Imagine building a billionaire's mega-mansion in the middle of the desert with no running water, then imagine doing it a thousand years ago. That is the bizarre contradiction at the heart of Nan Madol, a monumental city of 92 artificial islands built atop a coral reef in the Pacific.

This episode explores one of history's most remarkable and overlooked engineering achievements: the ceremonial capital of the Saudeleur dynasty, built with no fresh water or food of its own. We cover how the megaliths were moved, why elites chose such an impractical site, the dynasty's tyrannical fall, and the pseudoscience that robs its builders of credit.

• How builders likely floated multi-ton basalt logs on rafts using the tides, inspiring legends of sorcerers and a flying dragon
• Why the rulers deliberately built on a barren reef, forcing r ...