Archive - By Their Own Compass

History's Greatest Travel Scams: From Medieval Relic Fraud to the Tea House Scam in Beijing

The tea ceremony scam, the fake taxi, the "found" wallet on the streets of Paris, these cons have been running for centuries. We trace them back to…

Aug 20 • By Their Own Compass

35:39

Olaudah Equiano: The Enslaved Man Who Rewrote History

How a kidnapped African child became a merchant, Arctic explorer and bestselling author

Aug 10 • By Their Own Compass

58:40

Nellie Bly: Deleted Pod Content, Round the World Travel Tips and a Spiderman Connection?

Everything we couldn't fit into the episode on the woman who invented undercover journalism and became an accidental industrialist

Aug 3 • By Their Own Compass

7:13

July 2026

Nellie Bly's Record-Breaking Race Around the World

How a gutsy undercover reporter beat Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days – and became a global sensation

Jul 24 • By Their Own Compass

49:14

The Making of The Game of Their Lives, Exclusive Free Documentary Access and More

Bonus Material for members of the By Their Own Compass Club

Jul 18 • By Their Own Compass

North Korea's Improbable, Giant-Killing World Cup Run: Mythical Horses, Scary Crucifixes and a Chef's Revenge

Sixty years before Cape Verde won the hearts of football fans everywhere, another unlikely team pulled off something even more extraordinary in the…

Jul 9 • By Their Own Compass

48:52

Rolling Stones, Tyson Fury, and the Eagles: More Tales from the Road (and even a bit about Route 66)

Bonus Material for members of the By Their Own Compass Club

Jul 2 • By Their Own Compass

June 2026

Route 66: Cowboys, Cadillacs and Nat King Cole

A true embodiment of the American dream, or US exceptionalism at its finest?

Jun 26 • By Their Own Compass

58:22

Zheng He, More about Eunuchs, Giraffes, and Elephants, and a Travel Guide to the Voyages of the Ming Treasure Fleet

A special post for members of the By Their Own Compass Club

Jun 16 • By Their Own Compass

Zheng He: The Eunuch Who Commanded the World’s Biggest Treasure Fleet

Did a castrated, 7-foot-tall Chinese Muslim really discover America before Columbus?

Jun 11 • By Their Own Compass

51:24

May 2026

The Dark Side of the Compass: When Travellers Become the Problem

Volcano guides, devil dances, and the uncomfortable question every traveller should ask themselves

May 28 • By Their Own Compass

39:03

Compass Dispatch: Stuffed Polar Bears and Sundried Brains

Sarah wasn't defeated by the Pyrenees. Jeremiah will not be defeated by his deadline. Probably.

May 14 • By Their Own Compass

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