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PODCAST

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong

A podcast about exactly what it says it is: examining the bad ideas, mistakes and accidents that misshaped our world.

history natural sciences

All Episodes

62:02

Light and Shadow of American Life

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/03/24

In almost seventy episodes chronicling bad ideas and loopy frauds through the ages one name has come up again and again. From phrenology to mesmerism to a strange ghostly bowl of molasses, he's the Forrest Gump of 19th century pseudo-science. Get a free trial of The Great Courses Plus and three months of unlimited access for just $30 dollars by going to https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/theconstant (https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/theconstant)Get 10% off your first month of online counseling

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112:11

The Foolkiller Pt 5: The White Whale

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/03/10

Here we are. We've examined arctic explorers, secret armies, zany daredevils, Wisconsin whiz kids and so many more only to come up empty. This is the end of the rope. Can we solve the mystery of The Foolkiller, the submarine discovered in the Chicago River in 1915, or is this one just meant to be a mystery forever. Stick around and find out. Get a free trial of The Great Courses Plus and three months of unlimited access for just $30 dollars by going to https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/theconstant

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65:26

The Foolkiller Pt 4: The Unusual Suspects

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/02/25

We're onto the long shots now: An Irish-American secret society bent on war with Canada, a kid genius out of Oshkosh and an Indiana shoe factory owner. With so few options left, one of them--surely--must be the creator of The Foolkiller. Right? Get a free trial of The Great Courses Plus and three months of unlimited access for just $30 dollars by going to https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/theconstant (https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/theconstant)Get 10% off your first month of online counseling

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55:05

The Foolkiller Pt 3: The Man from The East

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/02/11

Amid all the confusing and contradictory reporting that accompanied the discovery of The Foolkiller submarine in 1915 Chicago, there are a handful of mentions of an "Eastern man". On this episode, we look through the annals of submarine history in search of this mysterious figure. Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".Visit our Patreon here

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63:11

The Foolkiller Pt 2: Infinite Distress

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/01/28

A proper story has three acts, but the story of The Foolkiller submarine is missing two of them. Today, we're looking at act 2: the brief window of time during which we know where this giant steel craft was. We're also examining the three initial theories that people at the time held about where the thing came from, and who built it. To do that, we're going from The North Pole to The Center of The Earth and even all the way to the deep jungle depths of Ottawa Illinois. Get a free trial of The Great

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46:28

The Foolkiller Pt 1: Tears Falling from The Sky

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2020/01/14

In November of 1915, a submarine was found at the bottom of The Chicago River. It had been there for at least ten years, was 40 feet long, and contained the remains of a man and his dog. To this day, no one knows who built it, where it came from, or who was inside. This is the first in a five part series looking into the mystery of The Foolkiller. With luck, we might even be able to solve it. But before we get into the meat of the question, we need to learn the context. We need to learn about the

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30:59

It's Wonderful Redux

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/12/30

For our last episode of 2019 and season 6, we're revisiting last year's Christmas episode. Stick around through the end to hear a tease for next season's big multi-part opening story, and check out these other podcasts from the top of the show: Iconography (https://iconographypodcast.com/episodes) Mark's appearance on Chad The Podcast (http://www.chadthebird.com/chadthepodcast/2019/12/14/me-mark-chrisler-and-the-irishman) and That Was Genius (https://www.thatwasgeniuspodcast.com/) See you in 2020,

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18:55

The Christmas Bullet

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/12/17

Throw on another yule log and gather round the fire For a new Constant episode is about to transpire It's a holiday one, though it contains little joy About a con named Christmas and his terrible ploy Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".Music by:Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)Lee Rosevere

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55:53

Perpetuum Mobile

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/12/03

Happy Second Birthday to The Constant! To celebrate, we're tackling the story that everyone advised Mark not to tell, that Mark himself failed over and over again to write: The Brownian Ratchet. And along the way, we're dropping into a select few of the many, many perpetual motion machines people have claimed to invented over the centuries. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant

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36:17

Suck and Blow

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/11/19

Everything you've ever learned about physics, chemistry, astronomy, and even biology, is wrong. That was the conclusion reached by Alfred Lawson, major league pitcher, avionics pioneer, populist political leader and the founder of the stupidest university ever: The University of Lawsonomy. Come with us for a journey through the life and confounding works of Lawson, the rise of his new science and its rapid, farcical fall. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your

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55:09

Necessity

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/11/05

In the first century BC, The Greek philosopher Carneades asked a question: is it moral to kill an innocent person to preserve your own life? Two thousand years later, a court in England settled the matter, once and for all. This is a story about sailors, shipwrecks, murder, cannibalism and, ultimately, who owes what to whom. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant

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40:20

The Curse

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/10/22

Did someone say "more mummies"? No? You didn't hear that? It sounded like "more mummies" but it was kind of muffled and droning? OH GOD WHAT'S THAT!? It's still October, and we're still being spooky. This week, it's the story of King Tutankhamen's Curse, which is a bit more superstitious than our usual fare. But stick with me, because there's more to this urban legend than you might at first suspect. It might not be from a Pharaohor an Egyptian god, but by the end of this episode, I promise there

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46:12

Chewing The Fat

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/10/08

In 2009, Peruvian police offered a disturbing solution to the murders of 46 people in the city of Trujillo. It was sensational, shocking and unbelievable. Yet, it was tied to a long, rich--and now largely forgotten--part of western history: using and eating human body parts as medicine. This episode may be disturbing to... anyone who is at all sensible. Discretion is advised. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by

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48:06

A Pain in The Glass

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/09/24

In April of 1954, Seattle was home to one of the weirdest events in American history: residents were gripped with fear as a mysterious force roamed the city, leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in its wake. Despite the efforts of mayors and governors, police and marines, scientists, engineers and even The President of The United States, no one could figure out the culprit. But we can. On today's episode, we solve the mystery of The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic. Visit our

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97:19

A Dreamcast Deferred

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/09/10

On 9/9/99 The Sega Dreamcast had the most successful product launch of literally any commercial product in history. It quickly came to dominate the market, outperforming all its competition. Less than a year and a half later, it was dead, and Sega was cut down to a shell of its former self. This week, we're looking at why, and at the long storied history of failure and missteps that came along with building an entirely new creative medium like nothing the world had ever seen before: video games

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46:16

The Forty Six Dollar Man

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/08/27

While shooting an episode in a Carnival Funhouse, the production team of The Six Million Dollar Man made a gruesome discovery: a mummified human corpse, painted neon red and mistakenly hung from a noose as a cheap scare. And the story of who he was, and how he got there, is so much better than anything 1970s television could have ever produced. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting: betterhelp.com/theconstant and

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44:18

Madagascar

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/08/13

This is the story of an island, and the worst thing to never happen there. Find our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant). Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".And visit https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant (https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant) for $500 off tuition to your very own coding bootcamp!Finally, there's www.industrialartifacts.net

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41:55

The Golden Episode

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/07/30

It's our fiftieth episode! Our golden anniversary! You know what we got you? The Lost City of Gold: El Dorado. We know, we shouldn't have. Seriously, we really shouldn't have. Find our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".And visit https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant (https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant) for

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38:49

The Right Stuff, The Wrong Way

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/07/16

We've got a lot to celebrate this week! Not only have we joined Hub & Spoke Audio Collective (https://www.hubspokeaudio.org/), but it's also a Constant Holiday. The Saint Day of Douglas Corrigan, who in 1938 became the 11th person to fly nonstop across The Atlantic, and the first person to do it by accident... Maybe. So by the powers vested in us by Podcastlandia, we're naming this #Wrongwayday. Find our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling

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51:42

For That Healthy Glow

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong ·

2019/07/02

In the early 1900s, people finally figured out what made water so healthy: radiation! This week we’re looking at some of the hundreds of terrifying products meant to give you that healthy glow, and the story of one of the most terrible mistakes in medical history, and the brutal way it got corrected. Get tix for The Paper Machete Blowout! (https://sleeping-village.com/calendar/paper-machete-blowout/) And for 20x2! (http://20x2.org/chicago/) Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theconstant

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231 results

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