In @lostterminal 14.6 we hear about how in EM waves the electric and magnetic parts are out of phase and that propagates the wave. I think/thought this must be how it works for years. It makes sense. They swing back and forth harmonically.

But that cannot be right, because in every visualization the two waves are in phase (e.g. see Wikipedia image attached). Physicists would have corrected that by now if that was wrong, right?

Right after explaining this is the episode it says the explanation is wrong but truer than the old model. What is the old model they referred to? In phase? Particles? Aether?