The Boundless Sea with David Abulafia

I interview David Abulafia on "The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Ocean", winner of the Wolfson History Prize. We discuss topics such as why some island nations are better than navigating than others; how important trade was to motivating maritime travel; how seriously we should take the intentions of Christian missionaries in the New World; the concept of discovery and its role in the history of the oceans; and just how much our relation to the Oceans has changed in recent years.

After the interview I spend some time unpacking the concept of discovery and thinking further about what it means for something to be discovered. For more discussion on "The Boundless Sea", check out the Forum page on my website: https://www.pleaseexpand.com/forum. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about it!