President Donald Trump's proposal that the United States take "ownership" of Greenland has raised a lot of eyebrows. Can the U.S. just buy itself this big territory? Is that a thing? Turns out if you look at U.S. history, it's absolutely a thing.

Today on the show: how massive land deals called "sovereignty purchases" have shaped the country we live in today, and why the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland is a lot more complicated than it would have been in the past.

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