WanderLearn Podcast

• Podcast

One of Hal Urban's books, Life Greatest's Lessons, has sold half a million copies. I've known him for many years and consider him my mentor.

I'm fortunate that he's one of my patrons.

In this podcast, we talk about his upcoming book which hits the stands on May 25, 2021.

You can preorder it on Amazon now.

However, if you really want to help him, buy it from his website.

We discuss:

• Why he's self-published and why he's gone with a traditional publisher
• In his 80 years, which was the worst year ever
• How does he deal with the negative news
• Who he thinks will win the 2020 US Presidential Election
• What he thinks of the youth nowadays

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• Podcast

I reveal who I'm voting for President of the United States in 2020.

The answer may surprise you!

Watch or listen:

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• Podcast

Google "Czechia" and you'll find my article in Forbes. Although it has about 200,000 views, a few outliers are still resisting the name Czechia. They cling to The Czech Republic name as stubbornly as they cling to their Czech beer in a pub.

In this WanderLearn episode (#112), I talk with two Czechs:

1. Petr Pavlinek: Professor of Geography at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 
2. Václav J. Šulista: Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic to the Swiss Confederation (or Honorary Consul of Czechia to Switzerland, for you short-form name fans).

We discuss:

• Why Czechia is a good name.
• Who dislikes the name.
• Why they dislike the name.
• How long will it take for the world to adopt the name.
• Why it matters.

You can watch most of the interview on YouTube:

Here is my article on Forbes:

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• Podcast

I answer various questions from Yida, a Patron. 

He wrote the following to me:

I'm looking through your Nigeria chapter and I like what you included on the planned African cities! I learned something new as I didn't know about the two new cities multibillion dollar cites by Abuja before. Urban planning seems to be such a difficult challenge in places like Lagos so I'm interested in your perspective.

Is planning and designing Nigeria cities a futile exercise because the plans get outdated by the time it is implemented, due to the rising population and traffic congestion? Were there any particular cities or neighborhoods in Africa that you felt safe in and were impressed by? Or perhaps there were cities where you could tell the planners had good intentions and put a lot of effort in but it still didn't work as planned in reality.

As you wrote such a detailed section on malaria in West Africa, I'm wondering if you plan to follow up discussion on Covid-19 in Africa and some major responses and developments?

Another point I want to raise is who is your intended audience? Do you see children and educators reading your books?

Perhaps some geography, social studies teachers/ professors have already read your books and reached out to you! There are lots of good discussion questions and essay topics that could come out of every chapter. Your book is very educational and filled with facts, geography, history, culture, told in your engaging narrative voice.

However, the funny adult stories and frank discussions on sex, polygamy means it would be rated M for Mature. Chances are, kids working on projects would be unlikely find this book in their school libraries. I can see teenagers enjoying this and the book is very readable. I'm curious whether this book would be selected by teachers, school librarians, as part of their educational resources.

I first found the Hidden Europe at a local public library but not at local bookstores or university libraries. I can see the Unseen Africa being used as an introduction to Africa and students can then consult your bibliography for more academic reading.

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• Advice
• Cryptocurrency

In 2018, Gary Arndt told me, "Bitcoin is the currency of the future and always will be."

I agree. Let's answer 7 questions related to that statement: 

1. Was bitcoin designed to be a major currency?

When Satoshi Nakamoto invented bitcoin, it's unclear if he ever expected it to be a country's currency.

Instead, it seems that he envisioned it becoming digital gold. He saw it as a way to:

• Store wealth
• Make low-fee international transactions possible
• Make money that cannot be confiscated or debased by a horrible government

Nakamoto thought that it's terrible that someone who works hard to save $50,000 and keeps it in a bank, will see the purchasing power of that $50,000 decline each year as inflation devours whatever lousy interest rate the bank pays. 

Bitcoin gives everyone the ability to store their savings in the ether. It provides a bank to the unbanked. It offers a place to store money that no government can confiscate. That's bitcoin's true value.

If bitcoin never becomes a national currency, that doesn't mean it has failed since that was never its goal.

2. When countries make their own national cryptocurrencies, won't that make bitcoin obsolete?

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