Podcast
General Curiosity
Hosted by The Curious Alex Jones · EN
I, Alex Jones (not that one), am generally curious about... well, everything. As a former teacher, I'm still learning, and I want you to follow me on my learning journey and foster your own curiosity.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
E13 - "Lost" or Left Behind? More Neglect Than Mystery
Jan 2900:33:53Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we revisit the so-called “Lost Colony” of Roanoke and why it was never truly lost. From John White’s disastrous attempts to return with supplies, to political indifference, imperial distractions, and missed chances at Croatoan, we unpack what likely happened to the settlers—and why the mystery has endured. Along the way, we explore Indigenous perspectives, question long-standing colonial myths, and introduce how Roanoke’s legacy rippled forward into American history, leaving us with more insight than certainty… and plenty to stay curious about. The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E12 - "Lost" or Left Behind? A Return Written in Red Flags
Jan 2200:45:36Tap to summarizeThe English head back to Roanoke despite everything that should have stopped them: broken alliances, recent violence, and the very clear message that the Secotan did not want them there. In this episode, we follow appointed governor John White and a small group of men, women, and children as they’re inexplicably deposited back into a tense Indigenous landscape shaped by power, memory, and hard-earned mistrust. With greed, optimism, and denial steering the ship, this return sets the stage for America’s first great mystery—not so much a vanishing act as a deeply puzzling decision to try again. The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E11 - "Lost" or Left Behind? Before the Mystery Came the Mess
Jan 1500:31:28Tap to summarizeThis episode unpacks the first Roanoke colony and reveals that the real mystery isn’t what happened to those left behind, but why the English thought it was a good idea to try at all. What starts as an ambitious venture quickly devolves into lost supplies, cultural arrogance, spreading disease, and a series of violently bad decisions. While observers like John White, Thomas Harriot, and Joachim Gans worked to understand and document the Secotan and Croatoan, reckless leadership burned bridges—literally and figuratively. By the time the colony is abandoned in 1586, it’s clear Roanoke wasn’t undone by the New World, but by impatience, prejudice, and the English talent for making a bad situation worse.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones. To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E10 - "Lost" or Left Behind? The Making of a Colonial Catastrophe
Jan 800:36:35Tap to summarize**Content Warning**: This episode includes a very brief description of the gruesome atrocities by the Spanish against Native Americans. If you wish to skip it, skip from minute marker 8:20 to 8:50.This episode strips away the myth of Roanoke as a spooky disappearance and instead digs into the context that doomed it from the start, exploring England’s late-1500s colonial ambitions, rivalry with Spain, and the dangerous blend of greed, religion, and entitlement driving expansion. Through the contrasting experiences of Manteo and Wanchese, it highlights early cross-cultural encounters, English assumptions of superiority, and a string of poor leadership decisions that quickly soured relations with Native peoples. The takeaway: what’s truly fascinating about Roanoke isn’t that it was lost, but that it was ever sent at all.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E9 - "Lost" or Left Behind? Ambition, Arrogance, and the Abandoned Roanoke Colony
Jan 100:33:46Tap to summarizeThis episode is more a summary, kicking off a deep dive into the infamous Lost Colony of Roanoke and peeling back the layers of myth to ask whether the colony was ever truly “lost” at all—or simply abandoned. Driven by imperial rivalry, dreams of gold, and the ever-elusive Northwest Passage, we'll cover the colony’s rocky beginnings, its fraught relationships with local Native nations, the political chaos that delayed White’s return, and the haunting clues left behind when the settlement was found empty. We also touch on the human experience: a father's separation from his family.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E8 - Christmas Traditions: A Ghost Story
Dec 2500:22:09Tap to summarizeFor millennia, the tradition of telling ghost stories around the fire was a Christmas/Yule/Solstice tradition. I'm personally disappointed the practice has died down, so here I am, bringing it back! Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Solstice, and enjoy!The short story read is "The Ghost's Summons" written by Ada Buisson and published posthumously in 1868. For other content and updates, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E7 - Travel Notes: Savannah, GA and the Utopia That Never Was
Dec 1800:40:26Tap to summarizeWelcome to tales of my travels! From James Oglethorpe’s utopian (and wildly short-lived) vision of a sober, lawyer-free, anti-slavery colony, to a booming slavery-dependent economy, this episode traces how idealism, alliance, exploitation, and resilience shaped the charming city of Savannah, Georgia (the US State, not the country!). Along the way, we wander through cotton-fueled wealth built on enslavement, Civil War occupation and near-destruction, haunted cemeteries, architectural rebirth, and modern preservation efforts that saved Savannah from decay. It’s part walking tour, part historical reckoning, and part personal reflection on privilege, memory, and why understanding the full, messy story of a place—especially the parts we were never taught in school—makes travel, and history itself, far more meaningful and enjoyable.To get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.Sources used for this episode include my amazing and knowledgeable tour guide, Wikipedia, visitsavannah.com, georgiaencyclopedia.org, and georgiahistory.comTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
Transcribe →E6 - The Mayflower Complex: Missteps, Mayhem, and the Messy Birth of a Nation
Dec 1100:41:40Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we pick up right where we left off—Plymouth on the brink, alliances hanging by a thread, and Ousemequin suddenly kidnapped in a swirl of Wampanoag-Narragansett rivalries. As the Pilgrims scramble to rescue their tenuous lifeline, we dive into the tangled politics, uneasy trust, and cultural misunderstandings that shaped the colony’s fragile first year and later spread. We wrap up the Mayflower by exploring how an alliance born of desperation helped spark centuries of conflict and myth-making. And as we head toward America’s 250th, we ask what it really means to confront our past with curiosity, honesty, and critical thinking. Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.
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