Smooth Sailingn’t

That's Absurd Please Elaborate · Aug 6, 2026 · 40m

This week, Julian and Trace imagine a world where humanity never got around to inventing ships and discovers that the consequences run a WHOLE lot deeper than a disappointing cruise industry. Without boats, trade slows down, migration patterns change dramatically, and some parts of the world might never have been settled at all. Along the way, Julian uncovers just how much nautical history is hiding in our everyday language, from common phrases to metaphors that only exist because somebody, somewhere, looked at a vast expanse of definitely-not-scary open water and thought, “Yeah, I can…