Ways of Knowing

The World According to Sound
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Ways of Knowing

New ways of thinking about the world, brought to you by the humanities and The World According to Sound. We’re working with universities to translate academic research into sound. Each season has a radically different format and topic. You’ll never hear the same kind of thing twice. We’re independent and ad free. Patreon is the best way to support our work. https://www.patreon.com/theworldaccordingtosound

  1. Media Objects 04: Typewriters

    6 DAYS AGO

    Media Objects 04: Typewriters

    Text written with a typewriter is not the same as text written by hand, composed on a computer, sent in a text message, or generated by artificial intelligence. Like all media, the typewriter does not just transmit what a person wants to write. It is its own particular medium. In the 20th century, it changed the way writers write and the way people read—profoundly altering warfare, commerce, literature, and, perhaps most dramatically, gender relations. Media Objects is produced in collaboration with Media Studies at Cornell University. With support from the college of Arts and Sciences and the Society for the Humanities. Editing and academic counsel from Erik Born, Jeremy Braddock, and Paul Fleming.

    57 min

  2. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 01: Moon Stories

    Episode 1: Storytelling was one of the earliest ways humans tried to make sense of the heavens. The first object of major study was the moon, and that's because of an uncanny ability it has to keep time.

    13 min

  3. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 02: Babylonian Astrology

    Some four thousand years ago, Babylonians began collecting celestial data for what is arguably the longest-running project in the history of science.

    12 min

  4. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 03: The Beautiful Order

    In the 6th Century BCE, Ancient Greeks began thinking about the cosmos in a fundamentally new way. Their novel approach led them to believe the things they saw in the night sky were not ethereal, but solid bodies—balls of fire or rock that may even have inhabitants of their own.

    11 min

  5. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 04: The Mayan Zero

    In the 9th century CE, Mayan astronomers were able to calculate the period of Venus down to the minute. They were only able to achieve this unrivaled accuracy because they had developed one of the most important mathematical concepts in human history, the zero.

    13 min

  6. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 05: Deep Patterns

    Near the end of the 11th century CE, there was a crisis in China’s Song Dynasty. The imperial calendars were filled with errors. To fix them, the imperial court would have to reform one of the most essential institutions in the empire: The Bureau of Astronomy.

    12 min

  7. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 06: Kepler's Fiction

    "Somnium" is considered one of the first pieces of science fiction. The short story, written in 1608, recounts a trip up to the moon. There are magical beings, aliens, drugs, and a perspective of the stars that would fundamentally change how people understood the solar system.

    14 min

  8. FEB 21

    Cosmic Visions 07: Aliens

    An observational error in the 19th century leads to a belief that there is an advanced alien civilization on Mars...which leads to a boom in astronomy investment, research, and actual discoveries, including the first sighting of Pluto.

    11 min
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4.9
out of 5
91 Ratings

About

New ways of thinking about the world, brought to you by the humanities and The World According to Sound. We’re working with universities to translate academic research into sound. Each season has a radically different format and topic. You’ll never hear the same kind of thing twice. We’re independent and ad free. Patreon is the best way to support our work. https://www.patreon.com/theworldaccordingtosound

Information

  • Creator
    The World According to Sound
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2025
  • Episodes
    183
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Ways of Knowing

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