James Burke's Knowledge Web

09/28/2026

https://companion.k-web.org/

Karl Svartholm, our in-house Wizard, has achieved what whole design firms could not: a working prototype of James Burke's decades-before-its-time Knowledge Web, with its trinity of interacting tools: time, space and relationships. We'll release that soon, but in the meantime you can get a sense of how it works from the new K-Web Companion. As you watch an original Connections episode, the companion automatically displays the relevant KWeb content: maps, biographies, images. It is not as capable as the fully realized K-Web, but gives a good sense of basic functions. Try it, and let us know what you think in the comments section or email [email protected].

By the way, you can hire Karl, and you should. You can see some of his other passion projects at:

https://thatvoid.com contact: [email protected]

09/28/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpOQE5KJJds

Years ago while we were developing Knowledge Web content, I told Burke his next book really needed to be based on World Expositions because they had everything he loved; technological and scientific innovation, social effects thereof, networking, and how ideas jump from their original domain to be applied in unexpected ways, serendipity. He thought it was a good idea, and i should write it, and I might, but in the meantime I have collecting content, especially in the Sandbox: https://bra.in/6v2RN6

I thought I knew this material really well, especially the transformational 1893 Chicago fair, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn new details from
EXPO – Magic of the White City (Narrated by Gene Wilder)

K-Web main: 1893 Chicago World's Fair https://bra.in/4qZxBd

Sandbox: Ferris Wheel https://bra.in/5j9aLR

Gene Wilder: https://bra.in/8pR53y

09/15/2026

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catherine-de-medici-a-throne-full-of-knives/id1681668905?i=1000787586315

Badass of the Week podcast: History remembers Catherine de’ Medici as the black-clad poison queen of Renaissance France—an Italian schemer who kept a vial in one hand and a dagger in the other. The truth is messier, bloodier, and way more interesting.

Orphaned as a baby, married off at fourteen, and dropped into a French royal court that treated her like a foreign spare part, Catherine survived humiliation, dynastic disaster, and one spectacularly fatal jousting accident. Then she did what every sidelined queen mother dreams of doing: she took control.

With three of her sons wearing the crown in succession, France exploding into religious war, nobles plotting coups, and assassins lurking around every palace corner, Catherine fought to keep her family on the throne and the kingdom from tearing itself apart. Ben and Pat wade into the legends of poison, prophecy, political murder, and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre to ask the real question: Was Catherine de’ Medici a murderous monster, a master political survivor—or simply the only person in the royal family who knew what the hell she was doing?

Kweb main: https://bra.in/3pyYna

Sandbox: https://bra.in/7pdynJ

With the YouTube Music app, enjoy over 100 million songs at your fingertips, plus albums, playlists, remixes, music videos, live performances, covers, and hard-to-find music you can’t get anywhere else.

08/20/2026

Our beloved nation's Semiquincentennial has been a star-spangled bummer of grift, graft and vulgarity. By way of compensation we are updating and revising content from American Connections, the 2007 book grounded in the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, but ripples out to our time.

The content is sometimes more trenchant and spicier than most Burke content, so we tucked it at the bottom of the Knowledge Web, as kids are unlikely to get that far. We've added about a dozen, with a long way to go, so feel free to send in your suggestions on who to add next. Knowledge Web: https://bra.in/5pRyLy

08/20/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdhbPHjzdU8

Here's a great video on Lady Mary Montagu and smallpox inoculation by Hank Green, of Crash Course fame.

Much more related information and stories are in The Knowledge Web, have a look! https://bra.in/6v2wr6

Tell us what you think in the comments.

Honestly, glad to have taken a little breather so I could finally f...

08/17/2026

https://99percentinvisible.org/series/

A History of the United States in 100 Objects

99% Invisible and BBC Studios presents A History of the United States in 100 Objects, a series that tells the history of the United States one thing at a time. Each week, an object opens the door into an extraordinary, often shocking story — about who we’ve been, what we’ve built, and what we’ve allowed ourselves to forget. Some of these objects are well-known. Many are not. But all of them carry the story of how we got to this moment. This is not one narrative. It’s a hundred of them — forming a kaleidoscope that reveals a country stranger and more fascinating than any single telling could capture.

Episode 666 (sic) is on ensh*ttification (which is the reason the Knowledge Web is offline at the moment, but we're working on it)
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/666-ensh*ttification/

undersea cables:
https://99percentinvisible.org/article/underwater-cloud-inside-cables-carrying-99-international-data-traffic/

jetpacks
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/582-rocket-man/

A History of the United States in 100 Objects 99% Invisible and BBC Studios presents A History of the United States in 100 Objects, a series that tells the history of the United States one thing at a time. Each week, an object opens the door into an extraordinary, often shocking story — about who

07/08/2026

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-ridiculous-history-28588696/episode/classic-marie-antoinette-and-the-diamond-necklace-hoax-337656492

June 27, 2026 • 45 min
Episode Description
Queen Marie Antoinette's reputation was already tarnished by gossip in 1784, but was completely ruined by the implication that she defrauded the crown jewelers, conning them out of a dazzling, expensive diamond necklace. That's the short summary -- but the story itself is a startling tale of intrigue and iniquity. Listen in to learn more about the strange tale of the diamond necklace hoax.

K-Web main:

Marie Antoinette: brain://api.thebrain.com/iw9iFwd6tEKxZDn65s7vDA/vNiRzqgXyFuSVBNTbKMrJQ/MarieAntoinette

Necklace: brain://api.thebrain.com/iw9iFwd6tEKxZDn65s7vDA/mAygr42aAVGFlWiT-O0m8g/CagliostroAlessandro

Sandbox: brain://api.thebrain.com/YrOYKWUTEU27swXgNEmAVw/uciBUvzIMVq2wYJ6o_7Iig/AlessandroCagliostro174395

Queen Marie Antoinette's reputation was already tarnished by gossip in 1784, but was completely ruined by the implication that she defrauded the crown jewelers, conning them out of a dazzling, expensive diamond necklace. That's the short summary -- but the story itself is a startling tale of intr...

06/01/2026

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/867-badass-of-the-week-112757322/episode/josephine-baker-the-most-dangerous-woman-in-paris-324571461

Josephine Baker, in the 1920s, she scandalized Europe in a banana skirt and became the most famous entertainer in the world. But when war came, Josephine Baker traded applause for espionage—smuggling secrets for the French Resistance, hiding messages in sheet music, and risking ex*****on by the N***s.

K-Web main: https://bra.in/9qwYkD

Sandbox: https://bra.in/5qZomd

In the 1920s, she scandalized Europe in a banana skirt and became the most famous entertainer in the world. But when war came, Josephine Baker traded applause for espionage—smuggling secrets for the French Resistance, hiding messages in sheet music, and risking ex*****on by the N***s In today's ep...

05/25/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y

Tom Scott: I found an article that said "The microwave was invented to heat hamsters humanely in 1950s experiments." And I thought, no it wasn't. ...was it?

K-Web Microwave oven: https://bra.in/8qwYLJ

Sandbox Lovelock: https://bra.in/5v2Eee

I found an article that said "The microwave was invented to heat hamsters humanely in 1950s experiments." And I thought, no it wasn't. ...was it?Pull down th...

05/04/2026

https://shows.acast.com/what-went-wrong1/episodes/casablanca

The What Went Wrong podcast is smart and funny on the history of movies. Two by Bogart are Casablanca

https://bra.in/3vNQzz

and African Queen: https://shows.acast.com/what-went-wrong1/episodes/690bb0cbb27ff20ceb2fc76f

Bogart in the Sandbox: https://bra.in/7pJKPB

Many of the What Went Wrong podcasts are listed in the Movie node: https://bra.in/4pyw3a

Though some are in the Cult B Movie node (term not derogatory): https://bra.in/9pdK9J

Bogie and Bacall fought Fascism , now it's our turn: https://indivisible.org/

Listen to The African Queen (1951) from WHAT WENT WRONG. Elephants, dysentery, and cannibalism, oh my! Join Chris and Lizzie as they venture down the river in 1951’s ‘The African Queen’. Find out why Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and John Huston ventured to Africa to escape HUAC, how the...