The Podcast as a Unit of Measurement to Understand the Universe

Welcome to 1x speed, the new cosmic speed limit

It’s a time honored tradition to explain big things with fun analogies. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand. There are more possible moves in a game of chess than there are atoms in the universe.

I’ve heard these each countless times. It’s time for some new analogies!

I submit the humble podcast as a great unit of measurement to understand our place in the universe. What mind blowing examples can we come up with?

How long have humans been around relative to the age of the Earth?

I’ve always loved Carl Sagan’s depiction of the Cosmic Calendar, where the history of the universe is represented by 12 months on a calendar, and humans don’t appear until the very last minute of the entire year.

But what about a Cosmic Podcast?

Picture a podcast episode exactly an hour long that represents the 4.54 billion years since Earth’s formation. You’re listening at 1x speed. At what time stamps would different events occur?

All drawings by the author

That last part surprised me quite a bit. If Earth’s history took place over an hour span, modern looking humans…