You’ve heard the story of the astronauts. But you probably haven’t heard the story of the 400,000 people, the hand-woven software, and the management revolution that actually got them there.

In this episode of Distilled, we decode Charles Fishman’s One Giant Leap to reveal how the Apollo program didn't just land on the Moon—it invented the modern digital world. From the "Little Old Ladies" who wove the guidance computer's memory by hand to the bras-turned-spacesuits, we explore the impossible engineering behind the history.

Then, we pivot to the hard science. We look at the raw Assembly code of the Apollo Guidance Computer to debunk the myth of the "1202 Alarm" and analyze a 2025 study on lunar dust toxicology that changes how we think about future bases on the Moon.

🎧 About Distilled: We blend Pop Science with Hard Science. Every week, we take a fascinating non-fiction book, summarize its core message, and cross-reference it with the latest academic literature. No fluff. Just the essence.

Research & Sources: Ep.4 Research Companion

In 1945, President Harry Truman dissolved America's spy agency because he feared creating an "American Gestapo." When he established the CIA two years later, he didn't want James Bond—he asked for a daily newspaper to coordinate government information.

So, how did a bureaucratic newsletter evolve into a global machine for coups and covert action?

In this episode, we distill the chaotic origins of the Central Intelligence Agency (1947–1953). We move beyond the Hollywood myths to examine the "Georgetown Set"—the group of Ivy League socialites and Wall Street lawyers who built the Agency's dark side over cocktails on Sunday afternoons.

In this distillation, we cover:

• The "Newspaper" Myth: Why Truman’s original vision for the CIA failed immediately.

• The Georgetown Set: How Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, and the "Very Best Men" treated the Cold War like a romantic game.

• The Legal Trapdoor: A breakdown of NSC 10/2 and the invention of "Plausible Deniability."

• Deep Dive: We deconstruct Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes and debunk the famous Eisenhower quote regarding the Agency’s failure.

The Distillate (Actionable Insights):

• • Efficiency vs. Effectiveness: Why Frank Wisner’s "Mighty Wurlitzer" was loud but ineffective, and how to spot "Action Bias" in your own strategy.
  • Secrets vs. Mysteries: The Sherman Kent distinction that every decision-maker needs to know.
  • The Red Team: How to institutionalize dissent to prevent your own Bay of Pigs.

  
  

  📚 Research & Sources: Ep.3 Research Companion

The British Government didn't conquer India. A startup did.

In 1599, a group of merchants gathered in a London office to form a venture. Two hundred years later, that venture controlled half the world’s trade and commanded a private army of 260,000 men—twice the size of the British Royal Army.

In this episode, we distill William Dalrymple’s masterpiece, The Anarchy, to understand how the East India Company became the original "Too Big To Fail" corporation.

Part 1: We track the rise of the EIC from a pirate band to a sovereign power. How did a board of directors in London effectively buy the Indian subcontinent using money borrowed from Indian bankers?

Part 2: We cross-reference Dalrymple’s thesis with economic data from Angus Maddison and the Revisionist School of history.

• Was 18th-century India really in "anarchy," or is that a colonial myth?

• Did the Company "drain" India, or just de-industrialize it? (We look at the GDP numbers).

Part 3: History is useless if you can't use it. We extract three brutal lessons for modern leaders:

1. Supply Chain Resilience: How the "Opium Pivot" teaches us about the "China Plus One" strategy.

2. Governance: The dangers of the "Imperial CEO" operating with zero oversight.

3. Political Risk: Why the state always wins in the end.

Distill the wisdom. Ignore the noise.Hit the bell icon to get notified for next week’s episode.

📚 Research & Sources: Ep.2 Research Companion

Two centuries of conspiracy theories say they run the world. The economic data says they barely survived the 20th century.

In this episode of Distilled, we strip away the antisemitic myths to reveal the cold, hard logistics behind the rise of the House of Rothschild. We cross-reference Niall Ferguson’s definitive biography with a fascinating 2025 academic paper on "Bifurcation Bias" to answer the biggest question in financial history: How did a family that mastered Europe fail to conquer America?

In this distillation, you will learn:

• The True Waterloo Trade: Why the story about Nathan Rothschild crashing the stock market is a lie, and how the real fortune was made by betting on peace, not war.

• The "Five Arrows" Strategy: How Mayer Amschel’s five sons acted as a human blockchain, moving capital across borders faster than kings could move armies.

• The Courier Network: The reality behind their "magic" information speed (and why the pigeon post story is mostly fiction).

• Bifurcation Bias: We break down the new study from the Journal of International Business Studies (2025) that explains how the family's refusal to trust their genius agent, August Belmont, cost them the American empire.

  
  

  📚 Research & Sources: Ep.1 Research Companion

Each episode of Distilled follows a rigorous, recognizable format designed to respect your time and upgrade your thinking:

1. The Introduction: We start with the stories that stick. Whether it's the rise of the Rothschild dynasty or the psychology of a cult, we hook you with the "myth."

2. The Synthesis: We distill the core arguments from the world's most popular non-fiction books and literature.

3. The Deep Dive: This is where we stand out. We don’t just repeat popular opinion. We stress-test bestselling books against high-validity academic papers, meta-analyses, and hard data. We separate the pop-science fluff from the scientific reality.

4. The Application: We answer the "So What?" Every episode ends with actionable takeaways that you can apply to your life, career, and conversations immediately.

What We Cover:Our curiosity has no boundaries. Expect episodes covering:

• 🧠 Psychology & The Mind: Cognitive bias, flow states, persuasion, and the mechanics of human behavior.

• 🏛️ History & Power: The true stories behind secret societies, corporate empires, and historical conspiracies.

• 🔬 Hard Science & Biology: Sleep optimization, longevity, astrophysics, and the future of technology.

• 📚 Literature & Philosophy: Timeless wisdom from the great thinkers, contextualized for the modern world.

Who is this for?Distilled is for the lifelong learner. It is for the person who feels overwhelmed by information overload but remains hungry for truth. If you want to understand how the world works—not just how it looks on the surface—this podcast is for you.

Join us as we cut through the noise, debunk the myths, and uncover the mechanics of our world.

Smart. Positive. Rigorous.

Subscribe to Distilled today.