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New York: I boarded a plane to Boston to find Doctor John Trump of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Doctor Trump, now retired from High Voltage Engineering, agreed to meet at the company office the next morning. Carl T. Compton, then president of MIT, asked me in 1943 to go to New York and examine the effects of Nikola Tesla. These were contained in an upper floor of a warehouse in New York City. I spent time examining papers, books, and memorials Tesla had accumulated, searching for evidence of a secret weapon of concern to the United States. I found letters directed at the upper echelons of the British Empire and to the czar of Russia, explaining that Tesla was the inventor of a secret weapon and that he would be interested in negotiating a disclosure. I looked for the nature of the secret weapon and, while I had an idea of its properties, I did not find in Tesla’s technical papers an explanation of how such a device could operate. It had the capability of acting at a great distance and being destructive to flying objects at a remote location. I also opened another box, supposedly a secret weapon Tesla left at a hotel. When I concluded my study, one of the agents reminded me there was a box held as security for an unpaid obligation, an item of considerable value that might itself be the secret weapon. We went to the hotel, the assistant manager led us to a room containing a steel cabinet. The cabinet was opened, revealing a rectangular box wrapped in brown paper on a lower shelf. It turned out to be a highly polished box with brass clasps, resembling an instrument case, kept there for about five years as security. I opened it; it was a decade resistance box, manufactured by an American maker, of value but not of great significance or ominous nature. So, after Tesla let the world know of his secret weapon and wrote letters to the King of England and to the Tsar of Russia offering them this weapon during World War II, no evidence or papers referred to any such secret weapon. My report to Compton was that I saw no danger in releasing these papers and relics to Tesla’s heirs. Miss Musar arrived too late to know who opened Tesla’s safe or what had been removed. Tesla had been a naturalized American citizen for fifty-four years, so why were his papers seized by agents of the custodian of alien property? I suspect that governments other than the United States, England, and Russia were interested in Tesla’s inventions.

In thirteen twenty four CE, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali empire, embarked on a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca. His journey accompanied by a vast caravan of gold, slaves, and camels demonstrated the immense wealth of his empire. Mansa Musa's generosity during his travels, particularly his lavish distribution of gold in Cairo, disrupted local economies. His pilgrimage solidified Mali's status as a major power in the medieval world and established Mansa Musa as one of the wealthiest individuals in history. In thirteen twenty four CE, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali empire, embarked on a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca.

Regularly stopping for months to study under the greatest teachers of the day, he met mystics and maniacs, fire walkers and killer elephants, princes and pirates. He would marry and divorce 10 times, win and lose several fortunes, undertake the sacred Hajj five times, and outrun the bubonic plague. After a quarter of a century, he finally made his way home, only to travel across the Sahara into the deepest heart of Africa. He recounted this journey—the people he met and the cultures he encountered—in rich and vivid detail in a precious book that would eventually make him a hero throughout the entire Islamic world.

Sailing on a boat to the Southern Islands, the speaker aimed to reach a destination before a following sea. The journey involved making for the trades. The Southern Cross constellation is a significant marker, visible for the first time during this voyage.

Islam rapidly expands from the Arabian Peninsula, attacking the Middle East, crossing the Mediterranean, and targeting southern France and Spain. Despite the common association of Islam with Arabs and deserts, it projects power throughout the Mediterranean, attacking coastal towns, taking slaves, and engaging in over 200 battles in Spain alone. Meanwhile, Islam also attempts to break into Europe through Turkey. Over time, the Christians push back the Muslims in Spain, but Constantinople falls, leading to the jihad spreading to Eastern Europe. This relentless jihad is driven by the teachings of Mohammed and the desire to fight against non-believers. New sultans would often initiate wars to establish their reputation in Islamic history.

Speaker 0: When he got there, he described "exotic spices, fruits, and animals, as well as beautiful women, of course, and men who had mouths like dogs." He notes that this description might seem bizarre and ludicrous. Scholars now believe that what he was describing was the Mentawi tribal custom of tooth chiseling, which, incidentally, is practiced in parts of Africa as well.

I lived with Carlos Hernandez while in Athens. I arrived in Athens from Manhattan, specifically Roosevelt in New York. We requested a humanitarian flight to Atlanta, which took place around September 9th or 10th. Upon arrival, I went to the airport in Athens.

I lived with Carlos Hernandez while in Athens. I arrived in Athens from Manhattan, specifically from the Roosevelt Hotel. We requested a humanitarian flight to Atlanta, which took place around September 9th or 10th. Upon arrival, we went to the airport in Athens.

Admiral Byrd's expedition begins as the ship sails southward. After a 14,000 mile journey, the ship reaches the ice barrier, with its masts outlined against the scarred ice wall. Despite the loose broken ice, the ship pushes forward and finds an improvised berth against the ice barrier. The narrator highlights the excitement and adventure of exploring the oceans at the end of the world.

Ibn Battuta faced further misfortune upon leaving Calcutt: 'one of the ships he and his group had taken to reach the city had been destroyed by a storm while the other was taken by some of his companions without him on board.' He was 'determined not to return to Delhi.' He was 'essentially stuck in Southern India as he sought the protection of the contemporary Sultan of Nawayath.' 'But when the Sultan and his Sultanate as a whole ultimately collapsed,' the traveler 'now had to leave India altogether,' and he 'eventually found himself on the Maldives Islands for the next nine months after being convinced by the local leadership to become their chief judge.'

The great empire of Mali, which lasted more than four hundred years, was extraordinary. Governed as a confederation of kingdoms where multiple kingdoms got to select their representative to the high king called the Musa's court, at its height, it covered more than a half million square miles. East to west, it went from the coast to the great bend in the river. It was so large that it was said that if you started walking from the coast, you would walk eight months before leaving the empire. In its day, it was only exceeded in size by the great Mongol empire, and it was unbelievably rich. It was the end of the salt caravan trade, and it had gold mines so rich that nearly half of the gold in the old world came from those Malian gold mines.

The transcript claims a classified CIA document titled *National Cultural Development Under Communism* (first published June 1957, immediately classified, approved for release 08/24/1999) explicitly mentions “Tartaria,” and uses the document to argue that Soviet communist authorities interfered with Muslim and minority cultural life, including through suppression of religion, confiscation of mosques and literature, and rewriting history. The document is presented as beginning with a Bolshevik proclamation dated 12/07/1917 promising Muslims of Russia—Tatars, Tatars and related groups in Volga, Crimea, Siberia, Turkestan, Transcaucasia, Chechens, mountain peoples, and those whose mosques and prayer houses were destroyed—that beliefs and customs and national and cultural institutions would be “forever free and inviolate,” and that they should organize national life in complete freedom. The transcript states Lenin and Stalin promised equality, sovereignty, self-determination (including secession), abolition of national and national religious privileges, and freedom of development for national minorities and ethnographic groups, followed by Soviet suppression contradicting those promises. The transcript then details a sequence of repressive measures attributed to communists in the Muslim regions of Russia: confiscation of mosque lands (1918); outlawing Muslim religious brotherhoods (1921–1922); ridicule of Islam and undermining spiritual leaders; making Islamic religious life “virtually impossible” (1929); elimination of Islamic leadership via arrest and deportation (and “liquidation”); closing nearly all village and most city mosques; suppressing religious literature through alphabet changes, confiscation of religious texts including the Quran, and suppression of religious publications; dismissal of pious practicing Muslims from responsible positions. It cites a decline in the number of mosques admitted by Soviet authorities: from 7,000 mosques in European Russia alone at the time of 1917, to 1,312 mosques in the whole Soviet Union by 1942, with examples including Tashkent (from 300 to 20), Samarkand (from over 100 to 17, with only one usable), Bukhara (from 360 to one), and Al Maratha (no mosques remaining). It also states communist authorities condemned publication of Muslim literary works except those extolling Russian and Russians. The transcript returns to cultural heritage, arguing that communist interference extended to history. It describes a specific directive dated 08/09/1944 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party, instructing the Tatar provincial committee to conduct a “scientific revision” of Tartaria/Tatar history to eliminate “shortcomings and mistakes” of a nationalistic character by writers and historians, in order to remove references to “great Russian aggressions” and hide the “real course” of Tatar-Russian relations. It further claims historians in Muslim areas of the USSR rewrote history at party orders to portray Russians favorably, and that truthful histories were withdrawn and destroyed to deny Muslims and Tatars access to genuine accounts of the past. The transcript emphasizes that the CIA document’s inclusion of “Tartaria” in the 1950s is presented as important. In addition to the CIA-document discussion, the transcript shifts to historical geography research using early modern books and maps. It describes a “compendium of geography” released in 1691 by Lawrence Ecard and an additional world description (1715) with similar geography, suggesting they copied from shared sources while showing minor coordinate differences. The transcript quotes from the 1690/1691 geography text portraying “Tartary” as the “greatest country in the world,” lying east of Russia and north of Persia, India, and China, bounded by longitudes 83rd to 180th degree and latitudes 39th to 72nd degree, with an asserted length of about 4,000 miles and breadth about 2,000 miles. It states Tartary had ancient provinces (Scythia, Sake, Sogdania, and part of Cimatia Asiatica, plus some Old Persia) and had remained unconquered until “Anno eleven sixty two,” when the Tatars and “obscure people” overran it and elected a monarchy, with “a good part” later “fallen away.” The transcript discusses claims that Tartary is related to Mongol rule and uses the name “great sham of Tartary” as associated with China, asserting the emperor is “also the famous country of China.” It further claims that “Shambalu” (presented as the imperial seat) is not Peking/Beijing, proposing that commonly asserted identifications are mistaken. It argues using references to “Kambalu,” “Khanbaliq,” and “Kambaluk,” and compares placement with the Great Wall, claiming Kambalu is north of the Great Wall and that “Beijing/Peking” is south of it. To support its geographic argument, the transcript quotes from a printed book (1679) attributed to Tamerlane’s historian, describing a conflict involving Calyx and the city of Kambalu/Kambaluk/Kumbalu, and then describes an invasion of China beginning with references to “Liyotom and Pekin,” using repeated references to wall-crossing as evidence that “Kambalu” and “Pekin/Beijing” are presented as distinct. It maintains that if the same locations were involved, the narrative of crossing the wall and the sequence of revolt and conquest would not align. It then discusses plotting the claimed Tartary coordinates on maps and connects coordinate ranges to areas where Russian expansion and treaties (e.g., Treaty of Natchinsk) are said to have affected Tartaria’s location, arguing that exact location around the time of the document is “debatable.” The transcript develops further geographic assertions about “Cathay” versus “Manji,” stating that Cathay is north of the Great Wall and Manji is south of it. It references multiple maps (including those from 1689 and 1570) to claim “Cathay” corresponds to areas beyond the Great Wall and that Kambalu is located in Cathay. It describes river names and regions (including references to Obi and other rivers/lakes difficult to locate today), and it ties these claims to how Tamerlane is said to move to Cathay and then “jump the wall” into China. It then moves into “American Tartary” discussions. Using references from 1652 and other materials (including Uzziah Priest and later authors), it argues that some 17th–19th century sources used the phrase “American Tartary” (or “an American Tartary”) to describe areas in North America that resemble “Asiatic/Tartary.” It addresses claims that one map (1652) suggests Tartary-controlled North America by matching coloration but argues it does not indicate full continental control. The transcript then expands into multiple “lost city” and “gold” narratives (e.g., Quivera/Quivera stories tied to Coronado, and alleged connections to “King Tartarax”), also citing an 1851/1830s style literature tradition that portrays indigenous peoples as having Tatar/Scythian origins or characteristics. The transcript repeatedly states that learned people in the 1700s–1800s believed connections between Tatars/Scythians and indigenous North American peoples, tying this to Bering Strait crossing theories and various scholarly arguments. Later, the transcript returns to Greenland and ice. It begins with claims that satellite imagery appears to show Greenland as “completely” covered in ice, and discusses an asserted ice-free history: it states beryllium-10/aluminum-26 dating suggests Greenland bedrock was exposed for more than 280,000 years until about 1,100,000 years ago, and it summarizes claims of long-term ice-sheet coverage “for the last eighteen million years,” with periods of reduction. It argues that if Greenland’s ice disappeared, it would most likely appear as an archipelago due to bedrock depression under ice weight. The transcript connects this to references in older literature (e.g., Burton’s *Anatomy of Melancholy*) describing Greenland as frozen for “half the year,” and it discusses old maps showing possible passages or canals through Greenland. It claims forums and maps (including ones from 1747/1592 and later) suggest a central passage “formerly passable” but later choked with ice. It mentions a 1888 expedition by Friedrich Nansen and notes that Nansen’s planned route aligned with the location of the alleged canal. The transcript concludes by stating that its Greenland and canal information is attributed to external forums, and frames the central question as whether there could have been ancient ruins or a once-passable Greenland corridor, then transitions back to broader Tartaria/indigenous-origin discussions and ends.

Today, we are heading to Nikko Kli from Cartagena, a spot where illegal migrants traveling through Darien Gap gather in Turbo, Colombia. Like Casablanca, they wait for ferries to take them further. Accompanied by my friend and translator, Geraldo Jerry, it promises to be an emotional and intriguing journey. Stay tuned for more updates.

Ibn Battuta was a man of Berber descent born in Tangier under the reign of the Marinid dynasty in February '13 oh '4. His family was made up of Islamic legal scholars who belonged to the Luwata Berber tribe. Ibn Battuta himself would likely have studied at a Sunni Maliki school and was offered a job as a religious judge, but he would soon realize that his heart yearned for much, much more.

The speaker talks about their trip from Brazil to Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Panama. They mention that Bolivia was very cold, but the desert in Peru was hot. They also briefly mention the potential danger in Colombia and Panama. The next destination mentioned is Costa Rica.

A man in a suit got into my pickup truck and asked about my age and birth month. He showed me a dagger he carries for evil spirits. He asked to be dropped off at a village in Africa. When he left the car, his demeanor changed, and he blessed me, saying, "May God bless you many times this day." I didn't think much of it at the time.

Delhi would hold his first significant Indian adventure as he met the remarkably wealthy Sultan of Delhi, Mohammed bin Tughlaq. The Sultan quickly took a liking to Ibn Battuta, and the now seasoned explorer was given the job of qadi, essentially a judge in Delhi. While this was a great honor, it was a bit difficult for Ibn Battuta to do from his position to enforce Islamic law due to the general opinion of it in India out of Delhi. Eventually, the adventurer would continue his journey into the rest of India nonetheless.

Islam rapidly expanded from the Arabian Peninsula, launching attacks across the Middle East and into southern France and Spain. This expansion involved naval assaults on Mediterranean coastal towns, resulting in significant violence and the capture of over a million slaves from Europe. In Spain, over 200 battles occurred over 400 years, with Christians eventually pushing back against Muslim forces. Meanwhile, in the east, the fall of Constantinople marked the beginning of Jihad in Eastern Europe. Northern Africa and the Middle East became entirely Islamic. This relentless Jihad was driven by the teachings of Mohammed, with new sultans often initiating wars to establish their legacy in Islamic history.

Long before Europe's industrial rise, the West African city of Timbuktu stood as a beacon of wealth, knowledge, and trade. Located in the ancient Mali Empire, Timbuktu was home to gold rich kings like Mansa Musee, the richest man in history. Caravans crossed the Sahara, loaded with salt, ivory, and manuscripts, making the city an economic and intellectual powerhouse. At its peak in the fourteenth century, Timbuktu had libraries that rivaled any in Europe and scholars that shaped science and theology. While London was still developing, Timbuktu was already flourishing with gold markets. Universities and global influence proving Africa wasn't just surviving history, it was making it.