Lofty Ambitions

An attempt to secure the future of the site, with an unfortunate quantity of moist metaphors. https://dam.mn/fund

Damn Interesting Podcast: Chile's audacious 1970s-era plan to network and automate the country's entire economy, hindered by political upheaval and CIA maneuvering. Long-time listeners might recognize this story, we did a version of it years ago. The original narrator for this piece joined forces with one of our competitors, and together they have been aggressively poaching our catalog to make videos. So we've decided to start removing his name and voice from our podcast.

A would-be priest's audacious plan to win his money back from the bookmakers

The largest and strangest riot in New York City’s history.

Against the odds, a tiny Icelandic town speaks of a local Black ancestor. Geneticists and historians combine forces to uncover the man’s eventful life.

The tangled history of humanity’s search for the solar system’s uncharted planets.

When the U.S. Army came for their land in 1877, the Nez Perce tribe complied. But tensions boiled over, and Chief Joseph led as they ran for their lives.

In 1970s Bali, a sudden rice crisis prompted an unexpectedly far-reaching scientific discovery

In 1933, British WWI vet Maurice Wilson hatched an unorthodox plan to reach the still-untouched summit of Everest.

A great pitcher’s great temptation.