Culture episodes
11 episodes so far
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Free
20 min
Turnips to Pumpkins: The Strange Journey of Halloween
How a Celtic fire festival crossed an ocean, survived a moral panic, and became a global billion-dollar ritual
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17 min
Built for the Dead: How Mortality Became Humanity's Most Creative Force
Why every great civilization built its grandest monuments, art, and stories for people who would never see them
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19 min
Dressed to Signal: How Clothing Became a Silent Language
From animal skins to power suits, how what we wear encodes identity, hierarchy and rebellion
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11 min
Breaking Bread: How Eating Together Became the Foundation of Human Civilization
What two million years of eating around a fire did to our trust, our politics and our minds
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16 min
Made by Hand: The Lost Art of Mastery and Why We're Reclaiming It
From medieval guilds to the maker movement, why humans feel compelled to make things with their hands
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15 min
The Invention of Family: How Societies Decided Who Counts as Kin
Why a king's heir was once his sister's son, why Roman sons owned nothing, and where the modern family came from
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14 min
Manufacturing Desire: How Advertising Invented the Modern Self
What patent medicine sellers, a grand department store and Freud's nephew have to do with the person you think you are
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21 min
The Hidden Diplomacy of Gifts: Why No Present Is Ever Free
A Babylonian king who complained about a pharaoh's gold, feasts where chiefs gave away everything they owned, and a banking family that turned generosity into power
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13 min
Why We Tell Stories: The Origins and Power of Human Storytelling
The embers crackle in the darkness as shadows dance against cave walls
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13 min
Beyond the Groove: The Global Journey of Rhythm
# Beyond the Groove: The Global Journey of Rhythm
**HOST:** Listen closely
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22 min
The Secret Lives of Everyday Objects: The Sociology of Stuff
Right now, as you listen to this, you're surrounded by objects
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