Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Lauren Volgebaum, host of the new House Stuff
Speaker 1: Works Now podcast. Every week, I'll be bringing you three
Speaker 1: stories from our team about the weird and wondrous developments
Speaker 1: we've seen in science, technology, and culture. Fresh episodes will
Speaker 1: be out every Monday on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music,
Speaker 1: and everywhere else that find podcasts are found everybody. I
Speaker 1: imagine that you are curious like I am, about the
Speaker 1: world about how things work. Right, That's probably why you're
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Speaker 1: brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey everybody, this is
Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm Christian Seger, and I just got back
Speaker 1: from a vacation. Here's the thing, though, If I were
Speaker 1: going out of the country, let's say, to sunny Bolivia,
Speaker 1: my whole trip would have hinged on one vital thing,
Speaker 1: my passport. But what is this thing exactly? Why do
Speaker 1: I need it to travel? Well, the first question has
Speaker 1: a pretty clear cut answer. A passport is a document
Speaker 1: issued by a government that verifies your identity and gives
Speaker 1: you the right to travel under its protection. The word
Speaker 1: passport comes from passport of Middle French phrase from around
Speaker 1: the fifteen hundreds. However, the idea of a passport is
Speaker 1: positively ancient. You can find evidence of state sponsored travel
Speaker 1: documents dating from as far back as four hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty b c. And since that time these documents have
Speaker 1: existed in one form or another, with varying degrees of success.
Speaker 1: Since about the nineteen eighties, most passports have been regulated
Speaker 1: by a department of the United Nations called the International
Speaker 1: Civil Aviation Organization or I see A. Oh, so why
Speaker 1: do you need one? Well, ultimately it goes down to
Speaker 1: proof of nationality. For example, let's say I was caught
Speaker 1: up in a vast conspiracy and I had to travel
Speaker 1: to the Vatican. That happens, right anyhow, I'm flying into
Speaker 1: Italy and I have to present some sort of proof
Speaker 1: that I'm really coming from where I say I am
Speaker 1: coming from. Otherwise, any old supervillain with a plausible Yankee
Speaker 1: accent could stroll off their runway pretending to be an American. Right, So,
Speaker 1: possessing a passport is like having your country of origin
Speaker 1: vouched for you, assuring other nations that you are in
Speaker 1: fact the person you say you are. Keep in mind, however,
Speaker 1: that possession of a valid passport alone does not guarantee
Speaker 1: your entrance. Countries allow visitors at their own discretion, which
Speaker 1: means that in theory, they can refuse entry to pretty
Speaker 1: much anyone at any time. So even if you have
Speaker 1: a valid passport, make sure to check the entry policies
Speaker 1: of the country you're visiting before you hop on that plane.
Speaker 1: And not everyone's happy with the passport system. In the
Speaker 1: Invention of the Passport, professor John Torpi argues that it
Speaker 1: is inherently a monopoly of the state, meaning a private
Speaker 1: company like say how Stuff Works, couldn't just slap my
Speaker 1: mug in a little book and send me off to Japan.
Speaker 1: Religious organizations can't do this either. Not only do countries
Speaker 1: control the passport system, but the issuing country can revoke
Speaker 1: your passport at any time. And of course, not everyone
Speaker 1: has a passport either. Only about forty six percent of
Speaker 1: Americans had either a passport or the less comprehensive passport card.
Speaker 1: The percent who don't have one overwhelmingly didn't get it
Speaker 1: because well, they just didn't want the thing. However, pe
Speaker 1: can end up without a passport for numerous reasons. Perhaps
Speaker 1: it's lost or stolen, in which case you'll need to
Speaker 1: contact your local consulate. In cases of war torn countries,
Speaker 1: refugees may not have a passport. Some people are even
Speaker 1: considered stateless, meaning the country they live in does not
Speaker 1: consider them a citizen. The United Nations has special laws
Speaker 1: describing how to issue travel documents in these cases, So
Speaker 1: there you have it. In theory, almost every single person
Speaker 1: on the globe needs a passport or some sort of
Speaker 1: official document to travel. This official document could be something
Speaker 1: for an individual, or it could be an agreement between
Speaker 1: specific countries. At one point or another, there's no other
Speaker 1: way to legally travel. Virtually everyone needs something like this. Ah,
Speaker 1: but did you notice how I just said almost every
Speaker 1: person and virtually everyone. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. There
Speaker 1: is one person in the world who can travel freely
Speaker 1: and legally without a passport or other documents. The Queen
Speaker 1: of England. True story. British passports are issued in the
Speaker 1: name of the Queen. Therefore, it's not necessary for her
Speaker 1: to have one. The rest of the family has to
Speaker 1: have a passport, though even the Princes William and Harry.
Speaker 1: Check out the brain Stuff channel on YouTube, and for
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how
Speaker 1: staff works dot com.