In 1961, Goya's famous portrait of the Duke of Wellington went missing from London's National Gallery. The case went unsolved for four years before someone unexpectedly came forward to confess to the heist. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe one of the greatest art thefts in British history and the surprising twists that followed.
We'll also discover Seward's real folly and puzzle over a man's motherhood.
In 1917, a New Jersey company began hiring young women to paint luminous marks on the faces of watches and clocks. As time went on, they began to exhibit alarming symptoms, and a struggle ensued to establish the cause. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Radium… READ THE REST
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 is remembered for its destructive intensity and terrible death toll. But the scale of the disaster can mask some remarkable personal stories. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the experiences of some of the survivors, which ranged from the horrific to the surreal. We'll… READ THE REST
The modern strawberry has a surprisingly dramatic story, involving a French spy in Chile, a perilous ocean voyage, and the unlikely meeting of two botanical expatriates. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the improbable origin of one of the world's most popular fruits. We'll also discuss the answers to some… READ THE REST
Between the pictures from your vacation you need to send to your mother-in-law to the files you need to upload for the meeting tomorrow, your digital tasks are on overload, to say the very least. And with these, comes the need for various apps, cords, chargers, and then some. Quite frankly, it's hard to keep… READ THE REST
We probably all have a dozen apps right now that share and save pictures and videos. Between Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and a handful of others, there's just so much visual data floating around on our iPhones and iPads. Wouldn't it be nice to clean up some unwanted or repetitive data so our devices move… READ THE REST
Whether you want to capture a bird's eye view of the coast on your seaside vacation or love to see what's going on at the neighbor's barbeque next door, a quality drone can really come in handy. But no matter what your drone needs are, making sure your money goes to a quality model is… READ THE REST
