Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Questions and Answers: Volume 41

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

April derives from the Latin Aprilis, traditionally linked to aperire, meaning “to open,” referring to the opening of buds and flowers in spring.  Another theory connects it to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, via the Etruscans. The name reflects renewal, growth, and seasonal rebirth in the ancient Roman calendar. Regardless of the origin, April means it is time for me to answer your questions. Stay tuned for the next installment of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED Audible Listen to Project Hail Mary Audible.com/hailmary Fast Growing Trees Get 20% off your first purchase when using the code DAILY at checkout at fastgrowingtrees.com/daily ButcherBox Get your choice between chicken breast or top sirloin for a year OR ground beef for life, PLUS $20 off when you go to ButcherBox.com/everything Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Ds7Rx7jvPJ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April derives from the Latin word Aprilis, traditionally linked to the word upper Rere, meaning to open, referring to the opening of buds and flowers in spring. Another theory connects it to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love via the Etruscans. The name reflects renewal, growth, and seasonal rebirth on the ancient Roman calendar. But regardless of the origin, April means it's time for me to answer your questions. Stay tuned for the next installment of Question and Answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Do you ever climb into bed ready to sleep only to have your mind start racing the moment your head hits the pillow? Thoughts bouncing around, replaying the day or jumping ahead to tomorrow?

That is exactly why Catherine Nikolai created Nothing Much Happens. Each episode is a gentle, cozy bedtime story where, well, nothing much happens. No drama, no tension, nothing you need to follow closely. Just soft narration, calming repetition, and soothing sensory details designed to help your mind slow down and your body relax. It's not about entertainment, it's about rest. and millions of listeners around the world use it every night to quiet their thoughts and finally fall asleep. If you've ever struggled to shut your brain off at night, this might be exactly what you've been missing. You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcast.

Episodes are every Monday and Thursday. Let's get right into things. The first question comes from Brian Doherty, who asks, Since there are over 200 episodes to be listened to an order to reach the Completionist Club, would you consider recognizing those of us that have listened to more than half of the episodes? I was thinking, living on a prayer since we're halfway there. Well, first, Brian, a correction. You do not have to listen to the episodes in order.

You only need to listen to all of them. I've been considering this a while now. The Completionist Club is only going to become harder to join over time as more episodes are produced. The Completionist Club will always be the pinnacle of podcast listening achievement. However, for those working on their membership, there are several milestones that can be recognized along the way to completing it. Every 500 episodes will have a status that will be recognized on the way to Completionist Club membership. Those who listen to 500, 1,000, and 1,500 episodes will earn the corresponding 5001K and 1.5k status. Those who have achieved episode milestones will be

eligible for limited amenities at local participating Completionist Club chapters. Terms and conditions may apply. Contact your local Completionist Club concierge. details. Hika called well, asked, have you ever met someone famous during your travels? And if so, were you surprised by how nice or not so nice that person was? The only famous person I can say I met, and I use that term very loosely, was Anthony Bourdain. Just a few months before he died, he and his film crew was staying at the same hotel I was staying at in Lafayette, Louisiana, during Mardi Gras. Every morning, he would be outside the main door of his hotel, smoking a cigarette, and texting with someone. He was there waiting for his crew to pack up their van and to head out to shoot for the day.

I did say hi to him. He was very nice and gracious, but that was the full extent of our contact. I know a bunch of people who are podcasters and influencers, but I'm not sure that you would call them celebrities. And that being said, I'm really not that big on celebrities and famous people. If I did meet someone, I almost certainly would not ask for a selfie. Tony Grubb asks, If we could harvest an extinct animal for food in the world, what would be best? Dino burgers or Dodo chicken wings.

Tony, this is a very easy question to answer because I actually did an episode on the subject. It would be the oryx, the extinct ancestor of modern cattle that our ancestors once hunted. The oryx is basically just a bigger version of what we already have, so we kind of have the infrastructure

to use these animals today. We don't know if this would actually work. It might be that the oryx can't be domesticated in the same way that modern cattle can, and the entire project would be a failure. That being said, I think it would be a lot easier than trying to raise dinosaurs. And because of the whole Jurassic Park thing. Joshua felt yes. There's a lot of movies coming out in theaters in 2026. Are you looking forward to any of them in particular? Well, yes, Joshua, and you can probably guess what it is. Dune Part 3. Dune Part 1 and 2, each covered one half of the original Dune book.

Dune Part 3 is going to cover two books, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. The first two movies were fairly true to the books. But the nature of covering two books in one movie will require more adaptation than the first movies did. Denny Vulneux has indicated that his involvement will be over with this film. However, a lot of people are wondering if somebody might do God Emperor of Dune at some point in the future. Many people think that God Emperor is the world.

the best book outside of the original, and it would not require the same cast members as before, save for one. And I'm not going to spoil it. Steve Augustino asks, Longtime Completionist Club member here. I continued to be fascinated by the 1000-plus future topics list. Is it actually helpful in guiding new episodes? In my work, I would compile a to-do list and always stopped at 12, figuring that others below that number were not important enough yet to pay attention to.

Does this principle apply to your list as well? For example, is the fact that some topics have lingered on your list for a while, perhaps evidence that they're just not worthy of an episode in this podcast. Well, Steve, the list currently has around 960 topics, and it ebbs and flows as episodes are recorded. The real purpose of the list is to keep track of items so I don't forget them. Ideas can come from anywhere. Articles I read, videos I watch, and even movies I see are.

are fair game for episodes. If I come up with an idea that is even remotely viable as an episode, I just write it down. I don't worry about if or when I'll end up using it. I just write it down so I don't forget it. That being said, you are correct that not everything on the list will make it into an episode. Sometimes after further review, it just doesn't seem like it's going to make for a good show. Other times, it might just wind up being mentioned in another episode about some broader subject. And I should admit there's also a recency bias. I'm far more likely to do an episode on an idea that I just came up with just because it happens to be top of mind. Man's on the Discord server asks, hello Gary. I finally completed and listened to all of your

episodes. I came across to by accident one day on my commute to work and now it's my daily visit. I do have a question, though. Have you ever visited Cape Town South Africa? And what are your thoughts on it? Well, the answer is, yes, I've been to Cape Town several times, and I've spent a fair amount of time there. I had to go to Cape Town to take a ship to get to the island of St. Helena, and then I had to board another ship in Cape Town to sail up the west coast of Africa. Cape Town is a great city, and it is arguably the best city on the entire African continent, and the city it reminds me most of in terms of climate would probably be San Francisco. That being said, I'm also partial to Durban and Swacamund in Namibia.

Cape Town, and really the whole Cape Region, is definitely worthy of a future episode, because it is so unique culturally, geographically, and even botanically. Crystal D asks, hello Gary, do you usually have a schedule of when you want to publish shows? Will current events, holidays, or anniversaries prompt you to adjust the schedule of a topic? Thank you and keep up the amazing work. Well, Crystal, I don't usually time episodes with events or anniversaries. I've already covered all the major holidays and probably won't be revisiting most of these unless there's a unique take on the story. I also don't want to get stuck in the This Day in History format.

I want the flexibility to record an episode whenever I want. That isn't to say I'll never do it, but I usually don't. The only current date I have something planned for going forward is July 1st, and just to give you a hint, it has nothing to do with Canada Day. Alien Potatoes, hello Gary, big fan of the podcast. When you travel abroad, do you just go around using English or do you make the effort to learn some words in their language to make communication easier? And if you do, do you use language learning apps programs or have another person teach you? Well, Alien Potato, the dirty secret is that you can pretty much travel around the world using just English.

English is the international language of travel and tourism. That being said, you should at least try to learn the basic words for hello, please, thank you, excuse me, and goodbye, every place you visit. To learn basic phrases, you don't need to use an app or buy a book. Just do a simple online search and you'll get the basic words and phrases you need. Learning local phrases isn't a matter of needing them to function. It's just a way to show the local people you interact with that you respect their language and are at least making some effort. Fat Yankee asks, it seems the most history podcasts either have recently done or planning to do live episodes or performances. You've been there and done that. Do you have any further plans to take the show on the road?

Also, what role do you see live episodes and live one-off performances have in history, podcasting, or podcasting in general? Well, Fat Yankee, I have considered it, and I've been considering it even more. Now that I have some help, I have some more flexibility with my schedule. Also, when I had my an anniversary, party back in July, I wanted to see how many people would come to the middle of Wisconsin to gauge how well a live event would go over in other places. And I was pleased with the turnout and how far people were willing to travel. So I'm open to doing something in a larger city where people wouldn't have to come to me. I can just come to them. My show doesn't really lend itself to doing a live performance. I've done it, and there are two live shows that can be found in the

podcast feed, but they're only about 15 minutes long. I would not. need to come up with some other sort of format to keep everyone entertained for a longer period of time. Because I don't have a co-host, I can't really just sit and talk about history on a stage. At the anniversary party, I spent about two hours answering questions and sharing photos and stories from my travels, and that seemed to go over pretty well. BSXNAZ, aka Nate, over on the Discord server asks, How's your Latin coming along? Is there another language that you've jumped into learning? I've recently started learning Russian.

Nathan from Cairns, Queenland. Well, Nathan, I do a bit of Latin on Duolingo every day. That said, I have come to the conclusion that unless they make major changes, duolingo is a horrible platform for learning Latin. It isn't anywhere close to being as developed as their courses in other languages. What I really need to do is set aside about an hour every day to start going through Linguo Latina per se illustrator books again. These books are like children's books that have become the most popular way to do.

teach Latin. There are no translations in the books. They start with the simple phrase, Roma in Italia est, and you go from there, learning vocabulary and grammar as you go. There are other online resources out there for learning Latin, and I'm playing around with some of them as well, but so far I haven't really jumped into it. Bam on the Discord server asks, is there a specific reason that you never say your own name, Gary aren't in the credits, and at the end of every episode? Uh, yes. My name is on the show. If you look at any podcast app, my name is clearly listed as the publisher.

It just seems that it would be repetitive to say my name every single time and every single episode. There are a lot of monologue podcasts in the space that do the exact same thing. I only think it's necessary to give credit if someone else is providing assistance for an episode. And I should note that even if I'm not listed as a writer, I'm still involved in editing every show. Sometimes the edits can be extensive and sometimes, sometimes. I barely need to edit much at all. Our last question comes from Vlad Sander, who asks, Hello, Gary, greetings from Binghamton, the home of the Twilight Zone.

My question is thus, how much knowledge do you think was lost during the burning of the library at Alexandria? Well, Vlad, the short answer is that it was a significant loss, but the popular version is highly exaggerated. The common story is that humanity lost an enormous chunk of its ancient knowledge in a single fire, and that really is. isn't how it worked. There was no single apocalypse event that wiped everything out at once. Ancient texts were copied and circulated across the Mediterranean, and copies existed in other libraries,

such as those in Pergamon in Rome. Undoubtedly, there were some texts that may not have existed anywhere else and were probably lost forever, but not nearly as many as people think. The policy in Alexandria was that any text brought into the city was confiscated for copying. So any unique text that were in the library were probably those created by scholars in Alexandria. The amount of surviving ancient texts is probably 1% or less, and it's not due to the fire in Alexandria, but rather the fact that things like papyrus or parchment simply don't age very well because it's organic. And I touched upon this in my episode on the Herculane Scrolls.

There are texts that we know of because they were referenced in surviving works, but we don't have any copies of them. All of the texts that we have from ancient Rome, for example, can fit on a single bookcase. Everything else created over the course of centuries during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire have all been lost. That concludes this month's Q&A episode. If you want to leave a question for next month's show, you have to join the Facebook group or Discord or support the show over on Patreon because those are the places I will be soliciting questions. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer.

My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast. And links to those are available in the show notes. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you two can have it read in the show. Thank you.