Prompt Cast
The Challenges of Calculating the Length of Empires
TLDR The length of an empire's reign cannot be accurately determined due to the unique circumstances and forces that contribute to its rise and fall, as well as the advancements in technology over time. This episode also addresses listener questions about the Big Ten college sports conference, computer programming, AI, baseball, and the target audience of the podcast.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The episode is about answering listener questions, starting with a question about the new Big Ten college sports conference.
02:25
The Big Ten college sports conference has expanded to 18 teams, which is too many and has taken away from its regional focus.
04:32
The host used to practice computer programming with Cold Fusion in the 90s, but hasn't done it in a long time.
06:33
The average length of an empire's reign can be calculated, but it may not be meaningful due to the unique circumstances and forces that cause each empire's rise and fall, as well as the changing technologies over time.
08:41
AI can be useful for creating images for episode artwork and summarizing broad topics, but it is not reliable for writing scripts and fact-checking, and the host prefers to live in the present rather than the past.
10:35
To understand the rules of baseball and get into it as a non-American, the host recommends watching games and looking up anything you don't understand, as baseball is more complicated than American football and has many obscure rules.
12:38
The host discusses examples of episodes with long lead times and addresses a question about the target audience of the podcast.
