Chapter 1 of The Space Merchants by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl, 1952.

Chapter 1 of Star Gods by Jack Lovejoy, 1978. Cover copy: “Were they Earth’s salvation – or it’s doom?”

Chapter 1 of City at World’s End by Edmond Hamilton, 1957.

Introducing Chapter 1, a new podcast where I read the first chapter to pulpy 1950s-1980s sci-fi novels. Are they good? Who knows? I found them in a box in my closet. Let’s see!

Today I talk with my friends Parth, Colin, and Amy about some of the strangest beers America has to offer and then, for better or worse, we drink them.

Today I interview my friend Sean, who is a lawyer-turned-geophysicist and then talk to him about the long and strange history of Centralia, PA.

Today I talk about the Thomas Edison employment quiz with my friend Edward who is an accountant. This test was considered the definitive IQ test in the 1920s and determined if you could work for the man, the miracle, the mastermind who was the Wizard of Menlo Park. How well can you do? As always, […]

Today I talk with my friend Don about the complicated history of Fritz Haber. Haber won a Nobel Prize for discovering a way to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, leading to manmade fertilizer and increasing the world’s food supply by up to 50%. He also developed chemical weapons during WWI. My numbers for current nitrogen […]

Today I talk with my friend Ben who designs electrical propulsion systems at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA! We discuss his current work and what the future looks like for efficient space travel and then talk about the plans that the US government had for peaceful applications of nuclear weapons with Project Plowshare in […]

I talk with my friend Elyse about philanthropy in modern day America and the historical trends that led to how charitable dollars are distributed today. Time to get your Junto on! Also, here is the link to the book chapter by Peter Hall that I read from: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/phall/Powell%20Essay-Final%20-%20rev.pdf. Enjoy!