About this episode

This episode discusses Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and explores various aspects of space travel and its history.

Season 2 starts now! Space ships, rocket launches, and the realities of being an astronaut! Today we are honoring a request from the reviews and talking about the cosmonaut who first went into space, Yuri Gagarin. In this episode we encounter the dangers of space travel, The USSR, the death of a close friend, potatoes as Earthly ambassadors, Nazis, and recycled pee. Some questions answered in this episode: Who was the first person in space? What is a Cosmonaut? Who went to the moon first? What is the Space Race? What is the USSR? Who was Vladimir Komorov? What do potatoes have to do with space? How hard is space travel? And more.

Topics covered

• space travel
• Yuri Gagarin
• cosmonauts
• USSR
• Space Race
• dangers of space travel

Keywords

• Yuri Gagarin
• first man in space
• cosmonaut
• space travel
• USSR
• Space Race
• Vladimir Komorov
• potatoes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USSR

Products: potatoes

Places: Earth, space

More episodes of History Snacks

• Season 2 Trailer! · September 8, 2026 · 1 min
• BITE: Dolly Parton · August 26, 2026 · 3 min
• BITE: The Nok Terra-Cotta Statues · August 19, 2026 · 2 min
• BITE: A Roman Shipwreck in 2026 · August 12, 2026 · 2 min
• BITE: What is Letterlocking? · August 5, 2026 · 3 min
• BITE: The Caesar Cipher · July 29, 2026 · 2 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the History Snacks podcast page.