Why do we live in the "Americas" rather than the "Columbias"? In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the enigmatic Florentine explorer who recognized what Christopher Columbus did not: that the lands across the Atlantic were a distinct "New World" and not Asia,.

We trace Vespucci’s journey from a well-connected business agent for the Medici family in Renaissance Florence to a merchant in Seville, where he managed the provisioning of ships for the West Indies,. We discuss his transition from commerce to exploration, detailing his voyages under the flags of Spain and Portugal, where he realized the South American coast constituted a previously unknown fourth continent,.

The episode also dives into the ma ...