The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean
A topsy-turvy science-y history podcast by Sam Kean. I examine overlooked stories from our past: the dental superiority of hunter-gatherers, the crooked Nazis who saved thousands of American lives, the American immigrants who developed the most successful cancer screening tool in history, the sex lives of dinosaurs, and much, much more. These are charming little tales that never made the history books, but these small moments can be surprisingly powerful. These are the cases where history gets inverted, where the footnote becomes the real story.
Episodes
NASA’s Unmentionable(s) Adventure
In the 1960s, NASA needed a better spacesuit. So they turned to the one firm on earth capable of meeting their strict standards—the Playtex underwear company. Episode below!Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/
The Pioneers and Vestiges of Evolution
His book on evolution rocked 1800s England. Not Charles Darwin. Robert Chambers, whose infamous tome both horrified Darwin, yet paved the way for him.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out
The Angel of the Concentration Camp
Nurse Laura Cobb saved more lives than Clara Barton or Florence Nightingale, and under far worse conditions—in a brutal World War II concentration camp. So why did the world forget her?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://re
The Battery Dope
In the 1950s, scientists hated politics. Then one Allen Astin got fired. After that, scientists knew they had to play politics—or face professional annihilation.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivac
The Making of the “Flat Earth” Myth
No one in Columbus’s time believed the world was flat. So why did so many children learn this bogus “fact” in school? It all goes back to Rip van Winkle...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Op
Forensic Pseudoscience
When the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, the two most scientific detectives in the world took on the case. But they overlooked the real enemy—their own petty prejudice.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com
Manhattan Project Propaganda
The Smyth Report is the strangest book ever written on atomic bombs—as well as highly effective science propaganda, warping our view of everything from the Manhattan Project to Robert Oppenheimer. Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries
Back-Breaking Science
When a British sub sank with all hands, JBS Haldane volunteered to investigate by experimenting on himself—even if it meant losing his own life in the process. (Part 2 of 2.)Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com
The Canaries in the Submarine
There’s only one thing Dr. John Haldane loved more than running dangerous experiments on himself—running them on his son Jack. But the duo would revolutionize our understanding of the human body.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries:
Charles Lindbergh, Lab Rat
When Charles Lindbergh's sister-in-law developed heart trouble, he teamed up with a Nobel-Prize-winning doctor to save her. He had no idea the dark paths his work would lead him down, including Nazi politics and eugenics...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - bu
The Publicity Stunt that Sparked the Scopes Monkey Trial
Exactly a century ago, teacher John Scopes was charged with the “crime” of teaching evolution. But Scopes was hardly a defiant Galileo, nobly standing up for truth. In fact, he never even taught evolution. (Really.) But despite the unseemly origins of the Monkey Trial, Scopes proved himself a genuine hero...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://ele
The Great Balloon Escape
Astronomer Jules Janssen was desperate to escape the siege of Paris in 1870 and observe an eclipse in Africa—work that he hoped would confirm his discovery of a brand new element in the Sun, helium. So he devised a plan to escape the city in a hot-air balloon, despite promises by the German army to shoot him as a spy if he dared try...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" f
The Corny, Cringy, Very Bad Television Show that Just Might Save Your Life
In the 1970s, paramedic units were illegal in the United States. One (very bad) television show, Emergency!, set out to change that—and saved tens of thousands of lives in the process.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://red
Bringing an Extinct Owl Back to Life
The work of Richard Meinertzhagen helped convince biologists that the Forest Owlet of India had gone extinct. But after Meinertzhagen’s frauds were exposed, one biologist grew obsessed with finding out whether it just might be alive still. (Part 2 of 2)Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The
Trickster, Birder, Soldier, Spy
He was a brilliant ornithologist—and a spy so colorful that James Bond was based on him. Richard Meinertzhagen was also a liar and a thief, and perpetrated the biggest fraud in biology history. Episode below!Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertisin
Why Not Just Rename the “Hitler Beetle”?
Taxonomy has a sadly ugly history of naming species after despicable people—even Adolf Hitler. Given the controversy these names generate, there have been many calls to drop them. But taxonomists have so far resisted most of these efforts, for reasons both good and bad...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out S
John James Fraudubon
The eagle that made John James Audubon famous, the Bird of Washington was nothing but an elaborate lie. Fawning biographers have suppressed this fact for years, but careful historical work has unraveled the Audubon legend, and shown that much of his life, and work, was built on deceit. (Part 2 of 2)Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader
The Bird that Made John James Audubon a Legend
After several heartbreaking setbacks, John James Audubon’s career was in ruins—until he hatched a desperate plan to win new patrons. It involved a rare American eagle, the Bird of Washington. And when the gamble paid off, it made Audubon the most famous ornithologist in history...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new b
The Dignity of the Ig Nobel Prizes
The Ig Nobel Prize is the bizarro cousin of the Nobel Prize—awarded for odd or unusual research “that first makes you laugh, then makes you think.” Some scientists hate them, and have refused to accept the award. But they’ve grown into a beloved institution—and one with some surprising benefits to science.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://eleve
The Nobel Disease
Winning a Nobel Prize is a good thing—mostly. But surprisingly often, Nobel laureates go kooky and start promoting bizarre things like homeopathy, ESP, AIDS denialism, and worse. Psychologists are starting to understand why...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy
Dinner with King Tut audiobook preview
A preview of my brand new book, Dinner with King Tut!Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Why Doctors and Scientists Embraced the Nazis
Nazism was a society-wide catastrophe for Germany, but some professions deserve more blame than others. In particular, there was a surprisingly large percentage of doctors and engineers among the Nazis. Sociologists and historians have now worked out why.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, Th
Hotter than the Dickens
When Charles Dickens published Bleak House in 1852, he included a scene where one character spontaneously combusts. 🔥 🔥 🔥 Readers loved it, but one of Dickens’s good friends—a former scientist—blasted Dickens for his scientific ignorance. It ignited one of the strangest controversies in literary history.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenr
Jake Leg Blues
It was one the largest epidemics in American history: 30,000 people paralyzed over a few months in 1930. A dogged epidemiologist eventually traced the cause to adulterated bottles of an illegal liquor/medicine called “jake.” Yet the epidemic is almost completely forgotten. About the only place it survived was in blues songs...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a grea
The Worst of Times, the Asbestos Times
Asbestos was once considered a miracle substance—a wonder of the modern age, due to its role in stopping the fires that once plagued every major city. Unfortunately, it also shreds people’s lungs. Most countries were willing to live with that trade-off, until a crusading doctor named Irving Selikoff made it his life's mission to get asbestos banned.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use
Human Photosynthesis
Rickets was once a devastating disease: up to 90 percent of the children showed symptoms in some cities, including bent spines and bowed legs, and it resulted in many women dying during childbirth. The search for the cause of rickets took decades, and ended with a startling discovery—that much like plants, human beings had the ability to photosynthesize.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and us
The Sad Story of Darwin’s Self-Procleimed “Stupidest” Child
Leonard Darwin had a lot to live up to. He was the son of the legendary Charles, and several siblings proved to be brilliant scientists as well. But Leonard never quite measured up as a mediocre military officer and two-bit politician. In his fifties, he pronounced his life a “failure.” But in his sixties, he finally found his calling—the dark pseudoscience of eugenics, a field he embraced in part
The Birds and the Bees and the Frogs
A young woman in the mid-1900s couldn’t take an at-home pregnancy test. Instead, she sent a vial of urine to a clinic, where a technician would, of all things, inject it into a frog, and hormones in the urine would cause the frog to lay eggs. This frog-based test was far faster, easier, and cleaner than any pregnancy test before, and it shifted power for family planning from doctors to women thems
The Would-Be Saint's Battle over Down Syndrome
After scientists had a handle on how many chromosomes humans have, other researchers began exploring whether certain ailments might be caused by chromosomal abnormalities. To this end, a French cardiologist discovered that Down syndrome was caused by the presence of an extra chromosome in humans. But a colleague stole credit for her work, and the battle over their legacies continues to this day, i
The Battle over Human Chromosomes
It seems like a simple question: how many chromosomes do human beings have? But getting an accurate count proved surprisingly hard for much of last century. In fact, virtually every textbook once cited an incorrect number, until in 1956, a fiery Indonesian scientist finally determined the true count—and had to battle his boss over who would receive credit for this legacy-making discovery.Our Spons
The Halley's Comet Panic
The 1910 return of Halley’s comet was greeted with rapture around the world—at least at first. Due to irresponsible speculation by scientists about the theoretical dangers of a close encounter with a comet, many people grew terrified of Halley’s approach and took drastic measures. They fled their homes, hid out in wells or caves, even committed suicide. It’s a grave reminder of scientific communic
The Winter when People Ate Tulips
It’s the 80th anniversary of the Dutch Hongerwinter during World War II, which led to widespread starvation, and an inadvertent breakthrough in treating deadly celiac disease.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.co
Why Keep a Diary of a Toxic Snakebite?
After 40 years of studying snakes, Karl Schmidt finally suffered his first bite. And when he did, he kept a gruesome diary to document the suffering and danger—right up to the edge of death...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: htt
Machiavellian Microbes
Parasites can force animals to do nefarious things by manipulating their minds—including, uncomfortably, the minds of human beings.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle
The Woman Who “Turned Back a Plague of Old Testament Proportions”
In refusing to approve the drug thalidomide, FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey spared thousands of babies from deadly birth defects and revolutionized drug research. But was her legacy all good?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries:
The Doom Lurking inside Trees
Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake has sparked a revolution in archaeology by studying radioactive tree rings—work that also terrifies astronomers, who fear it foretells doom for our civilization.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: htt
The Mona Lisa of the Seine
A woman who drowned in Paris became one of the most famous faces in the world as the model for CPR dummies, saving millions of lives and inspiring artists from Pablo Picasso to Michael Jackson—all while remaining completely unknown.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things
Savant Idiots
In the early 1800s, the first Egyptian mummies in Europe served as a crucial test for evolution—a test that, according to people then, evolution flunked.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-
When Mummymania Swept the World
In the 1800s, mummies found their way into everything from fertilizer to food, and were especially prized as medicine. Mummymania was a strange time...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Ou
The Sadder Side of the Nobel Prizes
How did a man who developed a Nobel Prize–worthy idea (green-fluorescing protein, GFP) end up driving a shuttle van for a living, and missing the Prize completely? Therein lies a sad story...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: http
The Scientific Way to Fool a Nazi
Physicist Gyorgy Hevesy had a talent for tricks and stunts—including one that prevented Nazi stormtroopers from stealing a gold Nobel Prize.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://
The Mysterious Mote
A summer bonus episode: Russ Schnell's professors mocked him for believing that plants somehow caused hailstorms. He not only proved them wrong, but uncovered profound connections between life, earth, and the air above...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy
The Science of D-Day
Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, a look at the surprisingly important role science played in shaping—and remaking—an invasion that could have easily been a disaster...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://
Can Plastic Surgery Keep You out of Prison?
One doctor’s controversial crusade to keep men and women out of prison through nose jobs, eye lifts, and other plastic surgery.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com
The Russian Roswell
In 1959, nine Russian hikers mysteriously died on a trek through the snowy wilderness—fueling a half-century of hysterical conspiracies. Has science finally cracked the case?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com
When Tenure Means Life and Death
After a tenure dispute, mechanical engineer Valery Fabrikant murdered four colleagues in cold blood at his university in Montreal. So why is he still allowed to publish scientific papers?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://
A Deadly Soup for Babies
Chemist Justus von Liebig was perhaps the most famous scientist in the world in the mid-1800s—but quickly became infamous for his role in the killing of four starving infants.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.co
How the “Worst Serial Killer in Holland’s History” Went Free
Patient after patient died under the care of a single nurse in Holland. So why did so many statisticians think Lucia de Berk was innocent?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://re
The Eclipse that Killed a King
Rama IV of Siam (from the “King and I” musical) used an eclipse to save his kingdom from greedy colonial powers. But it cost him his own life in the end.Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-
When Generosity Turns Pathological
One Brazilian man’s brain damage transformed him into a selfless giver. So why did he infuriate so many people—and what does his case say about the biological roots of generosity?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircl
The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 2)
Jack Parsons was a devil-worshipping FBI rat who led a sex cult and was bosom buddies with L. Ron Hubbard. He was also one of the most important rocket scientists in history. (Episode 2 of 2)Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: http
The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 1)
Jack Parsons was a devil-worshiping FBI rat who led a sex cult and was bosom buddies with L. Ron Hubbard. He was also one of the most important rocket scientists in history. (Episode 1 of 2)Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https
Don't Drink the Milk bonus episode - Milk: From mutations to mustaches
Who put the cheese in your stuffed-crust pizza? Or cows on a Caribbean island? And when more than half the world's population can't actually digest milk, is it really essential for a healthy diet? On a trip through time and taste—to dairy-obsessed Bulgaria, colonial Trinidad and Tobago and the ‘Got Milk?’ era—we explore humanity's millennia-long relationship with milk.Listen to Don'
Was Darwin a Murderer?
In 1878, two Paris dandies murdered an old woman—and blamed Charles Darwin for their crime. But the wild scandal that followed only solidified Darwin as the greatest scientist of his age...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https:
Mass Psychosis in Food Science
Americans happily ate monosodium glutamate for decades. Then one (possibly fake) letter sparked mass hysteria over “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, and the bogus MSG scare was born...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcir
Accounting for Taste
Scientists have confirmed five basic human tastes—sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. But is that all? Debate now rages about adding a sixth or seventh or even eighth(!) to the Big Five...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: http
If Indiana Jones Were a Swindler
James Mellaart discovered one of the most important archaeological sites ever, Çatalhöyük in Turkey. But his lust for treasure—and a penchant for fraud—led him to throw it all away...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redc
The British Tobacco Empire
He helped launch the British Empire and spawned a public-health epidemic that killed hundreds of millions of people. Blame him for the lost colony of Roanoke, too. Thomas Harriot has a lot to answer for...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising I
"Moldy Mary," The Forgotten Mother of Penicillin
She helped discover arguably the most important drug in history. And she got zero credit. They called her Moldy Mary—but she turned that insult into triumph...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy
The Most Exclusive Club in the World
As recent submersible tragedies reveal, it’s harder to reach extreme ocean depths than the Moon. Meet the people who got there first—and barely lived to tell to the tale...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/b
Death-Defying Science at 75,000 Feet
You wouldn’t think a lanky, awkward balloon geek would inspire Hollywood. But the death-defying Auguste Piccard was a worthy namesake for Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek fame...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com
Proving Einstein Right
Albert Einstein’s relativity was just another theory at first, speculative and unproven—until Arthur Eddington and a special eclipse. Meet the weirdo scientist who made Einstein into *Einstein*...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries:
Einstein's Golden Moment
It was the most powerful emotional moment of Albert Einstein’s life—the instant he knew he was a genius. But in confirming his theory of relativity, it also opened him up to attacks, sometimes rather vicious, from around the world...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Thing
Everything You Know About Phineas Gage Is Wrong
Despite what you’ve heard, neuroscience’s most famous patient did not turn into a lying, drunken psychopath. He’s actually an amazing example of resiliency and overcoming trauma...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcirc
Why Do We Obsess Over Charles Darwin’s Health?
Is it serious historical work? Respectable gossip? Blatantly prying into people’s lives? Retro-diagnosing historical celebrities like Darwin and Lincoln and Hitler and Poe is all of the above and more...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inq
The Seeds of Starvation
During the Nazi invasion of Russia during World War II, nine Soviet scientists starved to death surrounded by millions of delicious fruits, seeds, and nuts. Were they mad? No. They wanted to save humankind from doomsday...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy tod
When Scientific Brilliance Isn’t Enough
William Halford thought he had a surefire vaccine to stop herpes. And he wasn’t going to let anything—laws, ethics, his patients’ well-being—stop him from saving the world...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com
The Curse of Knowing Too Much
Paul Stoutenburgh knew more atomic secrets than anyone on Earth. So was that why he killed himself? And if not, why was the government (seemingly) so uninterested in getting to the bottom of his death?Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inqui
The Enigmas of Foreign Accent Syndrome
Can you really collapse and wake up speaking a totally new language? Not quite. But “foreign accent syndrome” is a real, frightening—and bizarre—neurological disorder...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/bran
The World’s Only Natural Nuclear Reactor
What a bizarre site in Africa—a 1.7-billion-year-old, completely natural nuclear reactor—says about the future of energy production on planet Earth...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out
How New DNA Sleuthing Can Expose Dangerous Killers—and You
Genetic genealogy can catch brutal killers. It can also unmask affairs, secret adoptions, and other dark secrets. As well as expose you—yes, you—to the unholy alliance of Big Tech and shady police work...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising In
The Real Tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer
He coulda would shoulda been the next Einstein. Instead, Robert Oppenheimer fritted away his talents on trendy science and political gamesmanship—and it burned him deep in his soul...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redc
The Brilliant, Groundbreaking, and Wildly Overrated Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was brilliant, groundbreaking—and especially with regard to his science—wildly overrated. All because he lacked one all-important quality: sitzfleisch...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/br
Spring update and "Innate" trailer
An update on the spring season of Disappearing Spoon (early episodes for Patreon subscribers!), plus a trailer for the new "Innate" series from the great people behind the Science History Institute's "Distillations podcast"Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of
Death Squared
The “mouse utopia” experiment showed just how quickly animal heaven can turn into animal hell—and revealed how eager human beings are to interpret science through the lens of extremist politics...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries:
Death by Nutrition
Polar explorer Douglas Mawson made several mistakes on his harrowing journey across Antarctica. But the biggest blunder involved eating animal livers oversaturated with vitamin A, a sure death sentence...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising In
The Roadside Apocalypse
Automobiles kill several million animals every single day. Scientists are still coming to grips with the carnage...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
The Blind Visionary
Thomas Schall was first blind member of Congress. There, he envisioned a better, smarter, more efficient world—brought about by his radical new calendar. Too bad the rest of us couldn’t see the future as clearly as he did...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy t
The Scariest Paradise on Earth
The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea is a place of guns and heartache and anger—and also one of the most thriving natural wildlife habitats on Earth...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-O
The Naked Shibboleth
Naked mole-rats are medical marvels—impervious to cancer and immune to old age. Too bad they’re also vicious murderers...Our Sponsors:* Check out ElevenReader and use my code "Spoon" for a great deal: https://elevenreader.io* I have a new book out September 15th, The Museum of Lost Things - buy today! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/priva
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