Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan are known for discoveries, but it was Captain James Cook who made global travel truly possible. Cook was an 18th-century British explorer who mapped vast regions of the Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia’s eastern coast, with unprecedented accuracy. He meticulously conducted soundings to measure ocean depths and created highly detailed maps, providing accurate navigational charts that guided explorers and sailors for generations. His three voyages (1768–1779) also advanced scientific knowledge through detailed observations of astronomy, natural history, and indigenous cultures, earning him enduring recognition as one of history’s greatest navigators.

Pacific Islanders literally worshipped him. In January 1779, when he sailed into a volcanic bay known by Hawaiians as “the Pathway of the Gods,” Cook beheld thousands of people seemingly waiting for him on shore. Once he came on land, people prostrated themselves and chanted “Lono,” the name of a Hawaiian deity.

Today’s guest is Hampton Sides, author of “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.” We take a look at Cook’s third and final voyage (1776–1779), detailing his exploration of the Pacific, encounters with indigenous cultures, and tragic death in Hawaii Cook was a brilliant yet complex navigator grappling with the moral and cultural challenges of European exploration in an era of expanding empires.

Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan are known for discoveries, but it was Captain James Cook who made global travel truly possible. Cook was an 18th-century British explorer who mapped vast regions of the Pacific, including New Zealand and Australia&rsquo;s eastern coast, with unprecedented accuracy. He meticulously conducted soundings to measure ocean depths and created highly detailed maps, providing accurate navigational charts that guided explorers and sailors for generations. His three voyages (1768&ndash;1779) also advanced scientific knowledge through detailed observations of astronomy, natural history, and indigenous cultures, earning him enduring recognition as one of history&rsquo;s greatest navigators.
Pacific Islanders literally worshipped him. In January 1779, when he sailed into a volcanic bay known by Hawaiians as &ldquo;the Pathway of the Gods,&rdquo; Cook beheld thousands of people seemingly waiting for him on shore. Once he came on land, people prostrated themselves and chanted &ldquo;Lono,&rdquo; the name of a Hawaiian deity.
Today&rsquo;s guest is Hampton Sides, author of &ldquo;The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.&rdquo; We take a look at Cook&rsquo;s third and final voyage (1776&ndash;1779), detailing his exploration of the Pacific, encounters with indigenous cultures, and tragic death in Hawaii Cook was a brilliant yet complex navigator grappling with the moral and cultural challenges of European exploration in an era of expanding empires.

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

A show about American history, world history, World Wars 1 & 2, the Civil War, and much more.

History Unplugged Podcast

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

History Unplugged

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

Maps have always had problems. Five hundred years ago, maps were wildly inaccurate simply because cartographers were drawing the edge of the known world, limited by slow ships and nonexistent satellite data, resulting in continents that were too large, too small, or entirely misplaced. All of those problems have been solved thanks to new technology, but now there are new ones. Even though we know the exact dimensions of Earth, our maps are still "wrong" because we force a three-dimensional globe onto a flat surface, leading to mathematical distortions like the Mercator projection, which wildly exaggerates the size of landmasses near the poles. One map that tries to correct the Mercator projection's distortion of landmass sizes is the Gall-Peters projection, but to achieve this size accuracy, it severely stretches and distorts shapes, particularly near the poles, making Alaska look like a whirlpool or expanding pinwheel.

To make it even more confusing, there are maps that were deliberately tweaked to hide government secrets or those drawn with junk data just to trick an enemy into giving up territory. But for today’s guests,  Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones, they enjoy these sort of cartographic oddities. They are the authors of “This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong and Why it Matters.”  We discuss all sorts of maps that went wrong—from the infamous Mountains of Kong—a completely made-up mountain range that ran East-West across the entire African continent--to colonial maps with mathematically impossible borders and US states with fake cities. We also discuss
The frequent omissions of New Zealand on maps that use the Mercator projection
Maps that will land you in prison depending on which countries claim certain territories
Cold War-era Soviet paranoia that falsified virtually all maps for decades on the direct orders of secret police

 

Maps have always had problems. Five hundred years ago, maps were wildly inaccurate simply because cartographers were drawing the edge of the known world, limited by slow ships and nonexistent satellite data, resulting in continents that were too large, too small, or entirely misplaced. All of those problems have been solved thanks to new technology, but now there are new ones. Even though we know the exact dimensions of Earth, our maps are still "wrong" because we force a three-dimensional globe onto a flat surface, leading to mathematical distortions like the Mercator projection, which wildly exaggerates the size of landmasses near the poles. One map that tries to correct the Mercator projection's distortion of landmass sizes is the Gall-Peters projection, but to achieve this size accuracy, it severely stretches and distorts shapes, particularly near the poles, making Alaska look like a whirlpool or expanding pinwheel.
To make it even more confusing, there are maps that were deliberately tweaked to hide government secrets or those drawn with junk data just to trick an enemy into giving up territory. But for today&rsquo;s guests, &nbsp;Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones, they enjoy these sort of cartographic oddities. They are the authors of &ldquo;This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong and Why it Matters.&rdquo;&nbsp; We discuss all sorts of maps that went wrong&mdash;from the infamous Mountains of Kong&mdash;a completely made-up mountain range that ran East-West across the entire African continent--to colonial maps with mathematically impossible borders and US states with fake cities. We also discuss
<ul>
<li>The frequent omissions of New Zealand on maps that use the Mercator projection</li>
<li>Maps that will land you in prison depending on which countries claim certain territories</li>
<li>Cold War-era Soviet paranoia that falsified virtually all maps for decades on the direct orders of secret police</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Maps Have Bigger Problems Than the Mercator Projection. They Invent Mountain Ranges and Usually Eliminate New Zealand

In the 1800s, it seemed like mathematics was a solved problem. The paradoxes in the field were resolved, and even areas like advanced calculus could be taught consistently and reliably at any school. It was clearly understandable in a way that abstract fields like philosophy weren’t, and it was on its way to solving humanity’s problems. Mathematical work on electromagnetism made modern electrical engineering and power systems possible. New research in algebra created the logical basis for future computer science and digital circuits.

But then new problems appeared. In the early 20th century, mathematicians made discoveries that showed them enough to know how little they really knew. Bertrand Russell showed that at its edges, math fell apart. It couldn’t fully define itself on its own terms without becoming logically inconsistent. He gave the analogy of a small-town barber who shaves everyone who doesn't shave himself; the question is, who shaves the barber—if he shaves himself, he breaks the rule, but if he doesn't shave himself, he must, by the rule, shave himself?

 In today’s episode, I’m speaking to Jason Bardi, author of The Great Math War: How Three Brilliant Minds Fought for the Foundations of Mathematics and we explore the story of three competing efforts by mathematicians to resolve this crisis. What do you do if math, the most logical of all sciences, becomes illogical at a certain point? Bertrand Russell thought the problem could be solved with even more logic, we just hadn’t tried hard enough. David Hilbert thought redemption lay in accepting mathematics as a formal game of arbitrary rules, no different from the moves and pieces in chess. And L. E. J. Brouwer argued math is entirely rooted in human intuition—and that math is not based on logic but rather logic is based on math. Set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods of European history (from the late 19th century through World War I, the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the early days of World War II), we look at what happens when rock-solid truths don’t seem so rock solid anymore.

In the 1800s, it seemed like mathematics was a solved problem. The paradoxes in the field were resolved, and even areas like advanced calculus could be taught consistently and reliably at any school. It was clearly understandable in a way that abstract fields like philosophy weren&rsquo;t, and it was on its way to solving humanity&rsquo;s problems. Mathematical work on electromagnetism made modern electrical engineering and power systems possible. New research in algebra created the logical basis for future computer science and digital circuits.
But then new problems appeared. In the early 20th century, mathematicians made discoveries that showed them enough to know how little they really knew. Bertrand Russell showed that at its edges, math fell apart. It couldn&rsquo;t fully define itself on its own terms without becoming logically inconsistent. He gave the analogy of a small-town barber who shaves everyone who doesn't shave himself; the question is, who shaves the barber&mdash;if he shaves himself, he breaks the rule, but if he doesn't shave himself, he must, by the rule, shave himself?
&nbsp;In today&rsquo;s episode, I&rsquo;m speaking to Jason Bardi, author of The Great Math War: How Three Brilliant Minds Fought for the Foundations of Mathematics and we explore the story of three competing efforts by mathematicians to resolve this crisis. What do you do if math, the most logical of all sciences, becomes illogical at a certain point? Bertrand Russell thought the problem could be solved with even more logic, we just hadn&rsquo;t tried hard enough. David Hilbert thought redemption lay in accepting mathematics as a formal game of arbitrary rules, no different from the moves and pieces in chess. And L. E. J. Brouwer argued math is entirely rooted in human intuition&mdash;and that math is not based on logic but rather logic is based on math. Set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent periods of European history (from the late 19th century through World&nbsp;War&nbsp;I, the 1920s,&nbsp;the Great&nbsp;Depression, and the early days of World&nbsp;War&nbsp;II), we look at what happens when rock-solid truths don&rsquo;t seem so rock solid anymore.

The Great Mathematicians of the Early 1900s Ran into an Unsolvable Problem. They  Realized Math Made No Sense

The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, known as the "shot heard round the world," marked the first military engagements of the American Revolution. Ralph Waldo Emerson named it that because it launched revolutionary movements in Europe and beyond, marking it as a key moment in the fight for liberty and self-governance. But this moment was global in more ways than inspiring other nations. The quest for independence by the 13 North American colonies against British rule rapidly escalated into a worldwide conflict. The Patriots forged alliances with Britain’s key adversaries—France, Spain, and the Netherlands—securing covert arms supplies initially, which evolved into open warfare by 1779. French and Spanish naval campaigns in the Caribbean diverted British forces from North America to defend valuable sugar colonies, while American privateers disrupted British trade, bolstering the rebel economy. All of this international involvement was promoted by the Founding Fathers, because the Declaration of Independence was translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, and other languages and distributed by them across Europe to garner sympathy and support from nations like France and the Netherlands.
 
Spain’s separate war against Britain in Florida and South America, alongside French efforts to spark uprisings in British-controlled India, further strained Britain’s ability to quash the rebellion. Post-independence, the consequences rippled globally: Britain and Spain tightened their grip on remaining colonies, Native American tribes faced heightened land encroachments due to the loss of British protections, and enslaved African Americans who fought for Britain, lured by promises of freedom, were relocated to Nova Scotia and later Sierra Leone.

To explore this new framework of the Revolutionary War is today’s guest, Richard Bell, author of “The American Revolution and the Fate of the World.”

The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, known as the "shot heard round the world," marked the first military engagements of the American Revolution. Ralph Waldo Emerson named it that because it launched revolutionary movements in Europe and beyond, marking it as a key moment in the fight for liberty and self-governance. But this moment was global in more ways than inspiring other nations. The quest for independence by the 13 North American colonies against British rule rapidly escalated into a worldwide conflict. The Patriots forged alliances with Britain&rsquo;s key adversaries&mdash;France, Spain, and the Netherlands&mdash;securing covert arms supplies initially, which evolved into open warfare by 1779. French and Spanish naval campaigns in the Caribbean diverted British forces from North America to defend valuable sugar colonies, while American privateers disrupted British trade, bolstering the rebel economy. All of this international involvement was promoted by the Founding Fathers, because the Declaration of Independence was translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, and other languages and distributed by them across Europe to garner sympathy and support from nations like France and the Netherlands. &nbsp; Spain&rsquo;s separate war against Britain in Florida and South America, alongside French efforts to spark uprisings in British-controlled India, further strained Britain&rsquo;s ability to quash the rebellion. Post-independence, the consequences rippled globally: Britain and Spain tightened their grip on remaining colonies, Native American tribes faced heightened land encroachments due to the loss of British protections, and enslaved African Americans who fought for Britain, lured by promises of freedom, were relocated to Nova Scotia and later Sierra Leone.
To explore this new framework of the Revolutionary War is today&rsquo;s guest, Richard Bell, author of &ldquo;The American Revolution and the Fate of the World.&rdquo;

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

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