Audio: Åland In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast we’ll be talking about Åland, an autonomous and demilitarized archipelago of Finland, which lies between Finland and Sweden, although it is closer to the latter by around 20km. Åland (which can also be spelled Aaland) is the smallest region of Finland by both area (1,580 km2 or 610 sq mi) and population (30,000), constituting around half a percent of Finland’s land area and half a percent of its population. Despite being Finnish, the only official language is Swedish and the capital city is Mariehamn. Aaland is made up o ..read more

Audio: Burkina Faso http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_BurkinaFaso.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Burkina Faso (formerly the French Upper Volta), a landlocked country in West Africa bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d’Ivoire to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of just over 20,000,000. Total land area is around  274,000 km² (or roughly 106,000 sq mi ..read more

Audio: Minisode – Christmas Markets & Treats Ho ho ho! In this Christmas minisode, we’ll be talking about Christmas Markets and a few delicious festive treats, as well as where these things come from and how they’ve changed to the modern day.   Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Dublin, Ireland. Our usual co-host Mark Boyle @markboyle86 was missing for this one, but he’ll return very soon. Our theme music and other stings come from Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella. Some further reading material is provided below: The Oxford Companion to Sugar and S ..read more

Audio: Tsushima In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, which lies in the Tsushima Strait on the western side of Kyushu, the southernmost mainland island of Japan. Tsushima sits between Japan and South Korea, about 60 km from Iki, its closest island neighbour, 138 km from the city of Fukuoka, and 49.5 km from Busan, South Korea. Tsushima has a total area is 708.61 km2, making up 17.3% of the area of Nagasaki Prefecture and meaning it’s a similar size to Singapore, Dominica or a bit larger than Guam. Sitt ..read more

Audio: Salem http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_SalemUSA.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Salem, Massachusetts, which has a strong historical connection to the famous witch trials that took place there in the 1690s. Salem lies on Massachusetts Bay between Salem Harbor and Beverly Harbor, lying alongside the Danvers River, which feeds into the harbour. It’s around 20 miles or 35 kilometres north of Boston. The witch trials took place in a small settlement just outside Salem proper then k ..read more

Audio: Christmas & The North Pole https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days_Christmas_2022.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’re (sort of) exploring the history of the North Pole, and in particular, it’s significance to the Christmas season. We also conduct our now-traditional Christmas quiz, and give a brief update on Season 6. From all of us, have a very merry festive season, and we’ll see you in 2023. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Dublin, Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the U ..read more

Audio: Quebec City https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80_Days-Quebec_City.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about the only walled city north of Mexico on the American Continent – Quebec City. The capital city of Canada’s Quebec province, the city is located on the St Lawrence River, around 500 kilometres from the Eastern coast of Canada, and around 700km northeast of New York City. Founded in July 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer, Quebec City originated as Stadacona, a Iroqious Na ..read more

Audio: Bougainville http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_Bougainville.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Bougainville, the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Located 1,000 kilometers east of the mainland national capital of Port Moresby, Bougainville is the most remote of Papua New Guinea’s 19 provinces. Bougainville is the largest island in the Solomon Islands archipelago, lying around 1500km or 1000 miles off the northeast coast of Aus ..read more

Audio: Christmas Traditions Around the World https://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80DaysChristmasMinisode2021.mp3 In this festive episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be taking a look at some Christmas traditions from around the world that we’ve discovered. We’re also joined by a special guest or two, as you’ll hear early on in the podcast. Hopefully this episode provides some distraction from the world at large, and brings a bit of festive cheer. Merry Christmas from all of us at 80 Days. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly ..read more

Audio: Ulaanbataar http://media.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/content.blubrry.com/80_days_an_exploration/80Days_Ulaanbataar.mp3 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.  Its modern name means ‘Red Hero’ and it is a city that has had many names including Urga, Örgöö, and Ikh Khuree. Ulaanbaatar was originally founded in 1639 as a nomadic Bhuddist monastery, essentially a moveable city,  and was not permanently settled at its current location in 1778, where it became a crucial trading hub between Russia a ..read more