June 10, 2026 - The Tools We Use to Share Ideas

Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 — Today is National Herbs and Spices Day, which somehow turned into an episode about knowledge, communication, and the tools people use to pass ideas along.Today’s episode looks at Benjamin Franklin's famous kite experiment and the myth that grew around it… the creation of the Smithsonian Institution through one of history's strangest inheritances… and the ballpoint pen, an invention so successful that most people never stop to think about it.Plus, the birthday of Howie Mandel, whose career has spanned comedy, acting, hosting, and live performance.A lot of today's stories ended up becoming about making knowledge easier to share:through science,through institutions,and sometimes through something as simple as a better pen.Anyway… that's what I ended up finding while working through June 10.