During the 17th century, European nations dominated the world by aggressively establishing colonies across the globe.
Late that century, Scotland sought to join the ranks of these colonial powers with an ambitious effort to seize control of the Darien region in Panama.
This attempt to gain a colonial foothold in the Americas began with tremendous national optimism and unified the country as no prior venture had.
….aaaaand it was a total disaster.
Learn more about the Darien Scheme and Scotland’s failed attempt at becoming a colonial power on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Andersonville Prison
17.2.2026 | 15 Min.
During the American Civil War, numerous camps were established to hold prisoners of war from both sides.
Of these, the most notorious was Camp Sumter, better known as Andersonville Prison.
Andersonville, as with all prisons in the conflict, were some of the first dedicated prisoner of war facilities in history, and in the case of Andersonville, it was one of the worst.
Learn more about Andersonville Prison and what made it so bad on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Home Runs
16.2.2026 | 16 Min.
One of the most dramatic events in sports is the home run. In a single instant, leads can change hands and games can be won or lost.
Yet the home run hasn’t always been what it is today. The rules surrounding home runs have changed, in some cases dramatically.
Perhaps the biggest change has been the strategy surrounding home runs. Advanced statistical analysis has changed the approach to home runs so much that the game wouldn’t be recgonizable from someone in the late 19th century.
Learn more about home runs, how they have changed, and how they have influenced the game of baseball on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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The Rise and Fall of Lin Biao
15.2.2026 | 14 Min.
From the outside, the Chinese Communist Party appears to be a unified entity, devoid of external dissent.
However, history suggests that the machinations of power at the top of the communist party can often take on Shakespearean turns.
Few figures illuminate the shadows and secrets of the party’s organization as completely as Lin Biao, who had experienced one of the greatest rises and falls in Chinese history.
Learn more about the legacy of Lin Biao and his fall from grace on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Beavers
14.2.2026 | 15 Min.
When you think of animals that have impacted history, your first thought may be of dogs, cows, pigs, or horses. Yet another animal has played an oversized role in history, and it was never domesticated: beavers.
Beavers have been among the most important animals in history because of the value of their pelts and their impact on the landscape.
Beaver pelts were regarded as a durable, luxurious material and became the center of one of the most important economic industries in history: the fur trade, and they even started a war.
Learn about Beavers and their role in history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Learn something new every day!
Everything Everywhere Daily is a daily podcast for Intellectually Curious People. Host Gary Arndt tells the stories of interesting people, places, and things from around the world and throughout history. Gary is an accomplished world traveler, travel photographer, and polymath.
Topics covered include history, science, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, geography, and culture.
Past history episodes have dealt with ancient Rome, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, China, Egypt, and India. as well as historical leaders such as Julius Caesar, Emperor Augustus, Sparticus, and the Carthaginian general Hannibal.
Geography episodes have covered Malta, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Monaco, Luxembourg, Vatican City, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, the Isle of Man, san marino, Namibia, the Golden Gate Bridge, Montenegro, and Greenland.
Technology episodes have covered nanotechnology, aluminum, fingerprints, longitude, qwerty keyboards, morse code, the telegraph, radio, television, computer gaming,
Episodes explaining the origin of holidays include Memorial Day, April Fool’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, May Day, Christmas, Ramadan, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Canada Day, the Fourth of July,
Famous people in history covered in the podcast include Salvador Dali, Jim Thorpe, Ada Lovelace, Jessie Owens, Robert Oppenheimer, Picasso, Isaac Newton, Attila the Hun, Lady Jane Grey, Cleopatra, Sun Yat Sen, Houdini, Tokyo Rose, William Shakespeare, Queen Boudica, Empress Livia, Marie Antoinette, the Queen of Sheba, Ramanujan, and Zheng He.