Sleep and ASMR by The French Whisperer

This episode will give you an overview of the concept of multiverse: where does it come from? What are the various meanings and ideas behind that term? I will detail different versions of this idea, coming from cosmology (the "Eternal Inflation Multiverse" or the "Cosmic Landscape Hypothesis", derived from String Theory), quantum mechanics (the "Many-Worlds Interpretation"), or the "Computational Multiverse" hypothesis. I will also tell you about thinkers such as Anaximander, Copernic or Giordano Bruno, who all contributed in their own ways to the intellectual revolutions necessary for this concept to emerge. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this very long bedtime story, we explore every single planet of the Solar System and many of their satellites. I tell you about their formation history, what they are made of, what to expect at their surfaces, and plenty of other things about orbits, chemistry, rocketry, or concepts such as terraformation. Our journey will take us even beyond Pluto, in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In these new mystery stories set in New York City, we will travel through time at different periods of the history of the city, from its foundation as New Amsterdam to our days. Stories include: - Captain Kidd's Treasure, that could be hidden somewhere on Manhattan, Long Island or Gardiner's Island; - The wreck of the HMS Hussar in the East River with a big treasure on board during the American Revolution; - The Leatherman, a mysterious vagabond who travelled constantly on the same 365 miles loop in Connecticut and New York for more than 30 years, coming back to the same towns every five weeks; -The disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater, a Supreme Court judge who vanished into thin air in shady circumstances, that illustrate the intense corruption of the 1920's and 30's; - The existence and sometimes rediscovery of many hidden underground structures, such as the pneumatic tube mail system, the City Hall subway station, the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel or the maze of tracks, platforms and rooms under Grand Central Terminal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a time travel to the Celtic era, to examine historical mysteries and discover more about Celtic culture. I will tell you about the druids: what we know of their emergence, their functions, their cultural importance, and also the many aspects of druidism that remain mysterious. We will also travel to the Hill of Tara in Ireland, examine the mystery of the vitrification of hillforts, and take a look at the enigmatic Gundestrup Cauldron. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This new space journey will take you to the mysterious and gigantic expanse that exists beyond the planet Neptune. We will discover different bodies from the Kuiper Belt, including its most famous resident: Pluto, its satellites like Charon, and other dwarf planets such as Haumea, Makemake and Eris. I will also tell you about tilted orbits and why they happen, tholins, regolith, the mysterious "Planet Nine", the Oort Cloud beyond the Kuiper Belt, and more things... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Explore the fascinating world of monasticism, tracing its origins back to anchorites and hermits in ancient Egypt. Discover the rise of cenobitic communities that shaped medieval life through love, labor, and intellectualism. Learn about the influential Cluny Abbey and its architectural grandeur. Delve into the diversity of monastic orders, including the austere Cistercians and vibrant mendicant communities. Reflect on the decline of monasticism post-Middle Ages and its intriguing revival in the 19th century, offering a rich tapestry of spirituality and social experimentation.

This is the compilation of the first 4 wonders of the Middle Ages I detailed in recent episodes (Mont Saint-Michel, Tower of London, Towers of Bologna, Charlemagne's palace in Aachen), with a new section at the beginning that explains how the medieval period is defined by historians. There will be more medieval wonders coming soon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight's episode takes us on a historical tour of salt: how much is there on Earth? Why did it start to be an important commodity for humans in the Neolithic? How was it extracted and transported in ancient times? We will explore all this, and more: how the taxation of salt helped early states to function, how salt was extracted and transported in medieval times, the history of various food preservation methods using salt, and how it was partially replaced with other techniques such as canning and refrigeration. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In tonight's episode, we take a look at two mysteries that keep sparking debates in their respective scientific communities: - The Cambrian Explosion: at the beginning of this period of our planet's history, the number of life forms and their complexity increased dramatically - both in terms of body plans and behaviours, with the emergence of ecological complexity, like predator-prey relationships. But why did it happen? - Dark Energy: like Dark Matter, Dark Energy is a hypothesis, a way of reconciling observations with the laws of physics, especially gravitation. The Dark Energy hypothesis arose with the observation that the expansion of the universe was accelerating instead of remaining constant or slowing down, and this theoretically requires energy. But what could this mysterious energy be: an unknown fundamental force, fields of particles, an energy of the vacuum, something else...? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before the times of its decadence, the merchant republic of Venice was a great power of the Middle Ages. Its partnership with Byzantium, its shipbuilding and seafaring traditions and its trading capability made it powerful and respected. The building of the city of Venice, and its spectacular basilica (Saint Mark's) were extraordinary accomplishments for a city that began as a muddy outpost created by people fleeing the collapse of the late Western Roman Empire. In this episode, we explore this extraordinary chapter of history. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.