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Going down a rathole

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Going down a rathole

Tea, replaceable parts, and supply chains: How we got to Ever Given

Alistair Croll
Mar 30, 2021
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Going down a rathole

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Every now and then, I go down a weird rathole. With the news of the Ever Given stuck in the Suez, and the fact that I live next to one of the world’s great historical waterways, I looked at the history of marine transportation.

It’s a story that involves the British love of tea, the standardization of firearms, mass production, and lots more. I guess it’s sort of inspired by James Burke’s Connections series. I’m not used to producing video content like this—and it could definitely use better production value—but I learned a lot, and I hope you do, too.

If you’d like me to do more stuff like this, let me know. What rathole should I go down next?

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Going down a rathole

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Karen Schulman Dupuis (KSD)
Mar 31, 2021Liked by Alistair Croll

James Burke's Connections was the starting point of my fascination with tech oh so many years ago...

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Dave Nielsen
Mar 31, 2021

An educational trip down cargo ship lane, standardization and the irony of a ships name. More please.

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