The FLAT EARTH Story You Were Told is a LIE
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What is the introductory premise of the flat‑earth episode?
More than 2,000 years ago, a librarian in Egypt figured out that the Earth was round, using nothing but a stick and a shadow and some basic math. And turns out he was right. But not just kind of right, he actually calculated the actual size of the entire planet and got shockingly close. And this was not recently, this was around 240 BC. And here's the crazy part no one really thought the earth was flat. The ancient Greeks knew medieval scholars. New, sailors knew, nobody who studied the sky for a living seriously thought that you could fall off the edge. But yet somehow, thousands of years later, we ended up with preachers and rich people and elites and rappers feuding with astrophysicists and NBA champions, accidentally confusing school kids and a group of people flying all the way to Antarctica to try to settle this once and for all.
Because the history of Flat Earth isn't really the story of just a dumb idea. people that didn't understand science, it's the story of a question humanity answered and then kept unanswering over and over every single time someone invented a new way to prove it. This is the complete and genuinely hilarious history of Flat Earth. So sit back, relax, and welcome to History Camp.
What's up, dude, and welcome back to History Camp. My name is Mark Gagnon, and thank you for joining me in my tent where every single Wednesday we explore the most interesting, fascinating, and controversial stories from all history, from all time, forever. Yes, that is what I do in this tent is I try to figure out everything that's ever happened. And uh this is a fascinating one. This is a fun one. It kind of intersects with like conspiracy theory, forbidden knowledge, and uh also just like science that I guess people have known for legit 2000. years. But before we jump in, I want to say a few things. First, I want to say thanks to you, dude, for tuning in. Every time you click on an episode or like, comment, anything like that, you help the show grow.
You helped my dreams come true. You keep the lights on in the tent and you keep the fire burning here at the campsite. Now I also want to say a big thanks to my battle Christos Bacadapos sitting right next to me with a brand new mic. What's that for, Christos? Mic stand. It's what's up, everybody. Why do you have a whole new stand? It's it's nice. It's it's not I walked in today into the tent deep in the woods where we where we record, and Christos has a ten foot mic stand. It got you to say something. That is a good point. And uh that is exactly what the audience wanted to hear. They were like, Finally, Christos has a mic stand. He's got a bigger mic. Cameras next. I'm just kidding around, guys. It's just funny to it's just funny to bag on Christos.
You know, we all love him, right? Also, my pal Jesus is here. Doesn't even have a mic. Now, anyway, let's talk about flat Earth, okay? This is fascinating.
How did Eratosthenes measure the Earth’s size in ancient times?
You probably heard people say, like, oh yeah, they were sailing, they were sailing to the west from Europe to see if the earth was flat. They were afraid they were gonna fall off the earth. Probably not. So let's just go all the way to the beginning and start with the guy who should have just ended this entire debate forever. And his name was Eratosthenes. And around 240 BC, he was the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. It's probably the most like important collection of knowledge in the ancient world. Unfortunately, it burned down, but there's a whole other episode on that. Aristosthenes had heard that there was something strange happening year over year, and it was called the Syini, which is in modern-day Aswan in southern Egypt.
So at noon on the summer solstice, the sun sat almost perfectly overhead, and people could look down into a deep well and they could see. Sunlight hitting the bottom. So a vertical object standing there would basically cast no shadow. You can actually still see this in like parts of Hawaii to this day. Like it shows up all over the world, but like specifically Lanai. Can you search up search Lanai shadows?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the introductory premise of the flat‑earth episode?
0:00–2:31
2
How did Eratosthenes measure the Earth’s size in ancient times?
2:31–11:37
3
Why is Christopher Columbus’s voyage often mis‑represented in flat‑earth myths?
11:37–19:39
4
What was Samuel Rowbotham’s “Zetetic” theory and how did it revive flat‑earth ideas?
19:39–23:45
5
How did the Space Age and the Neil deGrasse Tyson‑flat‑earth feud shape modern debate?
23:45–27:48
6
Why did Kyrie Irving’s flat‑earth comment spark controversy in schools?
27:48–28:59
7
What did the 2014 Antarctic “Final Experiment” reveal about the midnight sun?
28:59–33:38
8
What are the host’s final thoughts and calls to action for listeners?
33:38–34:42