An Ounce - For Your Consideration

Jim Fugate
  • 5.0 (19)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

 Discover hidden stories from history—bite-sized, clever tales that challenge what you thought you knew. At An Ounce, we uncover the little moments that quietly changed everything, surprising truths, and fascinating facts you won’t hear elsewhere.I’m Jim Fugate—retired firefighter, lifelong learner, and an outside-the-box thinker who loves sharing history’s hidden gems. These quick, engaging stories don’t take themselves too seriously, won’t steal your precious time, and might just make you feel a little bit smarter.I hope you’ll join a community of curious minds who enjoy a fresh take on history—where conversation is always open and everyone’s invited. 

  1. 1D AGO

    The Forgotten Cat of the Space Race

    Everyone remembers the dog who died early in space exploration. Almost no one remembers the Paris alley cat who came home. This is the true story of Félicette — the forgotten cat of the Space Race. Everyone remembers Laika — the Soviet space dog who never came home. Almost no one remembers Félicette — a Paris alley cat who rode a rocket launch into space, survived the mission, and quietly disappeared into history. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, a small, overlooked nation launched a different kind of spaceflight. No propaganda. No spectacle. Just disciplined space science and a stray cat chosen for her neurological precision. This is the forgotten story of the Space Race’s most unlikely passenger — and what history chose to remember instead. If this stayed with you, you probably know someone else who might appreciate it. ________________________________________ Chapters (Timestamps) 00:00 - Spaceflight Testing 01:28 - The Animals Who Went First 02:04 - A Different Animal 03:43 - A Necessary Ending 04:12 - An Ounce ________________________________________ “The Accidentally Invented World” A companion episode about how progress often comes from unnoticed, uncelebrated moments — and why history remembers the wrong things.  https://youtu.be/cx7qyVf5g3k ________________________________________ References (Plain-Text URLs + Context) French Space Agency (CNES) — Official history of early spaceflight https://cnes.fr Astérix Satellite (1965) — France’s first orbital launch https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-096A Félicette mission summary — Véronique AGI flight https://www.space.com/15488-french-cat-space-felicette.html Cold War animal space programs (US & USSR) https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-014-DFRC.html

    5 min

  2. FEB 4

    Everything Is Under Control — A Special Report

    Everything is under control—or at least that’s what the broadcast says. In this special report, calm anchors deliver absurd news as reality quietly unravels behind them. A satirical look at certainty, reassurance, and collapse. This episode presents a familiar format behaving exactly as expected… even when the world doesn’t. Potatoes organize. Time pools at airports. An asteroid approaches. AI quietly leaves. Sports continues. If this stayed with you, you probably know someone else who might appreciate it. Another great episode on Argument, Disagreement, and contempt. “Why Winning Arguments Can Cost You Everything”: https://youtu.be/qrU64J4jMcI 00:00 Everything Is Under Control 00:27 Local News: The Potatoes Are Organized 01:02 Transportation Alert: Time Is Pooling 01:50 Asteroid Impact: Experts Say “Wait” 02:31 Technology Update: AI Quietly Leaves 03:11 Sports: Civilization Ends, Playoffs Continue 03:46 An Ounce — Submitted for Your Consideration 📚 FURTHER READING & LISTENING — CUT & PASTE (TMI EDITION) If this episode made you smile—and then pause—here are a few places the ideas brush up against other work. Not answers. Just adjacent thoughts. Fear, Panic, and Calm Certainty • The Gift of Fear — why fear exists and why ignoring it can be more dangerous than panic • Thinking, Fast and Slow — how confidence often outruns understanding • Daniel Gilbert — research on affective forecasting and why we misjudge future distress Reassurance Culture & “Everything Will Work Out” • Four Thousand Weeks — limits of control and the myth of eventual order • Man's Search for Meaning — meaning without illusion or denial • The Antidote — happiness via negative thinking Media, Authority, and Performed Calm • Amusing Ourselves to Death — how format shapes belief more than content • The War of the Worlds — authority, format, and belief (not the panic myth) • The Attention Merchants — certainty as a product Cognitive Bias, Normalcy, and “This Is Fine” • The Black Swan — rare events and misplaced confidence • Normal Accidents — complex systems and inevitable failure • Risk — why societies tolerate obvious dangers Artificial Intelligence: Limits, Not Apocalypse • You Look Like a Thing and I Love You — clear, funny demonstrations of AI failure modes • Gary Marcus — why current AI lacks understanding and grounding • Artificial Unintelligence — bias, overconfidence, and misplaced trust in AI • Prediction Machines — what AI actually does well (and what it doesn’t) Music, Irony, and Cheerful Collapse • It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) — by R.E.M., a cheerful apocalypse as cultural reflex  • It's Alright — Mother Mother. reassurance layered over unease

    4 min

  3. JAN 30

    It Made Sense at the Time: Why Smart Decisions Fail

    “It made sense at the time.” We use this phrase to explain bad decisions, failed plans, and historical disasters. But most of the time, it’s true — and that’s what makes failure so hard to see coming. History is full of choices that look baffling in hindsight and perfectly reasonable in the moment. This episode explores why smart people make decisions that later seem impossible to understand — and how good ideas quietly age into bad outcomes. By the way, if you’d like more stories like this, you’re always welcome to hang around and binge for a bit. CHAPTER / TIMESTAMP  ________________________________________ 00:00 — OPEN: 01:00 — THE PHRASE THE ENDS DISCUSSION 02:18 — THE PATTERN: FIRE 03:10 — THE PATTERN: TITANIC 03:36 — THE PATTERN: Financial Bubbles 04:38 — THE PATTERN REPEATS  05:12 — HINDSIGHT 06:17 — AVOIDING FAILURE MODE 06:58 — TAKING IT PERSONAL 07:25 — AN OUNCE Additional Reading and Reference 1) Hindsight Bias — Foundational Fischhoff (1975) Hindsight ≠ Foresight: The Effect of Outcome Knowledge on Judgment Under Uncertainty https://www.jstor.org/stable/1738364 ________________________________________ 2) Decision-Making Under Uncertainty — Cognitive Mechanism Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow ________________________________________ 3) Disaster Psychology — Human Behavior Under Threat Why People Don’t Heed Warnings https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7153921/ This directly supports: • Titanic behavior • evacuation hesitation • normalcy bias • risk calibration ________________________________________ 4) System Failure — Why Collapse Happens High Reliability Organizations (Weick & Sutcliffe) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1765804/ ________________________________________ 5) Psychological Pattern Support Narrative Fallacy — Taleb https://fs.blog/narrative-fallacy/ ________________________________________ 6) Risk Psychology Authority Risk Perception — Paul Slovic https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226437543 #DecisionMaking #Psychology #HumanBehavior #Failure #History #Disasters #Hindsight

    8 min

  4. JAN 21

    Deflating a Little Monster That’s a Big Problem

    Most people don’t wake up wanting to despise someone — yet contempt keeps showing up anyway. In this episode of An Ounce, a small allegorical story reveals how contempt quietly grows, why it feels bigger than it is, and how it loses power when we stop feeding it. This isn’t a lecture. It’s a pattern worth noticing. If you’ve ever wondered how disagreement turns into dismissal — and how easily it can be reversed — this one’s for you. If it resonates, feel free to share it with someone else who might appreciate it. Another episode you'll also enjoy How to Disagree:  https://youtu.be/qrU64J4jMcI Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 00:19 – The Unsettling Conclusion 00:54 – Introducing the Monster 01:48 – Inflated/Deflated 02:32 – They Preferred the Monster 02:56 – Ridiculous? 04:03 – Facing the Annoying Human 05:20 – An Ounce Further Reading & References For those interested in the psychology behind contempt, disagreement, and how certainty can quietly overpower understanding: • The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work — John Gottman Groundbreaking research identifying contempt as the strongest predictor of relational breakdown. • The Righteous Mind — Jonathan Haidt Explains why people talk past each other — and how moral certainty often outruns understanding. • Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) — Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson Why people double down instead of reassessing — and how rehearsal hardens belief. • Meditations — Marcus Aurelius A timeless exploration of withholding judgment, resisting contempt, and recognizing shared human frailty.

    6 min

  5. JAN 16

    The Accidentally Invented World — Why Some of the Best Ideas Were Never Planned

    Some of the most indispensable things in our world were discovered not because of a plan, but because someone noticed what kept appearing—and didn’t throw it away. From food preservation to materials to writing itself, this episode explores how outcomes often arrive before explanations, and how attention quietly shapes progress. Is it invention? Discovery? Happy Accident? Ingenuity? Dumb Luck? Long before theories, systems, or understanding, people noticed what worked. They kept it. Only later did explanations catch up—if they ever did. This is a calm look at how the world advances not through brilliance alone, but through patience with what doesn’t yet make sense. If this stayed with you, you probably know someone else who might appreciate it. A great episode to watch next about what we learn from the legendary John Henry: https://youtu.be/i7Mv_XmjTJM ________________________________________ Suggested Chapters / Timestamps 00:00 — What Wasn’t Planned 01:26 —Noticed  -not-  understood 02:44 — Remembering 04:56 — A Pattern 06:46 — An Ounce ________________________________________ References & Further Reading Food Preservation & Fermentation • Cooked — Michael Pollan How early food practices reshaped humans long before scientific explanation. • On Food and Cooking — Harold McGee Modern science catching up to ancient food practices. Glass & Materials • Stuff Matters — Mark Miodownik How materials behave first—and only later gain meaning and use. • The Substance of Civilization — Stephen L. Sass How unintended material properties quietly shaped civilization. Writing & Symbol Systems • How Writing Came About — Denise Schmandt-Besserat Writing as a workaround for memory and accounting—not artistic invention. How New Ideas & Technologies Actually Emerge • The Evolution of Technology — George Basalla Technology evolves through variation and selection, not planning. • The Nature of Technology — W. Brian Arthur Why technology grows organically from what already exists.

    7 min

  6. JAN 9

    The Warnings We Forgot — Even Though They Were Written in Stone

    There's a powerful story behind a stone marker in Japan, offering a stark tsunami warning. This marker, a silent sentinel, speaks volumes about the enduring risk of the ocean. For generations, its message was heeded, but eventually, the warning was forgotten. When the next earthquake and tsunami struck, the stone stood firm, a poignant reminder of nature's power. Like, subscribe, and tell us your thoughts on this incredible piece of world history. Long before modern data storage, humans carved their most important warnings into stone. In coastal Japan, centuries-old markers warned communities not to build below a certain line. For generations, people listened. Then memory faded, confidence grew, and the boundaries moved—until the water returned. This episode explores how warnings work, why they’re ignored once they succeed, and what happens when we forget why a line was drawn in the first place. 👉 If this made you think differently about rules, margins, or safety lines—like, subscribe, and share it with someone who might need the reminder. You’ve Been Lied To! The Truth Behind History’s Biggest Myths Why comforting stories outlive uncomfortable truths—and how forgetting the real lesson changes behavior.   https://youtu.be/JpHTMQV-XPQ ________________________________________ 🧭 Chapters (Timestamps – adjust after final edit) 00:30 — A Line on the Hillside 01:44 — When the Warning Was Tested 02:34 — When Memory Outruns Experience 04:48 — Not All Stones Say the Same Thing 05:37 — Stone Was the Original Cloud 06:39 — The Warnings We Haven’t Identified Yet 07:04 — An Ounce ________________________________________ 1. Tsunami stones and Japanese generational memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami_stone Wikipedia 2. Collective memory fades over decades (~90 years): https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/coronavirus-covid-19-stay-prepared-with-collective-memory/ USC Dornsife 3. Flood memory fades within two generations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09102-3 Nature 4. Remembering and forgetting disasters (Springer): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-020-00277-8 Springer 5. Flashbulb memory and traumatic events: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashbulb_memory Wikipedia 6. Memory bias & selective omission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_omission Wikipedia 7. (Optional) A philosophical look at forgetting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Praise_of_Forgetting Wikipedia Credits Music: TORSION by Density and Time Images: Wikimedia - Multiple CC images as noted, Picryl, iStock and Getty by subscription

    8 min

  7. JAN 9

    It Keeps Happening: Where Do People Fit When the World Moves On?

    Change feels different every time—but it never is. From John Henry to today, this episode explores the recurring moment when the world moves on… and where people still fit. Every generation feels it—the sense that this time, change is different. Faster. Bigger. Final. But history tells another story. From the legend of John Henry to the modern moment, this episode explores the recurring human experience that appears whenever progress accelerates: the quiet question of where people fit when the world moves on. This isn’t a story about winning, resisting, or keeping up. It’s about the moment that keeps returning—and the small space where choice still exists. If this perspective resonated, consider liking, subscribing, or sharing. And thanks for spending the time here. ________________________________________ 🕰️ CHAPTERS (Estimated – refine after edit) 00:00 – When the Ground Shifts 00:52 – At The Edge of Change 01:50 – John Henry 02:54 – The Pattern 03:56 – The Game Changes 04:54 – Perspective 05:35 – An Ounce 📚 References & Further Reading John Henry (Folklore & Context) Library of Congress – John Henry: A Folklore Hero https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/ Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture – Who Was John Henry? https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/who-was-john-henry Encyclopedia Britannica – John Henry https://www.britannica.com/topic/John-Henry-folk-hero ________________________________________ Change, Technology, and Human Displacement (Historical Pattern) Encyclopedia Britannica – Industrial Revolution https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Philosophy of Technology https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/technology/ ________________________________________ Human Agency, Meaning, and Choice Under Constraint Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (Book overview – Holocaust survival & agency) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning APA Dictionary of Psychology – Agency https://dictionary.apa.org/agency Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Free Will https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/ ________________________________________ Cultural Memory & Repeating Human Patterns Yuval Noah Harari – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Overview) https://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens/ ________________________________________ Credits:  Music -Via YouTube Music Library, Lord of the Dawn by Jesse Gallagher Images – B-roll via iStock and Getty, Backgrounds are AI generated.

    6 min

  8. JAN 9

    The Night We Counterattacked Venus — A True Story

    The British military once opened fire on a bright object in the night sky—confident it was an enemy Zeppelin airship. It wasn’t. It was Venus. This true World War I story explores how reasonable certainty can still be wrong, and why that lesson still matters. During the First World War, soldiers did exactly what they were trained to do when the sky itself became dangerous. The result was a perfectly logical mistake—and a quiet reminder about how confidence can arrive before understanding. If this story stayed with you, you probably know someone else who might appreciate it. ________________________________________ 🧭 CHAPTERS (timestamps approximate — adjust after final edit) 00:00 The Sky Had Learned How to Kill 01:06 Reasonable 02:16 Seemed Right at the Time… 03:22 Until it Isn’t… 04:06 An Ounce ________________________________________ 🔗 REFERENCES (plain-text URLs, per your preference) British Home Defense and airship sightings during World War I https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-airship-menace-over-britain Early anti-aircraft fire and misidentification of celestial objects https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/first-world-war-air-raids/ Venus misidentified as an airship (historical accounts and press references) https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/air_raids_01.shtml Psychology of pattern recognition and certainty under stress https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/recognition ________________________________________ Credits:  Music – Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner Images and video: Getty iStock by subscription

    5 min
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About

 Discover hidden stories from history—bite-sized, clever tales that challenge what you thought you knew. At An Ounce, we uncover the little moments that quietly changed everything, surprising truths, and fascinating facts you won’t hear elsewhere.I’m Jim Fugate—retired firefighter, lifelong learner, and an outside-the-box thinker who loves sharing history’s hidden gems. These quick, engaging stories don’t take themselves too seriously, won’t steal your precious time, and might just make you feel a little bit smarter.I hope you’ll join a community of curious minds who enjoy a fresh take on history—where conversation is always open and everyone’s invited. 

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