I Later Learned...

On December 12th, 2023, Day 19 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of an invention that was first created by French physicist Jean-Augustin Fresnel for use in a specific type of building. I Later Learned more about the enduring history of lighthouses, the buildings that housed the Fresnel lenses debatably saved a million ships, and, while growing less nautically necessary, continue to endure as metaphors. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book about Naomi Osaka before it comes out next month! 

On December 11th, 2023, Day 18 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of beneficiaries of Section 2 of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution. I Later Learned the history of lines of succession, which both required bringing guys like Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller to the vice presidency, and also goes much deeper down a roster to sort the order for more than a dozen possible presidential replacements. Why do we have such long orders ready? Could that many dominos fall? Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book about Naomi Osaka before it comes out next month! 

On December 8th, 2023, Day 17 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of the primary ingredient in the chilled soup vichyssoise. I Later Learned the history of the potato and its champion Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, the French pharmacist who saved lives and changed the way the world eats by exalting the humble apple of the earth. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On December 7th, 2023, Day 16 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of a geographical term for a long and gradual curvature in a shoreline that forms a large, open bay. I Later Learned about bights like the Great Australian one, and found myself at sea wondering why, when we whittle away which water is what and where, we're wildly wishy-washy. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On December 6th, 2023, Day 15 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of a massively popular video game, created by Alexei Pajitnov while he worked for the Soviet Academy of Sciences. I Later Learned how Tetris, a game about finding order in a deluge of descending debris, might be able to keep your mind from falling apart in its toughest moments. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On December 5th, 2023, Day 14 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of the scientific adjective "dizygotic," most often used as a descriptor for a person (or set of people). I Later Learned more about fraternal twins, the more common twins who have less in common with each other than do identical twins, but still prove fascinating to researchers since they weren't just siblings...they were wombmates. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On December 4th, 2023, Day 13 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of the world's largest major airline alliances, combining forces across the skies to connect the world.  I Later Learned more on a minnow mentioned in the midst of mega networks like the Star Alliance, Skyteam, and Oneworld: the Vanilla Alliance, which united a group of underdog islands trying to help one another out in a way that hopefully isn't too plain, boring, or, you know, vanilla. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On December 1st, 2023, Day 12 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of four basic human rights which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed as four freedoms. I Later Learned that baked into those four freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear—a quartet which inspired a series of iconic paintings by Norman Rockwell, was the all-important freedom to be dumb and wrong. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps like Apple and Spotify, leave reviews, and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards! And if you like the show you can support by pre-ordering Ben's book before it comes out next month! 

On November 30, 2023, Day 11 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of “a circle of latitude” with a whole bunch of cities on it, including one with a name that looked Korean. I Later Learned about the northern hemisphere's 38th line of latitude, and the unparalleled ways in which lines of latitude have shaped our world for millennia. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on your favorite audio apps and tell your friends and join the conversation on the message boards!

On November 29, 2023, Day 10 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of “a Central Asian nation, the region's smallest in area and the poorest of the former Soviet republics, with a capital city of Dushanbe. I Later Learned what Tajikistan wanted me to know about Tajikistan. And then I learned some other stuff they maybe didn't want me to know, too. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc) and leave reviews and tell your LearnedLeague friends! 

On November 28, 2023, Day 9 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of “a musical instrument that is the lowest-pitched of the woodwinds, and produces the lowest sounds in a standard symphony orchestra.”  I Later Learned that though the contrabassoon or double bassoon is as low as a woodwind can go, other instruments out there can go even lower. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc) and leave reviews and tell your LearnedLeague friends! 

On November 27, 2023, Day 8 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of a cereal that was "kid tested, mother approved."  I Later Learned of the decades-long path Kix took toward discovering a winning sales pitch, finding atomic bombs, beavers, and pugilistic cows along the way on its surprisingly gendered journey. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc) and leave reviews and tell your LearnedLeague friends! 

On November 21, 2023, Day 7 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned  that “Horsepower, as a term used to measure the power of engines, was coined by” an 18th-century Scottish inventor.” I Later Learned that even though James Watt became the namesake of a much more commonly used metric for powerful machines and engines, horses still have the power in certain parts of modern industry.

On November 20, 2023, Day 6 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of “a yet-to-be-completed bridge known during its early development as the Detroit River International Crossing, which should become the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America upon its completion.” I Later Learned how the Gordie Howe Bridge is set to overcome the trolls to complete a hat trick of its own. Thank you for listening! Please subscribe to I Later Learned on the podcast app of your choice, leave reviews, and tell your friends to also listen!

On November 17, 2023, Day 5 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we were tasked, like millions before us, with finding a “distinctive bespectacled literary character and world traveler” who first appeared in print 1987. I Later Learned why the American and British names were accepted for this question, and why they're different at all. This guy is already so famously difficult to locate, so why the added trouble of adding two different names to the challenge of figuring out Where's Waldo and Where's Wally? Please subscribe to I Later Learned on the podcast app of your choice, leave reviews, and follow on Twitter! 

On November 16, 2023, Day 4 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned what you get when you load sixteen tons. I Later Learned of the vast trove of music in them thar hills, because folks have sung about mining a whole lot, even if all that you get is another day older and deeper in debt. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc) and leave reviews and tell your LearnedLeague friends! And follow on Twitter (where our coverage is scant at best so far!)

On November 15, 2023, Day 3 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of “a territory in the South Pacific Ocean named after most of the land area that is now the country of Scotland.” I later learned about why places like New Caledonia kept being named after old places by the mostly British Europeans who landed there, and after learning more I'm ready to harp a bit on one of the less commonly expressed complaints about colonialism: lazy unoriginality. Please subscribe to I Later Learned on the podcast app of your choice, leave reviews, and follow on Twitter! 

On November 14, 2023, Day 2 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of a German Shepherd with a “name that might suggest he is a member of a local sports team” close to the White House. I later learned about the name Commander, shared between a dog with a lot of bite and a football team without much of any, and how they came to share this misapplied mock-military moniker. Please subscribe on the podcast app of your choice, leave reviews, and follow on Twitter! 

On Day 1 of Season 99 of LearnedLeague, we learned of an “ultramarine performance art ensemble which has been resident off-Broadway in New York since 1991.” I Later Learned more about ultramarine, the very blue blue in the clue, and how it gets on the very blue faces of the Blue Man Group. Please subscribe on the podcast app of your choice, leave reviews, and follow on Twitter! 

Welcome to I Later Learned, a short daily show diving into something I Later Learned after playing LearnedLeague each day. Before LL Season 99 begins, and ILL Season 1 along with it, here's a pilot episode I recorded as a test a while back about Season 81, Day 1. This should hopefully give you a dash of the flavor I'm hoping to cook up on this show going forward. I Later Learned... is on Twitter and maybe some other social media someday! Thanks for listening!