Cafe History

"War and Peace." A tome. A slog. The sort of book you shouldn't read in bed because if you fall asleep it could give you a concussion. Right? Only partly. "War and Peace" is a long book, sure, but it's also a thrilling examination of history populated with some of the deepest, most realistic characters you'll find anywhere. Brendan Pelsue shares everything you need to know to read this classic book.

Today, 96% of American consumers own at least one pair of jeans. But where did these durable duds come from? And how did they get so popular? Jessica Oreck shares the humble origins of blue jeans.

Take a (well-heeled) walk down memory lane and peep at the peep-toes, pumps, platforms, and other shoes that have kept us in step for the past century.

Karl Marx remains deeply important today not as the man who told us what to replace capitalism with, but as someone who brilliantly pointed out certain of its problems. The School of Life, a pro-Capitalist institution, takes a look.

Including toasters, radios, and microwave ovens, there have been a number of life-changing household breakthroughs through the years. Follow along to see the smartest appliances and laborsaving devices that have emerged in the last century.

Over a hundred years after his creator was laid to rest, Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. But this Transylvanian noble - neither the first fictional vampire, nor the most popular of his time - may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate. Stanley Stepanic explains how a critical copyright battle catapulted Bram Stoker's character into literary renown.

Nietzsche believed that the central task of philosophy was to teach us to 'become who we are'. Find out more by reading our book 'Life Lessons from Nietzsche '

Of all the species that humans have domesticated, dogs are our oldest animal friends. But how did a group of wolves become the furry pup at the end of the bed? New research is finally unlocking the paw-in-hand evolution of dogs and humans. In this episode we're answering one big question: Did we domesticate dogs, or did dogs domesticate us?

Beyond what we can touch, taste, smell, and hear, we experience the universe through light. But how did we come to discover light, and how did we learn light's true nature, as the fastest thing in the universe, an electromagnetic spectrum, a wave and particle capable of the most amazing things? Here is the history of light, according to physics.

Time makes sense in small pieces. But when you look at huge stretches of time, it's almost impossible to wrap your head around things. So we teamed up with the awesome blog "Wait but Why" and made this video to help you putting things in perspective with some infographics!

How did everything get started? Has the universe a beginning or was it here since forever? Well, evidence suggests that there was indeed a starting point to this universe we are part of right now. But how can this be? How can something come from nothing? And what about time? We don't have all the answers yet so let's talk about what we know.

Our skulls are all unique, but they also share characteristics across groups of people. Scientists can use this information to learn a lot about the previous "owner" of the skull.

Scientists are using clues from ancient artifacts to help them predict the future of the magnetic field.

In Tucson, we learned it's important to keep the box...and your receipt! Peter Planes appraises a rare GMT Master Model Rolex from 1960, one of the highlights from Tucson Hr 2.

The meter is the world's ultimate measure, but how did it become "the" meter? What is this measurement based on? The story of this revolution in measurement traces its roots to the French Revolution. Scientists decided that an equal and united people should have equal and united measures. So they sent a pair of young astronomers out to measure the world, and invent the meter. Little did they know they'd find nothing but war, deception, and strife along the way. As a result of this ill-fated mission, the meter carries an error that still persists today. Still think the metric system is so perfect?

How did St. Valentine become associated with love and romance? Get the full story behind the holiday.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... and 0. With just these ten symbols, we can write any rational number imaginable. But why these particular symbols? Why ten of them?

Three decades of change in five seconds.

Teflon was in the spacesuits the Apollo crew wore for the moon landing, in pipes and valves used in the Manhattan project, and it may be in your kitchen, as the nonstick coating on frying pans and cookie sheets.

How the pigeon became known as the sky rat.

The crazy story of the arbitrary temperature scale used in a tiny minority of countries.