Join co-hosts Zack and Katie as they learn about a different topic every week. Real-life couple Zack Radvansky and Kathryn Feeney are two curious individuals who love learning. Although Katie is in her third year of law school and Zack didn't go to college, they never run out of fascinating things to learn about together. In this podcast, every episode Katie challenges Zack to "become an expert" on a totally random topic - but the catch is, he only has 30 minutes to do it. Using the power of the internet, and a little humor and love, Zack and Katie want to prove that no matter who you are, or how much education you have, anyone can learn about anything in the world if they put their mind to it.
Episodes
Monday Oct 25, 2021
Monday Oct 25, 2021
In today's episode, Katie has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Halloween! While it may feel like pandering to the audience, really, when would you more want to learn about Halloween more than right now? And it turns out, it's a really fun and interesting topic to learn about! Get ready for some Celt history, how to pronounce Samhain, and the very disturbing origin of the word "bonfire." Samhain is a fascinating ancient festival celebrating the ed of summer, the harvest, and the thinning of the veil between the living and the dead. We learned about soul cakes, turnip lanterns, eras of vandalism and so much more. Why not get a little primer on where Halloween comes from before putting on your costume, marching in your town's parade and gorging on candy this year? It's sure to be a spoooooky time!
Highlights Include:
- Half a billion spent on pet costumes!
- The origins of the word Halloween
- The legend of Stingy Jack and his legacy of Jack-O-Lanterns!
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Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Oct 18, 2021
Monday Oct 18, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Oktoberfest! The world's biggest festival! This was a really fun one. Just full of joy and celebration and food and drink - exactly what you want to kick off the fall. Sometimes, when you have a really successful royal wedding, it turns into a 200-year long celebration that only gets better as the years pass. And turns out that most of the people who attend Oktoberfest are Germans - specifically, Bavarians. So if the locals go there, you know it's good. After hearing about the parade, and the games, and the 1.5 second pours of beer, we are dying to attend.
Highlights Include:
- 6 million attendees!
- 7.3 million liters of beer!
- Tents that fit 10 thousand people!
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Oct 11, 2021
Monday Oct 11, 2021
In today's episode, Katie has 30 minutes to become an expert on... The Tour de France! We knew the Tour de France was a bike race, and we knew it was in France, but boy, we did not know much else! Did you know the course changes every year? That participants have to be excellent at biking on flat, hilly, AND mountain terrain?? That they have to bike over 2,000 miles in like 20 days??? It was exhausting to learn about, and probably even more exhausting to do. But it was really interesting and, like most things, had some really fun origins and facts to delve into. For instance, did you know the Tour de France was started as a way to increase newspaper circulation for a paper called L'Auto?? Of course you didn't! That kind of gem and more in this episode. Just don't expect Lance Armstrong content! Because Katie did not research him, the whole doping scandal was more info than this episode could contain, and he is generally expunged. But ride on and listen to learn about the Tour de France!!!
Highlights Include:
- Lots of cheating
- Millions of Spectators!
- An un-investigated google search about poop
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Oct 04, 2021
Monday Oct 04, 2021
In today's episode, Katie has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Henna aka Mehndi! This was a Katie personal pick because of a recent experience, and maybe we need to do more like that because it was so fun! Henna, aka Mehndi, was so fun to get done, and then just as fun to learn about. Rarely do you come across cultural practices that are so old, and run through so many varied cultures. And rarely does one word have so many meanings! Henna can be a plant, a dye, or a temporary tattoo on your skin, but it is always interesting.
Highlights Include:
- The difference between Henna and Mehndi
- Cleopatra wore henna!
- A big lie about cow poop
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Monday Sep 27, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Gummy Bears! Okay, so this was a tough week and Katie totally copped out and let Zack ick his own topic, so naturally we landed on... gummy bears. But as with most things in life, if you take a close look at them, they turn out to be interesting! As was the case with gummy bears. Some World War II in there, some circus bears of the early 1900s, this tale has got it all. And we promise to find some vegan gummy bears for all you vegans out there, so look out for that! This is just a nice relaxing one, guys. Enjoy.
Highlights Include:
- Predecessors to gummy bears, including wine gums
- Zack names all the Haribo flavors from memory
- Gummy Bears wrapping around the world ten times
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Sep 20, 2021
Monday Sep 20, 2021
In today's episode, Katie has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Hip-Hop! Yup, I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip-hop, and you don't stop the rock it to the bang-bang, boogie say "up jump" the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat. Thanks, The Sugar Hill Gang for that fabulous intro. Hip-Hop is more than just a music genre, it's a culture and a movement. And it all started at one party in the South Bronx in the early 70s with an innovative young man called DJ Kool Herc. We thought this was a really fun topic and a pumpkin' episode. Hopefully it will inspire you to listen to some old school hip-hop, as well as more modern rap, adn think about the people and events that came before.
Highlights Include:
- A party that changed the future of music!
- The Four Pillars of Hip-Hop
- A tangent on the Happy Birthday song
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Bungee Jumping! This was a wild one! Get ready to search youtube for videos of vine jumping on Pentecost Island. It's always fun when a modern fad is based in an established culture, and that's what we found here. Why do they vine jump? Is it to thank the gods for an abundance of yams? Or to make sure that abused wives can never get away again? We're sticking with the first one. As for modern bungee jumping, we can all thank AJ Hackett - a New Zealander who still holds the record for longest ever bungee jump. We thought this was a really fun, daring episode. Come bounce along with us!
Highlights Include:
- Recap of the movie Mulan
- Little kids vine jumping (so brave!)
- RIP Trevor
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Sep 06, 2021
Monday Sep 06, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... The Empire State Building! As you'll hear in the intro, the construction story is pretty interesting. Turns out this interesting story ended up being a lot of pettiness on the part of grown-men builders as they strove to out-do each other and claim the tallest building on earth. Spoiler alert: they did! Well, the Empire State Building guys did. Not so much for Mr. Chrysler or the dudes at 40 Wall Street. This episode is full of mind-blowing facts about the building and its construction. They don't do it like this anymore!
Highlights Include:
- 20 extra floors!
- A forty-floor elevator drop
- Zack and Katie ragging on construction in their building
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Aug 30, 2021
Monday Aug 30, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... The La Brea Tar Pits! If you live in LA, you've probably seen or at least smelled the La Brea Tar pits at some point. For those who don't know - these are pits of tar, right smack in the middle of Los Angeles. Like, there's a Walgreens and an IHOP and then Boom! Tar Pits! Outta nowhere. What you might not realize is that these random pits of smelly black goo house an incredible wealth of historic artifacts. Scientists have found tons of remnants of long-extinct plants, animals, and insects in this area. This was a really cool topic to learn about. Next time you are headed to the Grove, maybe swing by the Tar Pits on your way and learn about some ancient California history!
Highlights Include:
- Tar is actually asphalt?!?
- The meaning of "La Brea"
- Ancient dust stuck in tar
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky
Monday Aug 23, 2021
Monday Aug 23, 2021
In today's episode, Zack has 30 minutes to become an expert on... Yetis! AKA, Abominable Snowmen! We figured, it's pretty hot, so let's talk about some cold snow-beasts. And it did the trick! We are both cooled off and a little scared actually... Because now we believe in Yetis! Maybe not really, but you gotta listen to the sherpas on mount Everest, don't you? And when the sherpas tell tales of Yetis, and a guy in 1951 takes a picture of a Yeti footprint, and Zack has a recovered memory of FOOTAGE OF YETIS... you believe. All jokes aside, this was really interesting folklore to learn about. And who knows! Maybe there are some Yetis out there. I hope they subscribe to 30 Minute Expert.
Highlights Include:
- Translation Error = Filthy Snowman
- Real Yeti Footprints!
- Bigfoot footage narrated
Follow on instagram @30minuteexpertpodcast and twitter @30minexpertpod
Send us your expertise at 30minuteexpertpodcast@gmail.com
And please rate and review!
Podcast artwork by Rick Radvansky
Music by Jake Radvansky