Best Code City Crack The Code Podcasts (2025)

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The History of Coca-Cola 15:58

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10m ago15:58

15:58

Perhaps the most well-known brand in the world is Coca-Cola. Best known for its cola soda, the company has become a global powerhouse in the soft drink market through its drink’s formula and visual branding. Its products can be found in every country in the world except three, and the company has made a profit every year since its founding. Learn a…

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Lend Lease 15:39

1d ago15:39

15:39

Before the United States entered the Second World War in late 1941, the US wasn’t an active combatant, but it wasn't entirely neutral. In December 1940, after the Nazi invasion of France, President Franklin Roosevelt initiated a program to assist the British who were being assailed on all fronts by the Germans. He likened it to helping a neighbor o…

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The Cortes of Leon of 1188 15:21

1d ago15:21

15:21

In 1188, a historic gathering took place in the city of Leon in the Kingdom of Castile. It was a kingdom-wide assembly convened by King Alfonso IX that brought together nobles, clergy, and town representatives to advise the crown. It is significant because it is the earliest documented European assembly to include urban representatives and to forma…

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Emily Hoeven on Whether San Francisco's Backlash Mayor Is Making Things Better 46:55

1h ago46:55

46:55

In November 2024, fed up San Francisco voters elected an outsider heir to the Levi Strauss fortune the city's 46th mayor. Daniel Lurie, a moderate Democrat and a newcomer to City Hall politics who largely self-funded his own campaign, ran on the promise of fundamental change, reversing course away from the permissive - and often performative - radi…

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The History of the Bow and Arrow (Encore) 14:09

3d ago14:09

14:09

One of the most important inventions in human history was the bow and arrow. A bow and arrow is a rather simple device, but it was a revolutionary advancement in humanity’s ability to hunt and fight. Unlike many early human inventions, the bow and arrow have had an extremely long lifespan. For thousands of years it remained virtually unchanged. Tha…

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The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope 15:44

4d ago15:44

15:44

Assuming everything goes well, sometime in late 2026, NASA’s next major space observatory will launch: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Assuming the launch and deployment go well, it will map large areas of the universe to understand why cosmic expansion is accelerating and how galaxies and dark matter evolved. It will also survey stars to di…

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Pocahontas 13:45

11m ago13:45

13:45

One of the most notable figures in early American history is Pocahontas. Best known as the main character in Disney’s animated film Pocahontas, she was not a fictional character. She was, in fact, quite real. However, her real life is radically different from that depicted in popular culture. In fact, there are enormous discrepancies between the st…

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Helium 16:24

4m ago16:24

16:24

Sitting at the far top right of the periodic table is the element helium. Helium is the second-lightest and second-most abundant element in the universe. It is also an inert gas that doesn’t form molecules with anything. It has extremely few uses and, despite its cosmic abundance, is very hard to find on Earth. Yet in the future, it might become on…

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Romance Languages 16:25

27m ago16:25

16:25

Almost a billion people in the world today speak a language that originated from Latin, aka a Romance Language. Despite sharing the same origin, the Romance languages have evolved differently, in some cases very differently. ….and while you are almost certainly aware of the largest Romance language, there is a good chance that you have never heard …

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The Luddites 14:16

3d ago14:16

14:16

At some point, you might have been called, or might have called someone else a Luddite, due to a refusal to adopt a new technology. Nowadays, it’s usually done in jest, but the Luddites were real. While the term is often used to describe any anti-technology attitude, the actual Luddite worldview was more subtle than simply opposing anything new and…

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All About Dog Breeds 13:39

9d ago13:39

13:39

When looking at your neighbor's dachshund and your great dane, it is hard to believe that these dogs trace back to the same ancestors. Yet, this is true! Through centuries of domestication and selective breeding, humans have transformed dogs into the most diverse mammal species known today. Yet, despite the incredible diversity in dog breeds, remar…

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The Manhattan Project (Encore) 15:47

10d ago15:47

15:47

During the Second World War, the United States embarked on one of the greatest science and engineering projects the world had ever seen. Over 125,000 people took part in the program, the vast majority of which had no clue what it was for, and the total cost of the program was over a billion dollars at a time when a billion dollars was a lot of mone…

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How a Broken Foster Care System Fuels Crime, Homelessness and the Addiction Crisis in Blue Cities 1:12:12

5d ago1:12:12

1:12:12

Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care was a National Book Award finalist. Author Claudia Rowe exposes the chilling truth: the nation's foster care system is a "major gear" driving mass homelessness and the incarceration crisis in American cities. She shares shocking statistics—including studies that found up to 59% of youth wh…

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Operation Bernhard 16:28

7m ago16:28

16:28

Wars can be fought in many different ways. Ultimately, they are resolved on the battlefield. However, there are other ways to try to subdue an enemy. You can try to destroy their logistical support for their troops. You can attempt to destroy their economic base by burning their agricultural fields and destroying their factories. However, one relat…

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Episode 62: A festive fundraising favorite 12:07

11d ago12:07

12:07

Dave Moore hosts Mario Gernazio and Noah Commerford on Pueblo's Podcast. Mario Gernazio is the director of resource development for United Way of Pueblo County and Noah Commerford is the president and CEO of the Latino Chamber of commerce of Pueblo. They're talking about the 14th annual Festival of Trees. It's a fundraiser hosted by Pueblo Latino C…

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A Brief History of Neckties 14:27

12d ago14:27

14:27

One of the most ubiquitous items of clothing in formal and business attire is the necktie. Yet even a cursory check of paintings from several centuries ago shows that neckties have not been around forever. They are, in fact, a relatively recent invention. Over the last century, neckwear has both defined fashion and changed with the times. Learn mor…

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NASCAR 16:12

12d ago16:12

16:12

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, better known as NASCAR, has become one of the most recognizable and uniquely American forms of motorsport. It emerged from the traditions of the rural South, shaped by the ingenuity of moonshine runners and the broader story of the American car. Over time, the sport transformed into a highly sophi…

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The History of Nintendo 15:26

14d ago15:26

15:26

Nintendo is one of the most legendary video game companies in the world. Many of you have probably owned a Nintendo system to play video games. If you are old enough, you might have even played some of their games in a video arcade. Even if you have never played a video game, through cultural osmosis, you are probably still aware of many of its pop…

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The Year 1975 16:27

10d ago16:27

16:27

By 1975, the world had seen 25 years of radical change. The changes seen in the first half of the 20th century accelerated even faster. Empires ended, there were social and technical revolutions, new nations were created, humans landed on the moon, and the world was in the midst of peak Cold War. Energy, inflation, and civil rights, which had alway…

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Questions and Answers: Volume 37 13:23

16d ago13:23

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In the north, things are getting colder, snow is starting to fall, and the days are getting shorter. It is also the season for gift-giving. As I can’t personally give all of you a customized gift, I can do the next best thing and answer your questions. Stay tuned for the 37th installment of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everyw…

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Panama 15:36

13d ago15:36

15:36

Panama is best known as the location of the Panama Canal, the waterway that revolutionized international sea transportation. However, there is a lot more to the country. Its history is unlike any other nation in the Americas, and its path to independence was unusual to say the least. Given its location, it also has a geography unlike any other coun…

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Italian vs German Fascism 16:26

18d ago16:26

16:26

Fascism is one of the most notorious political ideologies that shaped the 20th century. Fascism is typically only thought of in tandem with Nazi Germany, but it wasn’t the only country that adhered to the ideology, and they weren’t even the first. The originator was Italy. Despite many similarities between fascist Italy and Germany, the two nations…

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The Desecration of St. Denis (Encore) 12:53

19d ago12:53

12:53

The French Revolution was one of the most significant events in history. It wasn’t just a political revolution where one government replaced another. It was also a social revolution where the revolutionaries attempted to upend the entire foundation of French society. But it wasn’t just enough to change France. There were also efforts to obliterate …

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The Apollo 1 Disaster (Encore) 14:16

20d ago14:16

14:16

In the early 1960s, the United States was always a step behind the Soviet Union in the space race. By the mid-1960s, the Americans had caught up. They didn’t have many glamorous firsts, but they were doing increasingly difficult things in space. All of that came crashing to a halt on January 27, 1967, when three astronauts died in what was a seemin…

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What Makes a Great City? 30:30

9d ago30:30

30:30

This Thanksgiving week, Blue City Blues sits down with former traffic engineer and urban planner Ray Delahanty, better known as “CityNerd” on YouTube. We get into the essential question: “what makes a great city?” Ray also shares his insights on the concept of "affordable urbanism" and gives us his honest assessment of one of modern transportation'…

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Divers in the Water with FDNY Battalion Chief Thor Johannessen, Captain Frederick Ill and Firefighter Jacob Dutton 55:32

21d ago55:32

55:32

On the morning of November 12, 2023, FDNY members in Manhattan executed a dramatic dive rescue in the Hudson River. As initial FDNY units arrived, a witness reported that a man had climbed over the railing and fallen backward into the water. After a brief struggle, he disappeared beneath the surface. Within moments, FDNY surface swimmers and a SCUB…

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Fear and Loathing: The Danger of Numerical Goals 43:32

13d ago43:32

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Fear and Loathing: The Danger of Numerical Goals In this episode of the Why They Fail Podcast, we take on one of the biggest traps in modern management: the obsession with numerical goals.Dr. W. Edwards Deming warned against this decades ago in his famous Point 11, which calls for the elimination of management by objectives. Today, those warnings s…

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Imperial Units of Measure (Encore) 17:56

21d ago17:56

17:56

Almost every country in the world uses the metric system…..almost. There are still a few stragglers, like the United States, who use units handed down to them from the British. These are known as Imperial Units. These units often confuse those living in countries that use the metric system….as well as those who live in countries that use Imperial U…

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Roller Coasters 14:48

18d ago14:48

14:48

For over a century, people have enjoyed the thrill of visiting an amusement park and riding roller coasters. The very first thing we can point to and call a proto-roller coaster had neither rollers nor did it coast. It was more of a slide. Over time, Roller coasters have evolved into massive steel giants, testing the limits of physics and engineeri…

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The Paraguayan War (Encore) 15:50

23d ago15:50

15:50

In the 1860s, one of the bloodiest wars in the Western Hemisphere took place….and it wasn’t the US Civil War. It was a war between Paraguay and an alliance of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, and it was one of the bloodiest ever fought in Latin America. It was a conventional war that resulted in a guerrilla war, which spawned famine and disease. Lea…

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The Ottoman Empire 16:49

24d ago16:49

16:49

One of the most important empires in history was the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t the biggest empire, but it had an outsized impact on the world due to its strategic location and its moment in history. The Ottomans shocked the world by capturing the city of Constantinople and later almost conquering much of Central Europe. Despite having a six-hundred…

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The Kokoda Track 14:03

25d ago14:03

14:03

In July 1942, Japanese forces landed on the north shore of the island of New Guinea Their goal was to cross the island by land and take the strategic city of Port Moresby. If they had been successful, the entire fate of the war in the Pacific would have altered. They didn’t take it, thanks to the tenacious resistance put up by Australian forces. Le…

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The Phoebus Cartel 15:04

14d ago15:04

15:04

Companies that sell products to the public have to follow a fine line. On the one hand, they need to sell stuff to make money, and the way they do that is by making a good product. However, if their product is too good, then people might not need to buy it again, or at least not for a long time. Almost 100 years ago, a consortium of industrialists …

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The Marshall Plan (Encore) 15:53

27d ago15:53

15:53

At the end of the Second World War, Europe was a mess. The economies of most countries were in shambles and the threat of communism loomed over the continent. In a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a plan which could help get Europe back on its feet. The plan is widely considered one o…

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Swiss Neutrality 15:03

16d ago15:03

15:03

There are several rules that should be followed when going to war: Germany should never fight wars against the entire world Don’t invade Russia in the Winter. Never fight a land war in Asia. There is also one other rule that should be added to that list: Don’t count on Switzerland as an ally. For over two centuries, Switzerland has remained staunch…

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Hollow Nickel Case 14:46

29d ago14:46

14:46

In 1953, a newspaper delivery boy in Brooklyn, New York, made an odd discovery. One of his customers gave him a nickel that seemed lighter than the others. When he dropped it, it popped open, exposing a small piece of microfilm. It was the bizarre beginning of the exposure and discovery of a spy ring in the United States that ultimately contributed…

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The V2 Rocket 14:32

18d ago14:32

14:32

The Second World War saw the development of many new weapons. Perhaps none was more terrifying than the development of long-range strategic rockets. Rockets had been used in combat for centuries, dating back to their development in ancient China; however, the rockets developed by Germany were a different matter altogether. They terrorized civilians…

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Alexander Hamilton 15:55

23d ago15:55

15:55

Alexander Hamilton was a U.S founding father who has been growing in popularity due to the popular musical Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton was the first U.S Secretary of the Treasury and was foundational in the formation of American finance and government policies that remain in place to this day. He is featured on the US Ten Dollar Bill …

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The Fra Mauro Medieval World Map 14:34

1M ago14:34

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Sometime around the year 1450, a monk living just outside of Venice created one of the greatest maps of the medieval world. It was an enormous map, even by modern standards, and it had a level of detail that had never been seen before. It took years to make and was a major advancement in cartography. Perhaps most importantly, it contained many deta…

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Borobudur 15:16

1M ago15:16

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Located in Central Java, outside of the modern city of Yogyakarta, lies the world’s largest Buddhist temple, Borobudur. Borobudur doesn’t get as much attention as other great monuments in the world, but it should certainly be included among them. Unlike other great monuments, Borobudur has a distinction that no other monument has. It disappeared, q…

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LEGO 15:08

1M ago15:08

15:08

Lego is one of the best-known toy brands in the world. Known for its fun and complex building process, the small plastic bricks encourage creativity and playability, and have become a staple in most households with kids. However, they aren’t just free-form toys for children. They have also graduated into high-end items for adults. In fact, some set…

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Dubai 14:35

1M ago14:35

14:35

Just 60 years ago, Dubai was a sandy, underpopulated port on a minor creek emptying into the Persian Gulf. Today, it is one of the most important cities in the world. It is a global center for trade, finance, and transportation. How did a random sandy outpost location in the Middle East end up becoming such an important global city in such a short …

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The World's Greatest Art Museums 14:21

1M ago14:21

14:21

For thousands of years, human beings have created works of art. Many of these works are commissioned by rulers, merchants, or religious leaders. Over time, many of these great works have found their way into the hands of art museums. Museums allow everyone to enjoy and appreciate art that has been produced around the world over the course of centur…

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Danny Westneat on Why Seattle Can’t Seem to Solve Its Problems 58:59

25d ago58:59

58:59

One of Seattle's most insightful chroniclers, longtime Seattle Times metro columnist Danny Westneat, joins us in this episode to discuss the blues that have settled on one of the country's bluest (and most educated and affluent) cities. For more than a decade now, Westneat wrote in a recent post-election column, both Seattle city hall and the votin…

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The Taiping Rebellion 15:38

1M ago15:38

15:38

In the mid-19th century, China experienced its greatest civil war. It was a conflict that set China on a course that eventually led to China’s Century of Humiliation and the fall of the Qing Dynasty. It wasn’t just a massive civil war; in terms of total lives lost, it was far and away the largest war in history up until that point, and by some esti…

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Cracking the Enigma Code (Encore) 13:40

1M ago13:40

13:40

During the Second World War, the Germans used what they thought was an uncrackable encryption system. It was a really good encryption system, and for the longest time, the Allies had a difficult time cracking the code. However, thanks to brilliant code breakers, a powerful computing machine, and German mistakes, the Allies were finally able to brea…

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Nick Gillespie on Whether Socialism Is the Future of Blue Cities 1:04:36

27d ago1:04:36

1:04:36

In New York City, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani routed scandal-tainted Andrew Cuomo, completing his at first unthinkable, then inevitable rise to become the next mayor of New York City. His David vs. Goliath triumph has vaulted Mamdani from backbench obscurity to political superstardom; progressives around the country are swooning, seeing his…

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Kaliningrad 14:58

1M ago14:58

14:58

Located on the Baltic Sea, sandwiched between the nations of Lithuania and Poland, is the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad, as it is today, does not have a deep history. For most of its history, it was known as Königsberg. The reason it exists at all dates back to the Teutonic Knights in the Middle Ages and the aftermath of two world war…

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The Year 1950 14:28

1M ago14:28

14:28

In the year 1950, the world was halfway through the 20th century. In the 25 years prior, the world had seen the greatest economic downturn in modern history and the greatest war the world had ever known. New technologies were being developed, and many previous technologies were making their way into the hands of regular people, radically transformi…

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Compound Interest (Encore) 16:37

1M ago16:37

16:37

One of the most powerful forces in economics and finance is compound interest. Not everyone understands compound interest, even though they may reap its benefits or suffer its consequences. Compounding has the potential to build fortunes and wreck empires. The effects of compounding are also not limited to interest payments. It can apply to a great…