GateNerd

GateNerd Welcome! I made educational videos covering geography, engineering, and history. Follow to stay up-to-date with my content!

10/05/2026

How Prohibition and bootlegging helped create NASCAR

Fast cars weren't just for racing. Bootleggers modified their vehicles to transport illegal alcohol and evade the authorities, developing skills that helped stock-car racing grow. This episode follows the connections between state-line taverns, national Prohibition, its repeal, and NASCAR's roots in the American South.

10/02/2026

Exploring how oceans, exclaves, and discontiguous regions challenge the idea that four colors always suffice for world maps, and noting a unique case with the Netherlands and St. Martin.

09/29/2026

What were people arguing about in the 1860s?

Slavery, abolition… and whether humans could actually fly.

Thaddeus Hyatt somehow ended up at the center of both debates.

In 1860, fresh out of prison and after a U.S. Senate investigation into his support for John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, Hyatt got into a heated newspaper argument over whether powered human flight was even possible.

I stumbled across this wonderfully strange story while researching the Oklahoma Panhandle in the late 1800s.

History has some incredible side quests.

09/24/2026

What is the Oklahoma panhandle really like, and why did nobody want to claim it for decades?

The history of the Oklahoma panhandle is a fascinating story encompassing Native American warfare, Wild West outlaws, and some of the most rugged and tough terrain in the country. The Oklahoma panhandle, or as it used to be known "Cimarron Country" or "Beaver" is a microcosm of Oklahoma's history and the United State's history.

09/23/2026

Dive into the saga of Ernest Shackleton's attempt to cross Antarctica. From the Endurance's ice-bound drift to the perilous lifeboat voyage to Elephant Island, and the audacious overland march across South Georgia to reach safety and rescue the crew.

09/21/2026

A look at migratory birds, ancient beliefs about hibernation, Aristotle’s notes on swallows, and how treaties like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the Bonn Convention protect nesting sites and routes across the US, Canada, Europe, and beyond.

09/18/2026

Explore how Earth's crust and mantle interact, and how the Pacific Plate’s northwest drift over a hotspot produces the aligned Hawaiian Islands.

09/17/2026

Why don't Texas and Oklahoma's panhandles line up? And why does Oklahoma have a panhandle?

The answer is a history lesson in how pretty much everything is Texas's fault...

That said, between civil wars, surveyors, and the fact that absolutely nobody actually wanted the Cimmaron Territory, Oklahoma has a panhandle and it just so happens to not line up with Texas's. All that AND MORE on today's episode of Weird Borders!

stick around to the end for my awful rendition of "Deep in the Heart of Texas"

09/16/2026

Explore how Britain, the U.S., and Germany contested the North Atlantic as Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands shifted under occupation, neutrality, and postwar changes.

09/14/2026

A clear look at how the euro functions, who uses it (including non-EU members), and the different levels of currency adoption around Europe and beyond.

Address

30 W Pershing Rd
Kansas City, MO
64108

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when GateNerd posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to GateNerd:

Shortcuts

Share

Category