The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong

Throw on another yule log and gather round the fire For a new Constant episode is about to transpire It's a holiday one, though it contains little joy About a con named Christmas and his terrible ploy Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".Music by:Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/)Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Second Birthday to The Constant! To celebrate, we're tackling the story that everyone advised Mark not to tell, that Mark himself failed over and over again to write: The Brownian Ratchet. And along the way, we're dropping into a select few of the many, many perpetual motion machines people have claimed to invented over the centuries. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".Music by:Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/)Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you've ever learned about physics, chemistry, astronomy, and even biology, is wrong. That was the conclusion reached by Alfred Lawson, major league pitcher, avionics pioneer, populist political leader and the founder of the stupidest university ever: The University of Lawsonomy. Come with us for a journey through the life and confounding works of Lawson, the rise of his new science and its rapid, farcical fall. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first century BC, The Greek philosopher Carneades asked a question: is it moral to kill an innocent person to preserve your own life? Two thousand years later, a court in England settled the matter, once and for all. This is a story about sailors, shipwrecks, murder, cannibalism and, ultimately, who owes what to whom. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".Music by:Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/)Kevin MacLeodShort Tailed Snail (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FShortTailedSnails%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3tF5DuJFjOZuwXr3FumCABIajPrSfy_0cAVa6cyA6vXkUEd3Z5Wb9vzqY&h=AT2qyfTbRN6yb5vRrYIpwjPobyH85nUECMHbSYpau-g-RxWfVyihH6QwVNTeU0FZs-E0-Y_-WL6gOJzn0ZB0w2uZri3K4eTcyUVKPeSWa6cb8Dm4gZmi9NyATKFRBKWoQivvWC-EaJPX5npnxoBgv8DK)s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did someone say "more mummies"? No? You didn't hear that? It sounded like "more mummies" but it was kind of muffled and droning? OH GOD WHAT'S THAT!? It's still October, and we're still being spooky. This week, it's the story of King Tutankhamen's Curse, which is a bit more superstitious than our usual fare. But stick with me, because there's more to this urban legend than you might at first suspect. It might not be from a Pharaohor an Egyptian god, but by the end of this episode, I promise there will be a curse. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2009, Peruvian police offered a disturbing solution to the murders of 46 people in the city of Trujillo. It was sensational, shocking and unbelievable. Yet, it was tied to a long, rich--and now largely forgotten--part of western history: using and eating human body parts as medicine. This episode may be disturbing to... anyone who is at all sensible. Discretion is advised. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In April of 1954, Seattle was home to one of the weirdest events in American history: residents were gripped with fear as a mysterious force roamed the city, leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in its wake. Despite the efforts of mayors and governors, police and marines, scientists, engineers and even The President of The United States, no one could figure out the culprit. But we can. On today's episode, we solve the mystery of The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On 9/9/99 The Sega Dreamcast had the most successful product launch of literally any commercial product in history. It quickly came to dominate the market, outperforming all its competition. Less than a year and a half later, it was dead, and Sega was cut down to a shell of its former self. This week, we're looking at why, and at the long storied history of failure and missteps that came along with building an entirely new creative medium like nothing the world had ever seen before: video games. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting:http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant". And check out your two free ebooks at The Whatever Happened to Series Here (https://www.whateverhappenedseries.com/constant). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While shooting an episode in a Carnival Funhouse, the production team of The Six Million Dollar Man made a gruesome discovery: a mummified human corpse, painted neon red and mistakenly hung from a noose as a cheap scare. And the story of who he was, and how he got there, is so much better than anything 1970s television could have ever produced. Visit our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant).Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting: betterhelp.com/theconstant and entering discount code "theconstant". And visit fullstackacademy.com/constant (https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant) for $500 off tuition to your very own coding bootcamp!Finally, check out Industrial Artifacts creepy Red Cross Clock Here (https://www.industrialartifacts.net/collections/artifacts/products/early-american-red-cross-reverse-painted-lighted-glass-clock?variant=16847808462891) where you can enter coupon code "theconstant" for 15% off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the story of an island, and the worst thing to never happen there. Find our Patreon here (https://patreon.com/theconstant). Get 10% off your first month of online counseling by visiting http://betterhelp.com/theconstant (http://betterhelp.com/theconstant) and entering discount code "theconstant".And visit https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant (https://www.fullstackacademy.com/constant) for $500 off tuition to your very own coding bootcamp!​Finally, there's www.industrialartifacts.net (https://www.industrialartifacts.net/) where you can enter coupon code "theconstant" for 15% off your first order.Music by:Blue Dot Sessions (https://www.sessions.blue/)Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/)Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices