Memory Palace

Older son was playing some audio clips from Memory Palace today. There was one about William Walker that was particularly fascinating. I tried to play the clip on my computer when we got home, but my Chrome browser, she no want to cooperate. I was able to download the clip, and download and install the VLC media player, so if your browser is being uncooperative, there are other ways to skin this cat.
    This introductory paragraph from Wikipedia will give you some idea of what we are dealing with:

William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was a US lawyer, journalist and adventurer, who organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as " filibustering." Walker became president of the Republic of Nicaragua in 1856 and ruled until 1857, when he was defeated by a coalition of Central American armies, principally Costa Rica's army. He was executed by the government of Honduras in 1860.

The key word here is filibustering. This guy started out as a doctor and graduated to being a journalist, which gives you some idea of the relative status of the two professions at this time. This was all long before he got into the adventuring business. The audio clip gives a very different flavor to this story.