Welcome to another bonus episode of Calm History, an extra treat from my Silk Plus members.

Now, 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.

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.

Although, 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, but his book never mentioned the Great Wall of China,

never mentioned chopsticks, didn't even mention tea.

This might be like traveling all over the Sahara desert and never mentioning sand. Well, maybe not exactly like that. But these omissions

have been seen by many as red flags.

...