning a two story farm house in Saskatchewan without spending a dime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_red_paperclip

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Ep.27 – The First Vaccine Jul 16, 2020

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Episode Notes

Smallpox has been one of, if not THE, biggest killers in medical history. Hundreds of millions died as the result of the miniature menace, but it was eventually completely eradicated after British scientist Edward Jenner noticed that dairy farm-working milkmaids never got infected. The story of the FIRST vaccine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine

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Ep.26 – The Ben Franklin Effect Jul 14, 2020

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Episode Notes

Ben Franklin discovered that he was able to ingratiate himself to his most ardent enemies and critics by asking them to do him a favor. This outrageously counterintuitive strategy is the most famous example in our foray into the psychological minefield that is cognitive dissonance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect

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Ep.25 – The Colossus of Roads Jul 09, 2020

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Episode Notes

Scotsman John Macadam is the man who took us from rutted-out dirt roads to the tar covered boulevards we know today. His invention is the inspiration behind the airport "tarmac". All roads might lead to Rome, but it was probably made from macadam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Macadam

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Ep.24 – Jack the Railway Baboon Jul 07, 2020

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Episode Notes

A double peg-legged South African railway employee teaches his pet baboon to throw the switches when trains come through his signal house, while the railway managers are none the wiser to this brilliant baboon's mistake-free railroad record.

Wikipedia: Jack the Railway Baboon

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