All Podcasts / No Such Thing As A Fish / No Such Thing As Doing A Solzhenitsyn
No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing As Doing A Solzhenitsyn

March 26, 2026 • 57m

Summary

⏱️ 5 min read

Overview

A wide-ranging podcast episode featuring guest Deliso Chaponda discussing Bible smuggling operations, the unique biodiversity of Lake Malawi, early British space suit designs with capes and walking sticks, and quirky celebrity Scrabble habits. The conversation weaves through historical smuggling operations, African geography, space exploration mishaps, and the surprising hobbies of rock stars.

Mass Bible Smuggling into China

The episode opens with the remarkable story of how over one million Bibles were smuggled into China in 1981 by water in a single operation. The smugglers used a specially-designed sinking barge called Michael to transport 139 tons of waterproof Bibles, with believers and businessmen wading neck-deep into the water to retrieve them. The operation was part of a larger movement led by Andrew Van Der Biel and the organization Open Doors, which had been smuggling religious texts across the Iron Curtain for decades.

  • More than one million Bibles (139 tons) were smuggled into China by water in 1981 in a single operation
  • The smuggling vessel was called Michael and was designed to sink beneath the water with waterproof Bibles
  • Andrew Van Der Biel founded Open Doors and wrote 'God's Smuggler,' which sold over 10 million copies
  • Christianity actually grew in China during this period partly because the forbidden nature made it more alluring
" Usually you're smuggling cocaine or weapons, not Bibles. "
" When I put the USB stick in my bum, I always put it the wrong way around. "
" He would pray to make seeing eyes blind. And the Border Patrol people would be searching his car and couldn't find the Bibles, even though they were just sat there running back and forth. "

Lake Malawi's Extraordinary Biodiversity

Lake Malawi contains over a thousand different species of the same kind of fish (cichlids), all evolved from a single species that arrived about three million years ago. The lake is so massive it has waves up to six meters high and is known as the Calendar Lake because it's roughly 365 miles long and 52 miles wide. Scientists believe the species diversification happened because water levels fluctuated dramatically over millennia, sometimes splitting the lake into smaller bodies that reunited later.

  • Lake Malawi contains approximately 1,000 species of cichlid fish, all evolved from one original species
  • The lake is nicknamed the Calendar Lake because it's 365 miles long and 52 miles wide
  • Water levels have plunged by over 200 meters more than 20 times in its history, splitting the lake and enabling species diversification
  • The eye-biter fish species found in Lake Malawi has been discovered with eyes in its stomach
  • The fastest swim across the lake took 7 hours 42 minutes, while swimming its length took 63 days
" When you go to the ocean, you only swim in the shallow area. You don't go away. So I've swam in it, but I've never been more than 50 meters up. Because it's so big. "
" If you knocked me out, I would think I'm at the ocean. "

📚 2 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from No Such Thing As A Fish