
The Mental Floss History of the World
An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits
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Narrated by:
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Johny Heller
About this listen
Twelve core chapters of world history tackle everything from civilization's baby steps in the Fertile Crescent to the Not-Really-That-Dark-Unless-You-Lived-in-Europe Ages to A World United by Terror and TV. From the Golden Haemorhoids of the Philistines (punishment from above) to the likely namesake of the cartoon elephant Babar (a Mongol prince) to the most pressing language translation issues facing the menus of today ("carp" vs. "crap"), all of history's most interesting bits have finally been handpicked and roasted to perfection.
©2008 Mental Floss LLC (P)2008 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Responding to fifty genuine questions from the public, Greg Jenner takes you on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts and historical characters from the past. From ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues, to mummies, mirrors and menstrual pads—Ask A Historian is a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities.
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best bonus content ever!
- By Matthew K Wendelken on 03-24-22
By: Greg Jenner
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Cabinet of Curiosities
- A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre
- By: Aaron Mahnke, Harry Marks - contributor
- Narrated by: Aaron Mahnke
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The podcast, Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities, has delighted millions of listeners for years with tales of the wonderful, astounding, and downright bizarre people, places, and things throughout history. Now, in Cabinet of Curiosities the book, learn the fascinating story of the invention of the croissant in a country that was not France, and relive the adventures of a dog that stowed away and went to war, only to help capture a German spy.
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Cool stories, annoying conversation
- By Margaret on 11-26-24
By: Aaron Mahnke, and others
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Stuff You Should Know
- An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things
- By: Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant
- Narrated by: Chuck Bryant, Josh Clark
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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From the duo behind the massively successful and award-winning podcast Stuff You Should Know comes an unexpected look at things you thought you knew. Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast Stuff You Should Know back in 2008 because they were curious - curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations, and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood.
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Fails as an audio book.
- By Sarah H on 12-10-20
By: Josh Clark, and others
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Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
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It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
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How to Survive History
- How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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History is the most dangerous place on earth. From dinosaurs the size of locomotives to meteors big enough to sterilize the planet, from famines to pandemics, from tornadoes to the Chicxulub asteroid, the odds of human survival are slim but not zero—at least, not if you know where to go and what to do. In each chapter of How to Survive History, Cody Cassidy explores how to survive one of history’s greatest threats: getting eaten by dinosaurs, being destroyed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, succumbing to the lava flows of Pompeii, being devoured by the Donner Party, and more.
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A fun, light romp
- By Ron on 03-11-24
By: Cody Cassidy
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The Theory of Everything Else
- A Voyage into the World of the Weird
- By: Dan Schreiber
- Narrated by: Dan Schreiber, Jamie Morton, Ella Al-Shamahi, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires currently trying to work out whether or not the universe is one giant video game simulation to the self-proclaimed community of Italian time-travelers who are trying to save the world from destruction; The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.
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Yawn
- By Tony Love on 08-18-23
By: Dan Schreiber
I didn't know anything about "Mental Floss" works (still don't) but the sections are leavened with humor and insight, brisk detail and factoids. When I studied history decades ago, classes focused on subsections of history: Western Europe, U.S., English social history, Ancient Mesopotamia, etc. I never got a good sense of how these sections were linked in time. I could not have told you what was going on in much of the rest of the world when Jesus walked, or where the Visigoths, Vandals and Saxons came from.
I recommend this with a smile. Now I'm going to go back to re-reading heavier history with a new perspective....!
Some lessons, some laughter, fun book
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Fun jaunt through history
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Brilliant and Funny. What more could you want?
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Holy CRAP, Historianman!
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"Romp" is probably an overstatement
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Quick Romp Review
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Just the Thing!
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Two minor irritants. One is the interjection of cutesy statements, in an effort to live up to the title of the book, and to (mistakenly) make it lighter and more interesting. They don't, and are only annoying.
The other is the pronunciation of the word nuclear. The reader persists in saying "nicular", instead - a dreadful mis-pronunciation.
Historical overdrive
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Better viewed than heard - fascinating but ...
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History as a snack!
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