Learn about the long tradition of blaming games for society’s decline; and, what makes the wind. You’ll also learn about why history is so complicated from historian Justin Jampol, host of “Lost Secrets” on Travel Channel. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how blaming games for society’s decline has been popular for millennia: https://curiosity.im/32cZOBK Additional resources from “Lost Secrets” host Justin Jampol: “Lost Secrets” official website — https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/lost-secrets Like Travel Channel on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/TravelChannel/ Follow @TravelChannel on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/travelchannel/ Follow @TravelChannel on Twitter — https://twitter.com/travelchannel Follow Justin Jampol on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/justinjampol/ Check out this live wind map to see exactly where your wind is coming from: https://earth.nullschool.net/ Please vote for Curiosity Daily in the 2019 Discover Pods Awards! We're a finalist for Best Technology & Science Podcast. Every vote counts!https://awards.discoverpods.com/finalists/
Learn about the long tradition of blaming games for society’s decline; and, what makes the wind. You’ll also learn about why history is so complicated from historian Justin Jampol, host of “Lost Secrets” on Travel Channel.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how blaming games for society’s decline has been popular for millennia: https://curiosity.im/32cZOBK
Additional resources from “Lost Secrets” host Justin Jampol:
Check out this live wind map to see exactly where your wind is coming from: https://earth.nullschool.net/
Please vote for Curiosity Daily in the 2019 Discover Pods Awards! We're a finalist for Best Technology & Science Podcast. Every vote counts! https://awards.discoverpods.com/finalists/
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/history-is-about-the-present-w-justin-jampol-what-makes-the-wind-and-blaming-games-for-societys-problems
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about the long tradition of blaming games for society’s decline; and, we’ll answer a listener question about what makes the wind. You’ll also learn about why history is so complicated, from historian Justin Jampol.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Blaming Games for Society's Decline Has Been Popular for Millennia — https://curiosity.im/32cZOBK (freelancer due 10/31) (Repub) (Cody)
If you’ve ever heard this podcast before, then you know I’m a gamer. And like ALL gamers, I would say it’s pretty annoying when people blame video games for all society’s problems, like violence and addiction. Well imagine my surprise when I learned that this is nothing new. And I don’t just mean this has been a thing for my whole life; I mean that blaming games for social or moral decline has been popular for millennia. Seriously! And this blaming game actually serves another purpose entirely: it is used as a political tool to manipulate public sentiment.
As far back as the fifth century B.C., the Buddha was reported as saying that "some recluses ... while living on food provided by the faithful, continue addicted to games and recreations” — a reference that historians say was referring to chess, specifically.
Meanwhile, in ancient Greek and Roman culture, dice games were outlawed during the rise of Christianity for promoting immoral tendencies.
Later, even sports came under fire. The "Book of Sports" was a 17th-century compendium of declarations of King James I of England, and it outlined what sports and leisure activities were appropriate to engage in after Sunday religious services. Puritans didn’t like the idea of play on Sundays any more than they approved of how much people enjoyed it, and eventually the book was burned.
Fast forward to the middle part of the 20th century, and just five years after the invention of the first coin-operated pinball machines in 1931, they were banned in Washington, D.C. The mayor of New York at the time argued that pinball machines were "from the devil" and brought moral corruption to young people. His complaints sound very similar to modern-day concerns that video games contribute to unemployment at a time when millennials are one of the most underemployed generations.
It seems clear that, as now, play was caught in society-wide discussions that really had nothing to do with gaming — and everything to do with keeping or creating an established moral order.
LISTENER QUESTION
ASHLEY: We got a listener question from Peter, who asks, “What makes the wind? Seems like there needs to be a big fan somewhere, right? Also, is the breeze I’m feeling now the same breeze felt by people north of me?” As a podcast based in the windy city, you’ve come to the right place, Peter.
Put simply, pressure makes wind. Wind comes from air flowing from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. To illustrate, think about a crowd of bodies crammed shoulder to shoulder at a concert. Say there are a few groups of people, some of whom are big and strong, representing areas of high pressure, and some are small and weak, representing areas of low pressure. When two strong groups are next to each other, they can push against each other and nothing really happens. But when a strong group pushes against a weak group, everybody tumbles over. That’s pretty much how wind happens.
Ok, but what is wind made of, and how does it get to be high or low pressure? Well, instead of concertgoers, wind is made of molecules — about 78% of those molecules are nitrogen and 21% are oxygen, and then you get trace amounts of other stuff like carbon dioxide and water vapor. You’ve heard that warm air rises, right? Well, rising air exerts less pressure on the surface of the planet, so warm air is low-pressure. Cooler air exerts more pressure, so it’s what creates a high-pressure area. Areas of high pressure naturally rush into areas of low pressure to balance out these opposing forces, and that rushing of air molecules as they battle it out is what creates the wind you feel.
As for whether you feel the same breeze as people at other places on Earth? Well, that comes down to global weather patterns, which are pretty complicated — it’s not as simple as saying that you feel the same breeze as someone north of you. But if you and another person happen to be located in the same high- or low-pressure system, you’ll definitely be feeling the same wind. In fact, there’s a live wind map online you can use to see exactly where your wind is coming from at earth dot nullschool dot net. We’ll include a link to that in the show notes. Thanks for your question, Peter! If you have a question, send it into podcast at curiosity dot com.
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ASHLEY: The ONLY way to get this free pillow, is to text Curious to 84-888. That’s C-U-R-I-O-U-S to 8-4-8-8-8. Message and data rates may apply.
Justin Jampol #1 — History is what we know now [2:37] 11/8 (Cody)
History isn’t just the story of what happened in the past. In fact, it changes along with our present. And that’s according to our guest today, historian Justin Jampol. He’s the host of Travel Channel’s brand-new series, “Lost Secrets,” where Justin journeys around the world unearthing objects and revealing new truths about our history. Every episode of the show asks a new provocative question that takes a historical narrative to task, or at least challenges it. And here’s Justin on why that’s important.
[CLIP 0:42]
So our understanding of the past has a lot to do with our understanding in the present. And Justin demonstrates this in the premiere episode of “Lost Secrets,” which you’re about to get the inside scoop on. Here’s a sneak peek at what the episode is all about.
[CLIP 0:20]
Yes, Justin travels to Germany to investigate whether an obsession with the occult may have played a role in the downfall of the Third Reich. That might sound far-fetched, but 20 years ago, so did the idea of Vikings being in North America. I asked Justin about his journey to Germany, and here’s what he told me.
[CLIP 1:34]
Later this season, Justin uncovers new insights into the Space Race, Viking women, and espionage during the Civil War. So check it out! The six-part series “Lost Secrets” premieres this Sunday, November 10 at 11 p.m. ET/PT only on Travel Channel.
CODY: Before we wrap up, here’s Because of YOUR vote, Curiosity Daily is a finalist for the Best Technology & Science Podcast in the 2019 Discover Pods Awards!
ASHLEY: Yes, YOUR nomination helped us get there! And now your vote can help us win.
CODY: Yeah, we’re up against some INSANELY popular shows, so we really need your vote to receive some recognition! Just visit awards-dot-discoverpods-dot-com and you’ll find us in the category of Best Technology & Science Podcast. Voting is open through November 18, so there’s not much time!
ASHLEY: Again, that’s awards-dot-discoverpods-dot-com. We’ll also put a link in today’s show notes. And thanks again! Okay so what got us excited about today’s episode?
CODY: Today we learned that society has ALWAYS blamed games for its problems. Maybe they should look at, I dunno… real problems?
ASHLEY: And that the wind comes from X
CODY: History is complicated because people are complicated. And you can’t neatly divide history into “eras” because everything really is the result of everything that came before it.
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s first story was written by Lindsay Grace for The Conversation, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity.com. Scriptwriting was by Sonja Hodgen and Ashley Hamer.
ASHLEY: This podcast was also scripted — and produced and edited — by Cody Gough.
CODY: Have a great weekend, and join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!