Sleep and ASMR by The French Whisperer

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.

The Palatine Chapel that is part of Aachen's Cathedral is the best preserved remain of the palace that Charlemagne built when the city was his preferred residence. What is it like, and how was Charlemagne's empire? In tonight's story, we will explore this little known chapter of history and discover the rise of the Frankish Kingdom, the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, the attempts at creating a medieval successor to the Roman Empire, and how the seeds of feudality were planted. 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 three topics that keep sparking debates in their respective scientific communities: - The existence of supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, that are several million times more massive than "regular" black holes born from supernovas. Did these gigantic black holes appear as such, did they become so big by absorbing other bodies for billions of years, or is it something else? - Deep-Sea Gigantism, the fact that many species living deep under water become much bigger than their shallow waters relatives, despite living in an environment that offers much less food. - The climate on Venus: was it always as harsh, or did this planet once looked more like Earth before its atmosphere shifted dramatically? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The two towers that stand at the historical center of modern Bologna are some of the last remains of an 800 year old building craze, that saw the medieval city of Bologna covered in high and slender stone towers. Why did this happen? What where the towers like? This is what we will find out in this episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Tower of London is a castle established in the Eleventh Century, shortly after the Norman invasion of England. It served as a royal residence, a fortress, a prison, a safe place for the Crown Jewels, a menagerie, and is now a World Heritage Site as well as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK. Join me on this journey to the past that will take us from medieval London to our time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.