The Curiosity of!?

27: 🐔 Foam guns to chicken bombs: stupid weapons from history

War is never nice but sometimes it drives people to their extremes. In desperation to gain the upper hand all logic and rational thought is flung out the window and insane proposals for weapons are put forth. From dropping cakes seeded with anthrax on herds of cows to bats with bomb-backpacks and giant siege towers to expanding foam guns mankind has devised some odd and, let’s be honest, terrifying devices. Join Anton and myself as we travel through time discovering some of the strangest.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/chickens-to-wetsuits-stupid-weapons-from-history

26: 🐂 Oxen, more than just ‘unintact bulls’

In possibly our most uncomfortable episode yet for Anton we talk Oxen! In school history lessons they just seem to turn during the agricultural revolution to help with crop rotation and then disappear. But what exactly are Oxen, how are they used, where do they come from and what is their history? We travel the world to answer all these questions.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/oxen-more-than-just-unintact-bulls

25: ☕ William Le Lacheur and the transformation of Costa Rica

After its independence in 1821 Costa Rica was a poor nation with very little outside trade but one man, from a small island halfway around the world, would change that. William Le Lacheur, born 1802, was a merchant and sea captain who is widely credited with transforming Costa Rica’s economy through the coffee trade. Commanding a fine fleet of ships he would not only bring trade to a nation but also help educate it’s citizens, help pull them from poverty and help fight off American filibusters. This episode we tell the story of this remarkable man.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/william-le-lacheur-and-the-transformation-of-costa-rica

24: 🎄 Old toys and Christmas elves

Come settle down next to the fire, help yourself to a mince pie and glass of mulled wine for we have a festive delight for you. This episode we take a relaxed look at popular toys from days gone bye, what will Anton make of Tonka Trucks, Pet Rocks and Cabbage Patch kids? But it’s not long until the warmth of the fire sends the drowsy child to sleep, but he’s awoken by a visitor checking up which list, naughty or nice, he should be on…
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/old-toys-and-christmas-elves

23: 🌰 We go nuts for conkers!

This episode we go nuts! For conkers and hazelnuts to be exact.
Have you ever heard of Melch Dick, a forest guardian who punished children for picking unripe nuts? Or do you know why Ministry of Munitions asked school children to collect conkers during WW1? We reveal all this an more in our nutty winter special.
We also interview Conker Cup representative and host of Chestnut Chat, ‘Mr Conkers’, who tells us all about the exciting sport. Visit conkercup.com to find out more.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/we-go-nuts-for-conkers-and-hazel

22: 🎃We make Corpse Medicine

People across cultures and ages have practiced corpse medicine – using the human body or it’s secretions to cure ailments ranging from baldness to epilepsy and toothache to mania.
From Europe to China to Arabia a special quality has been attached healing powers of the human body. Crushed skull and cocoa, mellified man, the blood of the recently deceased (or three young boys if you happen to be Pope.) and more have all been highly sort after remedies.
This episode Anton and I bring back this lost knowledge, making and tasting our own corpse medicine from skulls, brains, mummies and honeyed human flesh. Welcome to our Halloween special!
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/halloween-special-corpse-medicine

21: 🎨 Colours and pigments (and we’re one year old!)

We’ve made a podcast about pigments and colours because why not? I know you can’t see them but we’ve tried really hard to describe them!
When Sir Isaac Newton first draw his colour wheel after seeing light through a prism he matched each colour to a musical note, but our love of colour goes back far further than that, to a time when we maybe weren’t exactly like we are now. Artists all over the world have sought out new pigments, new colours, to wow and amaze, however how they were created and their effects on people’s health hasn’t always been of great concern.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/pigments-that-poison-and-a-colourful-history

20: 🏴‍☠️ Talk like a pirate monk necromancer!

Every 19 September is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and we thought we’d celebrate with some pirate tales, history and facts. We aren’t just looking at the golden age of piracy though - we take our time machine to see how Julius Caesar handles being captured by pirates and tell the tale of the Eustace Black Monk. He was a medieval pirate, monk and necromancer who spread fear through the English channel fighting for both England and France. Anton uncovers various pirate facts and rights some wrongs in how we view them and teaches me some pirate lingo! So let’s hoist our sails and journey together once more.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/talk-like-a-necromancer-pirate-monk

19: 👵 The oldest woman in the world and frozen dogs

This episode we travel far back in time to look at some frozen dogs found in the Siberian tundra. These amazingly preserved animals are helping scientists understand the evolution and domestication of modern-day canines - could they be ancestors of the first Russian space dogs?
We follow this with the life of Margaret Ann Neve, the first woman to live to 110 years and span three different centuries – truly a Guernsey Great!
Please follow us on twitter @curichildpod and rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast.
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/the-oldest-woman-in-the-world-and-frozen-dogs

18: 💨 A load of hot air, science and history of farts

Since the last episode Anton has turned 10 so as a little treat and a sign of his new levels of responsibility he selected the topic for this show. We’ll not reveal it here but it’s fun and maybe a tiny bit rude but still full of science, facts and history! Anton also has a lovely birthday message from the Flatpack History of Sweden podcast and we even had some fan art! Don’t forget we now have a website thecuriosityofachild.com and are on Twitter @curichildpod
Show notes: https://thecuriosityofachild.com/episodes/something-smelly-history-science-farts