Part-Time Genius 9 Map-Slapping Border Disputes
Jan 27, 2026
Mediating bizarre border scuffles from an island once settled with whiskey to a puffin-packed rock fought over for fishing rights. They trace glacial disagreements on Mont Blanc, a survey error that shifted a state line, and a weird nested enclave puzzle that was finally unraveled. Hear tales of an unclaimed desert, a DIY micronation, and a Manhattan neighborhood stranded in the Bronx.
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The Whiskey War Ends With A Toast
- Denmark and Canada playfully disputed Hans Island by planting flags and swapping bottles of alcohol over decades.
- The 2022 agreement split the island roughly 60/40, and ministers ceremonially exchanged drinks to end the “Whiskey War.”
Treaties Create Mountainous Confusion
- Mont Blanc sits on a disputed border because competing treaties from Napoleon and later agreements assign different boundaries.
- The disagreement affects access and environmental rules, keeping the dispute unresolved despite its small area.
Puffins, Lighthouses And Fishing Rights
- Machias Seal Island sits in a 'gray zone' where sovereignty affects fishing rights and lobster access as species shift northward.
- Puffins and a lighthouse mask a larger economic and indigenous-rights dispute between the U.S. and Canada.