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We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.
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EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder

KFF Health News and JUST HUMAN PRODUCTIONS

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Eradicating Smallpox: The Heroes that Wiped out a 3,000-Year-Old Virus One of humanity’s greatest triumphs is the eradication of smallpox. This new eight-episode docuseries, “Eradicating Smallpox,” explores this remarkable feat and uncovers striking parallels and contrasts to recent history in the shadows of the covid-19 pandemic. Host Céline Gounder brings decades of experience working on HIV in Brazil and South Africa, Ebola during the outbreak in New Guinea, and covid-19 in New York City ...
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Radio Diaries

Radio Diaries & Radiotopia

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First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. From teenagers to octogenarians, prisoners to prison guards, bra saleswomen to lighthouse keepers. The extraordinary stories of ordinary life. Radio Diaries is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm
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In Birmingham in 1978, a deadly strain of smallpox escaped from a lab causing death and leaving the city in fear and to this day no-one knows how it happened - but podcast series The Lonely Death of Janet Parker has unearthed some startling new answers.Storyteller: Andy Richards, Audio Producer: Lucy Ryan, Executive Producer: Sam Coley, Narrator: Dermot O'Sullivan, Voice Actors: Dave Hill, Peter Smith, Gregory Leadbetter.
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Welcome to Vikings and Volcanoes: a podcast packed with big ideas in bite-size learning for all the family. Brimming with fun facts and humour, Vikings and Volcanoes brings you entertaining history, strange science and mind-boggling ideas in an entertaining and educational listening experience. Press play to enjoy straight away and remember to click subscribe or follow to ensure you don’t miss new episodes.
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The Anthropocene Reviewed

Complexly, John Green

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The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. On The Anthropocene Reviewed, #1 New York Times bestselling author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down) reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale. WNYC Studios is a listener-supported producer of other leading podcasts including On the Media, Snap Judgment, Death, Sex & Money, Nancy and Here’s the Thing with A ...
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An attempt to tell forgotten stories about the intersection between disease and politics. Deep dives into political decisions and personal experiences of people all around the world, that may have been neglected due to time and volume.
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Some Civil Words

Mischief Tales

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A podcast where we connect historical events with current headlines by looking at letters, memoirs, speeches, song and even poetry of the people living in those times. If you have any ideas for topics, reach out on social media (@mischieftales) or email us at [email protected] Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mischieftales/support
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Here you will find everything ever released by Bison Podcast Studios and Mike Butler. Make sure to subscribe for releases of archived as well as new content. Find bonus material, ad-free content and more at the Bison Podcast Studios' Patreon page: www.patreon.com/BisonPodcastStudios Where you will find: This Day's Trivia, The English Sessions, Get the Word! with Mike Butler, and Baja AZ (formerly Bisbee Live).
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Our Big Shot

Chalk + Blade Podcasts

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What if we could build a disease free world? Well, we almost have. We are at a point in history where we have a Big Shot to make that happen. Dr Seema Yasmin, expert in disease control, brings you the stories of disease eradication, and the pioneers who can tell us how to finish the journey. These conversations will make you smarter, entertain and surprise you, and give you hope for the future of humanity!
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ONE MORE STORY!

Peter Cilella

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Interviews for parents. Stories for kids. ONE MORE STORY with Pete Cilella is a biweekly podcast of improvised bedtime stories for children. It was inspired by his two children and their love of made-up bedtime stories generated by a single-word prompt. This podcast is for tired parents who, at the end of a long day, don’t have the energy for ONE MORE STORY! Become a Paid Subscriber: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onemorestorypodcast/subscribe
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Jane Austen is one of my all-time favourite authors and I love the Georgian Period in British History, so I've decided to share my passion with you all and talk to you about different subjects surrounding Jane Austen. The episodes will be weekly (hopefully, I have a health issue so it might not always be exact) and they will break down into a few different categories:A History of England by a Partial, Prejudiced and Ignorant Historian. (General Georgian\Regency history)A. Lady (Jane's Life)T ...
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In 1978 the world is on the brink of declaring victory over smallpox. No cases have been seen for months, and it looks like the end for a deadly, painful disease. When a photographer in Birmingham begins to feel ill, doctors are mystified: it looks like smallpox, but how could she have caught it? As they try to contain the outbreak, questions about…
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Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single great material work,” Roosevelt tells Congress, “is of such consequence to the American people.” The Americans have their work cut out…
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Ferdinand De Lesseps, "the Great Frenchman", is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal. No, he isn't an engineer and, no, he's never actually been to Panama before. But he managed to dig the Suez Canal, and everyone said that would be impossible too. How hard can it be? For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.co…
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In 1900, two friends in the flourishing Arts and Crafts Movement in London share a vision: to print the ultimate edition of the Bible. Together they create The Doves Press, and its unique font, Doves. But in their quest to make something beautiful, the friends spiral towards an act of incredible ugliness. For a full list of sources, see the show no…
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It's been 50 years since the end of the Vietnam war. In honor of the anniversary, we're revisiting a story about a notorious American military prison on the outskirts of Saigon, called Long Binh Jail. LBJ wasn’t for captured enemy fighters—it was for American soldiers. These were men who had broken military law. And there were a lot of them. As the…
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Cautionary Tales returns with a new episode on May 2nd. Both of the world’s greatest economists, Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes, thought they could see into the future and make a killing on the stock market - and then both were wiped out by the Wall Street Crash. One died a pauper, the other millionaire. What does it take to bounce back from…
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Here's a special episode from our friends at You Must Remember This. Hitchcock’s most iconic decade— a decade of Technicolor grandeur and peril inflicted on famous blondes—came to an end in 1964 with Marnie, a critical and box office flop which wounded Hitchcock’s ego and left him unsure how to move forward in a changing world. His four final films…
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Author James Baldwin once wrote, "I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." On this episode, we go back to 1932 when a group of World War I veterans set up an encampment in Washington, D.C., and vowed to stay until their voices were heard. It was a rema…
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20 years ago, a book called Freakonomics became an instant bestseller and worldwide sensation. Tim Harford got his hands on the first copy that Steve Levitt ever signed... and promptly sold it on eBay. In this Cautionary Conversation, the pair are reunited to discuss the Freakonomics phenomenon, why Levitt left the hostile world of academia, and ho…
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Get ready for a red-hot educational adventure as the Vikings and Volcanoes podcast dives headfirst into the fiery world of violent volcanoes! In this action-packed episode, curious minds of all ages will get to peel back the layers of our planet—literally—as we explore what lies beneath our feet and discover how the Earth’s sizzling inner forces sh…
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When Britain entered its first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, many found comfort in evoking the British wartime spirit. A timely hero emerged - Captain Tom Moore, a WWII veteran who walked up and down his garden to raise money for frontline nurses. But when the fundraising switched to a new charity, did anyone think to check where was the money w…
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On July 19, 1963, at least 15 Black girls were arrested while marching to protest segregation in Americus, Georgia. After spending a night in jail, they were transferred to the one-room Leesburg Stockade and imprisoned for the next 45 days. Only twenty miles away, the girls' parents had no knowledge of their location. A month into their confinement…
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Fearing for his life, Harry Houdini leaves secret codes with his loved ones, promising to use them in any post-mortem messaging. In 1926, Houdini's death shocks the world, but the news that follows is even more astounding. A report of the impossible: contact has been made. For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com. Get ad-fre…
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Harry Houdini finds an ally in his fight against spiritualism, a brilliant detective called Rose Mackenberg, who'll do whatever it takes to expose a fake. Together, the two head to Washington to try and get lawmakers to criminalise mediums. The hearing that follows will be violent, sensational and leave Houdini fearing for his life. This is the sec…
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This week we're featuring a story from a brand new audio magazine we've been listening to called Signal Hill. "Pie Down Here" features oral history interviews with farmworkers and Communist Party members who organized a sharecroppers' union in Alabama during the Great Depression. The interviews were recorded by historian Robin Kelley for his book, …
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Harry Houdini is remembered today for his legendary escapes and illusions, but he also had a lifelong obsession with the paranormal. After dabbling in fake seances himself, Houdini made it his mission to uncover frauds and expose mediums. This would put him on a collision course with his spiritualist friend, Arthur Conan Doyle, and leave him fearin…
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Do we trust our fitness trackers too much? How do fraudsters gain our faith? Why do people trust podcasters? And would you trust a drug dealing nanny with a tambourine? Tim Harford is joined by trust expert Rachel Botsman to answer your questions. Rachel lectures in trust at Oxford University and her new audiobook How To Trust and Be Trusted is ava…
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In 1939, Time Magazine called Dorothy Thompson a woman who “thinks, talks and sleeps world problems — and scares men half to death.” They weren’t wrong. Thompson was a foreign correspondent in Germany in the years leading up to World War 2, and she broadcast to millions of listeners around the world. She became known for her bold commentaries on th…
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These days, we’re used to media that thrives on conflict and amplifies the most outrageous voices in the room. It's something we often trace back to shock jocks, like Howard Stern, and in-your-face talk show hosts like Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh. But before all those guys, there was Joe Pyne. At the height of his career in the 1960s, the New …
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When Ernest Borgnine gets his big break in Hollywood, he can hardly believe his luck. But soon he discovers his supposed star vehicle, Marty, is not the dream gig he thought it was. In this episode of Cautionary Tales, recorded live at the Bristol Festival of Economics, Tim Harford examines what happens when the murky world of tax avoidance collide…
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"Down Under" was huge. This jokey ode to legendary Australian wanderlust helped Men at Work win a Grammy and was a key part of the band's creative legacy. By 2007, it had been earning Men At Work a steady stream of royalties for nearly 30 years. That was when a quiz show pointed out the song's subtle connection with an Australian nursery rhyme... T…
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In 1934, the Washington Post called Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, the “best known colored man in America.” He was known as the Happy-Am-I Preacher. His Sunday services were broadcast to over 25 million listeners on CBS radio. Black America saw Michaux as a leader for racial harmony and progress. But during the civil rights movement, his reputati…
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Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and the host of "The Unshakeables" podcast, to explore the story of the trailblazing Widow Clicquot. Her namesake brand Veuve Clicquot revolutionized the champagne industry in the 19th century. Tim and Ben look at how she defied expectations and built one of the most iconic businesses i…
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Leah Washington and her new boyfriend Joe Pugh are on their first day out together. They're at Alton Towers theme park, where they've chosen to ride the "Smiler" rollercoaster: a terrifying tangle of track that loops and swoops through a world-record 14 inversions. Leah and Joe are seated right at the front of the train and, as they reach the highe…
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Original release date: February 13th, 2021 Sometimes my students struggle with the ED endings of words in English. Words that end with the letters ‘ED’. When do you pronounce the ‘e’ in the ‘ED’ ending?! Here are some helpful tips. Welcome to the first English Session. I am your host and English teacher, Mike Butler. These podcasts can help you imp…
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Cautionary Conversation: In the 1920s, a conman convinced America that goat testicles were the secret to male virility. Tim Harford and Dr Kate Lister (Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society) dive into the bizarre and grisly tale of "Doctor" John Brinkley. This snake oil salesman mobilised the power of radio marketing to build an…
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Winston Trew has just been arrested for mugging. It's 1972 and the crime has recently made its way to Britain from the United States. Dangerous thugs, replicating their American counterparts, have made the city of London their hunting ground - so Winston's eventual conviction is a win for the police, and for the press. The problem is, 22-year-old W…
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Original release date: January 26th, 2021 Welcome everyone to another episode of Get the Word! The series focusing on the etymology (history and origin) of words in English. Listen for these words today: Enfranchise - to ‘enfranchise’ means to give the right to vote to someone Disenfranchise - to ‘disenfranchise’ means to deprive or remove someone’…
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In the bleak Russian winter of 1959, nine experienced hikers led by Igor Dyatlov set out on an expedition. None of them made it back alive. When their campsite was finally discovered, it told a chilling story: their tent was slashed open, bodies scattered across the snow. The hikers' injuries were as baffling as they were gruesome. One had had his …
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Sometimes my students struggle with the ED endings of words in English. Words that end with the letters ‘ED’. When do you pronounce the ‘e’ in the ‘ED’ ending?! Here are some helpful tips. Welcome to the first English Session. I am your host and English teacher, Mike Butler. These podcasts can help you improve your English! Together, we will talk a…
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Maternal Health Awareness Day is January 23rd. Dr. Castro leads a maternal-neonatal healthprogram in Antiqua Guatemala. We talk about maternal health issues, progress being made, and similarities and differences between Guatemala and USA in terms of issues facing women and their babies. Are you looking for material from The English Sessions, or any…
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Two airplanes have just collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. While no one on the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane survives the resulting fireball, 71 Pan-Am passengers and crew make it off their plane. But could it have been more? Why did so many Pan-Am passengers die, even though they weren’t injured by the initial collision and their plane was st…
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From ancient myths of sea monsters lurking below to Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the ocean has long been both a source of fear and fascination. For Captain George Bond, a Navy medical officer in the 1960s, the deep sea was humanity’s next frontier. Undersea agriculture, deep sea mining, and human colonies on the ocean floor …
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“Evacuate the airport, we’ve planted bombs,” a terrorist tells the telephone operator at the airport in Gran Canaria, in 1977. By the end of that day, 583 people will have lost their lives – but not to a bomb explosion. The planes are diverted to the neighboring island of Tenerife. Loaded with passengers, they’re forced to sit on the hot tarmac for…
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Happy 2025! We have a slate of new stories coming soon, but we want to start the year by shouting out fellow podcaster (and friend of the show) Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace. He just put out his first book, The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past. So to celebrate, we're featuring one of our favorite episodes from The Memory Palace, "The…
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In the final episode of this series, we revisit where we are now. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to work together, and this was eye-opening in showing how much can be achieved with co-ordination and collaboration. We examine how we can replicate this without the need for a global crisis with Dr Chikwe Iheweazu Assistant Director General of …
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Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th. Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of what would become Monopoly. But, even though she had a patent, her role in creating the smash hit board game was cynically ignored. Discrimination has marred the careers of many inventors and excluded …
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In this episode we track the spread of Mpox and ask, how does the pandemic alarm system work? Does the global alarm system work? We have powerful vaccine technologies and we are making incredible strides in understanding pathogens that threaten the health of our populations, but how we move vaccines and resources to people in need is still a major …
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Happy Holidays! We've compiled our holiday stories and brought back Sarah Bolger and Clark Freeman for a two new bonus stories. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday season! No interviews, just the stories... Chapter 1: Glitter - Sarah Bolger (00:01) Chapter 2: Presents - Sarah-Nicole Robles (09:14) Chapter 3: Peace - Clark Freeman (16:31)…
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Smallpox is a pathogen specific to our species and it has wreaked havoc with human populations over the centuries. Ultimately it gave rise to what we now think of as immunisation and vaccine technology and is the only disease we have ever eradicated. In this episode we explore this epic history of the Variola virus with Professor Gareth Williams, h…
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If you follow boxing, you've heard of Claressa Shields. At the 2012 Olympics, she became the first American woman to win gold in boxing. She repeated the feat 4 years later, becoming the first American boxer — woman or otherwise — to win consecutive medals. Now, she's the subject of a new movie called The Fire Inside, tracing her journey to Olympic…
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When James Dallas Egbert III was reported missing from his college dorm in 1979, one of America's most flamboyant private detectives was summoned to solve the case. "Dallas" faced the same problems as many teenagers, but P.I. William Dear stoked fears that he might have fallen under the evil spell of a mysterious and sinister game: Dungeons & Drago…
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Topics today:1. Premier of It's A Wonderful Life2. US invades Panama3. Birthday of Billy Bragg4. Yalda5. Deathday of Simone BeckFrom geography to history, plants and animals, science, and so much more...Welcome to This Day's Trivia. Three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we introduce 5 topics, all tied to the day's date, then our trust…
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Topics today:1. Release of Avatar2. Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day3. International Migrants Day4. World Arabic Language Day 5. Deathday of Antonio StradivariFrom geography to history, plants and animals, science, and so much more...Welcome to This Day's Trivia. Three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we introduce 5 topics, …
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African nations have a painful and particular relationship with HIV, they have also been at the forefront of the fight against the disease. In this episode, we explore the battle against HIV from their perspective, how a post-colonial legacy combined with complex societal factors provided fertile ground for the spread of the disease. We then follow…
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Topics today:1. Birthday of Jane Austen2. Victory Day in Bangladesh3. Birthday of Wassily Kandinsky4. Arrival of Canterbury Pilgrims to New Zealand5. Release of Rain ManFrom geography to history, plants and animals, science, and so much more...Welcome to This Day's Trivia. Three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we introduce 5 topics, a…
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Topics today:1. Birthday of Taylor Swift2. National Day of the Horse3. Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe4. Release of Jerry Maguire5. Birthday of Ida VosFrom geography to history, plants and animals, science, and so much more...Welcome to This Day's Trivia. Three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we introduce 5 topics, all tie…
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Topics today:1. Premiere of Magnum P.I.2. International Mountain Day3. Anniversary of Kurdish Women Union establishment4. International Tango Day5. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner premiereFrom geography to history, plants and animals, science, and so much more...Welcome to This Day's Trivia. Three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we intro…
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