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Pilot Lecture: Pirates—Fact and Fiction

Peg legs, buried treasure, walking the plank ... Most of what we know about pirates is arrrr-oneous-including how they talk. Get to know the real world of pirates.
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Overview

From the Dread Pirate Roberts to Robert Louis Stevenson, join Professor Nush Powell to go back through history and sort out the fact from fiction across pop-culture portrayals of pirates.
Pirates: Fact and Fiction

01: Pirates: Fact and Fiction

Why do we think pirates say “arrrr?” Where did the practice of “walking the plank” come from? Did Blackbeard really light his beard on fire? Looking at movies, books, television, Professor Sam Kean examines some of the most notorious pirates through popular culture and determine which of these legends were based in historical truth.

29 min

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