30 Of The Weirdest And Most Interesting Geography Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

"80 Days" podcast was created by “three history and geography nerds” that, in each episode, share their knowledge on little-known countries around the world. One of the hosts shared what inspired them to create this podcast. “We started the podcast in 2016, and the idea was essentially born out of a desire to find out more about obscure places that we've all heard of - Gibraltar, Tasmania, Easter Island, etc. - but that not too much of us know in depth. For example, we wanted to find out why there's a country that's entirely enclosed by South Africa, or why Newfoundlanders sound Irish. It turns out that there was no podcast filling that niche at the time, so we started our own!”

On their website, you can find 5 seasons with 10 episodes each, where you can learn more in-depth about countries like Québec, Djibouti, Seychelles, and more. We asked them to share how they decide on destinations they explore in the show. “We typically look for places that people usually would have heard of, but may not know much about. Sometimes the places we choose are quite obscure, but we often find that those ones have the most interesting stories and quirks associated with them,” shared one of the hosts.

When it comes to researching and presenting information about each location, the hosts involve a variety of sources. “Each of us (the three co-hosts) researches independently, and we divide up the place we're talking about into different time periods. That way, often, when we are recording our episodes, there will be surprise stories or facts that the others haven't heard about because it wasn't covered in their own section. In terms of resources, we rely a lot on academic reports, history books, as well as, documentaries, and other media sources such as podcasts. We also try to interview people who are from the areas we speak about, or who are experts in that field of geography/history.”

Exploring the physical and cultural geography of each destination is a key aspect of 80 Days. The host shared how they balance these two elements.

“The easiest rule of thumb for podcasting is generally to talk about what's interesting. Often the physical aspects of a place will inform its history, and so on. We try very hard to tell a coherent story when we're talking about a place, but we'll also drop whatever isn't particularly interesting in order to keep the conversation flowing and keep listeners engaged.”

As the hosts Joe, Luke, and Mark have delved into a wide variety of locations and cultures around the world, they have gained valuable insights into the remarkable diversity and interconnectedness of our planet.

“Overall I would say the most valuable thing that we've learned is that there are interesting facts, stories, and people everywhere. Some of the smallest and most obscure places we've spoken about, such as Pitcairn Island or Nauru, have been absolutely fascinating to discover. We've also found it really interesting to see the common threads between places we discuss, such as the destructive nature of colonialism or the similar cultural issues that crop up as new societies develop. It's also crazy how often people hundreds of years ago manage to crop up in several different places. We tend to think of intercontinental travel as a relatively new thing, but for a certain class of people, traveling significant distances and to these obscure places wasn't all that rare.”

When asked about the value of exploring the world through a geographical lens and how their podcast contributes to a greater appreciation and understanding of geography, one of the hosts of 80 Days podcast explained the significance of discovering the stories of small places and the extraordinary characters that come to light along the way. “I think that the value of exploring small places, as I mentioned above, is that there is so much to discover everywhere. The reason we started the show was to discover why these small places came to be what they are, but very often the stories that we discover along the way, the heroes and villains that crop up, are just as extraordinary.”

And lastly, the host added: “If you'd like to learn more about burning Christmas Goats, the world's largest exporter of false teeth, the ancient burial ground underneath Paris, a war criminal known as 'General Butt Naked', how Che Guevara was almost assassinated using a poisoned milkshake, or many other strange and obscure facts, please check out the show.”