An Ounce - For Your Consideration
Discover hidden stories from history—bite-sized, clever tales that challenge what you thought you knew. At An Ounce, we uncover the little moments that quietly changed everything, surprising truths, and fascinating facts you won’t hear elsewhere. I’m Jim Fugate—retired firefighter, lifelong learner, and an outside-the-box thinker who loves sharing history’s hidden gems. These quick, engaging stories don’t take themselves too seriously, won’t steal your precious time, and might just make you feel a little bit smarter. I hope you’ll join a community of curious minds who enjoy a fresh take on history—where conversation is always open and everyone’s invited.
Show episodes
Why People Bought Pills to Survive a Comet — And Why We Still Fall for the Same Panic
In 1910, people bought “Anti-Comet Pills” to survive Halley’s Comet. This weird history episode exposes why mass hysteria and fear still spreads faster than truth—and why we keep falling for the same panic-driven traps today. In 1910, a misunderstood scientific discovery triggered global panic, misinformation, and a w
The 1910 Big Burn wasn’t a wildfire — it was a firestorm that outran horses, erased towns in minutes, and nearly destroyed the entire U.S. Forest Service. In August 1910, a perfect storm of drought, wind, bad policy, and impossible conditions triggered one of the most devastating disasters in American history. This is
How much of what you see online is real—and how much is the algorithm’s illusion? Learn how to take back your attention, retrain your brain, and escape the digital funhouse. Your social-media feed isn’t random. It’s a reflection—warped by code, polished by profit, and powered by your own attention. In this An Ounce Sp
Social Media, So-called News, Bots, Algorithms, and digital snake-oil salesmen—this episode of An Ounce exposes how misinformation spreads, why outrage sells, and how your clicks keep it alive. Bots aren’t the villains—they’re the tools. The real players are the agenda-drivers who profit when we stop thinking. In this
Queen had two geniuses — and one helped NASA map Pluto. Everyone knows Freddie Mercury lit up the stage. Few know Brian May earned a PhD in astrophysics, built his own guitar from a fireplace mantle, and helped create NASA’s first 3-D images of Pluto. This episode of An Ounce tells how curiosity, music, and math colli
From sewer science to smart pills — how mocked “crazy” scientists changed the world when their absurd ideas turned out right. Some of history’s most ridiculous notions — handwashing, ulcers, even talking to machines — were once scientific punchlines. Discover how five people endured ridicule and rewrote reality. You’l