EducationScienceSociety & CultureExplicit

Understand All

Aaron Barlow

Welcome to Understand All, the podcast where curiosity leads and learning follows! I dive into everything from the secrets of the universe to untold stories from the past. Whether you’re a trivia buff, a history enthusiast, or just looking to spark some intellectual excitement, my episodes are crafted just for you. I aim to make every topic relatable and fascinating, perfect for anyone who loves to think and learn.

Join our community of curious minds! I hope to drop new episodes twice a day to keep you curious and excited! Start and end your day with a burst of knowledge by subscribing to Understand All. Let's explore the world together—one episode at a time!

Play

Open in

32 episodes
Avg 5 min
English

Episodes 32

Newest Oldest Longest

All12 Unplayed12 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

July 29 · 7 min
Cymothoa exigua: The Tongue-Eating Parasite That Becomes the Tongue
What kind of parasite eats a fish’s tongue and then stays behind as the tongue? In this episode, we unpack Cymothoa exigua, the tongue-eating parasite, how it gets into fish through the gills, why the host can often keep feeding, and what this bizarre...
- Transcript
July 27 · 4 min
Encephalitis lethargica: The Sleeping Epidemic That Vanished
A real epidemic once left people trapped in a strange half-awake state, sometimes frozen in place, and then seemed to disappear before doctors could fully explain it. In this episode on encephalitis lethargica, the sleeping sickness epidemic, we trace...
- Transcript
July 24 · 3 min
Bal des Ardents: The Masked Ball That Nearly Burned the King
One torch, one masked costume, and a royal ball in 1393 nearly ended with the King of France burning alive. In this episode, we unpack the Bal des Ardents, Charles VI, medieval Paris, and the fire that turned a court celebration into a political...
- Transcript
July 22 · 6 min
Fritz Haber: Feeding Billions, Fueling Chemical War
One chemist helped turn air into fertilizer for billions of people — and then helped turn the same science toward poison gas. In this episode, we unravel Fritz Haber, the Haber-Bosch process, the rise of synthetic ammonia, and the grim birth of...
- Transcript
July 20 · 6 min
Yasuke: Samurai, Bodyguard, or Legend?
An African man in Oda Nobunaga’s Japan became one of history’s most debated figures: Yasuke, the so-called Black samurai, bodyguard, or something in between. In this episode, we trace the real Yasuke through 16th-century Japan, Jesuit missions, and...
- Transcript
July 17 · 3 min
Bass Reeves: The Real Lone Ranger?
What if the most famous masked lawman in American folklore had a real-life predecessor — and he was a formerly enslaved deputy U.S. marshal named Bass Reeves? In this episode, we unpack the Bass Reeves story, the 3,000-arrest legend, and the evidence...
- Transcript
July 15 · 4 min
Robert Smalls: The Enslaved Pilot Who Seized a Warship
An enslaved pilot in Charleston Harbor stole a Confederate warship, passed armed forts, and sailed his family to freedom in plain sight. In this episode, we follow Robert Smalls’s escape, the Civil War intelligence he delivered to the Union, and the...
- Transcript
July 13 · 4 min
Krakatoa, 1883: The Eruption Heard 3,000 Miles Away
A volcanic eruption in 1883 was heard 3,000 miles away—and that was only the first strange thing Krakatoa did. In this episode, we follow the Krakatoa eruption, the tsunamis, the atmospheric pressure wave, and the global climate effects that turned...
- Transcript
July 10 · 4 min
Carrington Event: The Solar Storm That Could Blackout the Grid
In 1859, a solar storm known as the Carrington Event sent telegraph wires sparking and set the stage for the biggest “what if” in space weather history. In this episode, we explore how a repeat Carrington Event could threaten the modern grid, power...
- Transcript
July 8 · 6 min
Poyais: The Fake Country That Fooled London
Gregor MacGregor sold London a country that did not exist — and people actually bought the dream. In this episode, we unpack the Poyais scam, the fake country, the forged maps, the Poyais bonds, and the devastating trip that exposed how far a...
- Transcript
July 6 · 6 min
Intersex: Why Sex Isn’t as Binary as It Looks
A simple male-or-female checkbox can hide more biology than most people realize. In this episode, we unpack intersex, sex characteristics, sex vs gender, and why the question of how many sexes and genders there are keeps reshaping medicine, identity,...
- Transcript
July 3 · 4 min
Oldest Civilizations Identified: The Story of Many Firsts
There wasn’t just one “first civilization,” and that changes everything you think you know about ancient history. In this episode, we trace the oldest civilizations identified—from Mesopotamia and Egypt to the Indus Valley, China, and Caral—and show...
- Transcript

Showing 21–32 of 32 episodes