Welcome to Calm History. I'm Harris, and this podcast is my quirky mix of education with sedation.

So go ahead, lean back, put up your feet, and settle into my time machine of tranquility.

I hope this episode distracts and relaxes your overactive brain squirrels.

I trust that you know the two basic facts about Marco Polo. Number one, he traveled a lot and went

to a lot of places. And number two, he invented a frantic, splashy pool game in which kids constantly yell his name.

Okay, he probably didn't invent that game.

My theory is that some parents invented that game.

As an easy way to tell that their kids were safe in the pool well maybe they drank lytis around the corner as long as they could hear their kids yelling

then they figured well they must be okay.

That is a horrible theory for so many reasons,

which is probably why I should stop conjecturing about the Marco Polo pool game and just focus on Marco Polo, the traveler, for the rest of this episode.

When Marco Polo returned home from his travels,

he published a book about all the marvelous sights he witnessed.

But today, I'm going to do a little more than just tell you his story.

In the first half of this episode, you'll hear the wondrous tale of his journey and his return home,

including who he traveled with,

how many miles he journeyed, where he went,

and why he was imprisoned when he returned home.

But in the second half, I'll address some bigger questions,

like how much of his book is actually true.

Did he really travel to the places he reported in the book?

For example, he traveled all over China,

...