Introduction#

Good morning! It’s January 12th, 2025, and welcome to “Here’s a Minute, a short-form podcast with history, fun facts, and a prompt in a minute — or maybe two. I’m Lex Wu.

Historical Fact#

And I’m Vian Vera. On January 15th, 2001, every student’s best friend, Wikipedia launched. It’s not a question of whether it’s trustworthy, it’s a question of how much do you want to question your saving grace on a 2AM paper.

Fun Fact#

Wikipedia is the 8th most visited website in the world — which goes to show that the struggle is real.

Writing Prompts#

You’re a scholar thousands of years ago wandering an enormous library in search of a specific book. It didn’t take you long to get lost, and now the books seem to be talking to you. How do you escape?

Write a biography for yourself or someone you know as if it was a Wikipedia article. Don’t worry about citing your sources — trust your instincts!

Fun Challenge#

If you’d like to try out something fun this week, here’s a challenge. Give yourself 1 minute to read a Wikipedia article, then try and rewrite it from memory. It’s hard creating an encyclopedia for the masses.

Outro#

We haven’t quite got our online portal online yet, but we’ll soon be releasing a companion podcast and website, so your work can be featured online to the world.

This podcast was written and hosted by Vian Vera and Lex Wu. We’ll see you next week.