The Episodic Table of Elements
A podcast about the fascinating true stories behind each element on the periodic table.
Episodes
95. Americium: Mundus Novus
Many episodes have incorporated geology, but this one is more about geography. (And amateur nuclear science.)
94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade
Element 94 causes a bit of a crisis for our collections.
93. Neptunium: Great Expectations
To the person who said, "the episodes are never too long," I'm terribly sorry.
The Episodic Table Of Elements Holiday Special
♪ O chemistry, o chemistry, the study of all matter ♫
92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)
America's worst radioactive accident isn't Three Mile Island, and the Nazi nuclear physicist wasn't assassinated by the famous baseball player.
91. Protactinium: Decolonize Science
Sometimes we need a quiet moment in order to step back and look at the bigger picture.
90. Thorium: Bright Lights, Big City
Sure, thorium could provide practically limitless clean energy, but then we couldn't build weapons of mass destruction.
89. Actinium: The Windup… And The Pitchblende
We all know that radioactive rocks glow in the dark, except they actually don't, except for when they actually do.
88. Radium: Several Sordid Affairs
Out of all the characters who encounter radium in this episode, the only one to emerge unscathed is the guy who comes face-to-face with Satan.
87. Francium: Nothing To Do With Cats
You don't have to have a degree to do science, but it helps.
86. Radon: It’s Coming From Inside The House
You know something's amiss when you set off the radiation alarms while walking in to the nuclear power plant.
85. Astatine: Pathological Science
The story of astatine takes us to Alabama, Dacca, Romania, Vienna, and California, but definitely not Switzerland.
84. Polonium: The Distinguished Alumna Of Warsaw’s Flying University
Sadly, it's no longer possible to purchase this lethally radioactive element for fifteen cents and a cereal boxtop.
83. Bismuth: The Friendly Oddball
The periodic table shows the natural patterns and trends among the elements. Bismuth does not abide.
82. Lead: Irrational Self-Interest
We just can't seem to stop chasing the sweet, sweet taste of element 82.
81. Thallium: It Rides A Pale Horse
In which we learn how reading mystery novels might very well save a life.
80. Mercury: Fatally Toxic And Probably In Your Mouth
Even if you hate tuna, have flawless teeth, and only use digital thermometers, humans have historically not been shy about getting a mouthful of mercury.
79. Gold: Lump Sum
All other metals step aside, because today we deal with the king of elements.
78. Platinum: A Tous Les Temps, A Tous Les Peuples
Sometimes, being set in stone isn't permanent enough.
77. Iridium: T. Rex And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Alvarez noticed a great disturbance in the rocks, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
76. Osmium: It Stinks!
This entire episode serves as cautionary advice to anyone seeking to add osmium to their element collection.
75. Rhenium: A Love Of Two Brains
Witness an incredible, unbreakable bond between two who couldn't be more alike. We'll also learn about a married couple.
74. Tungsten: What Is The Atom We Love?
All right, everybody settle down. Welcome to the weekly meeting of the National Association Of W Lovers.
73. Tantalum: Mystery Meat
Once more, the periodic table drags us to hell -- this time by way of ancient Greece.
72. Hafnium: The Isomer Bomb
The science suggests hafnium can't be used to create a gamma ray bomb, but that won't stop the U.S. government from trying.
71. Lutetium: Swampland Centaurs
Let us ensure we remember the lanthanide series before we leave it behind once and for all.
70. Ytterbium: White Gold
When Johann Bottger failed to turn lead into gold, porcelain made a pretty good consolation prize.
69. Thulium: Out Of The Way
We'll go to the land of the ice and snow... and figure out exactly where that is, too.
68. Erbium: Hyperlink
Element 68 plays an important role in stitching together the World Wide Web -- for better or for worse.
67. Holmium: This Magnet Moment
Holmium: Equally beloved by theoretical physicists and Jedi Knights.
66. Dysprosium: Hard To Get
You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a windmill, baby, right round round round.
65. Terbium: The Joy of Tedium
For more than one reason, element 65 makes the short list of "most annoying elements."
64. Gadolinium: Three Wise Men
Like Luke Skywalker, today's tale takes a farmboy to greatness.
63. Europium: The Age Of Enlightenment
As element collectors, may we all one day be as fortunate as Frank Harold Spedding.
62. Samarium: Eponymous Honorarium
We hear all sorts of incredible stories on this podcast, but today we'll meet the most unbelievable character of all time: A friendly bureaucrat.
61. Promethium: What A Friend We Have In Prometheus
We've met mythological light-bearers before, but this one possesses a decidedly nobler spirit.
60. Neodymium: Anarchy And Order
Decades of complex geopolitical chaos ultimately result in one afternoon's rather embarrassing hospital visit.
59. Praseodymium: Grandiloquent Sesquipedalianism
Sometimes, the most interesting aspect of an element has nothing to do with chemistry at all.
58. Cerium: Light My Fire
It's the most common flint you'll find, except it's not actually flint at all.
57. Lanthanum: Hidden In Plain Sight
Let's uncover element 57, and find out why the "rare earths" are neither rare nor earths nor an empire.
56. Barium: Glow-Getter
When you really want to suck all the air out of a room, barium will help you out.
55. Caesium: A Brief History Of Time
We'll trace the history of the most important caesium-based technology all the way back to its original roots: a stick.
54. Xenon: Ignoble Gas
Truly strange things start to happen when you breathe this rarefied air.
53. Iodine: Purple Haze
We'll pull in our elemental haul from the sea while Lady Jane Davy spits in the ocean.
52. Tellurium: To Hell You Ride
Collecting elements can be risky business. Tellurium is one of those elements that poses a dire threat -- not to one's health, but to the element collector's reputation in polite society.
51. Antimony: Can You Return An Inheritance?
It's like an Everlasting Gobstopper, but Willy Wonka is a fratricidal German monk.
50. Tin: Your Metal Pal Who’s Fun To Be With
We've palled around with tin for thousands of years, but you should know that it's a fair-weather friend.
49. Indium: The Spectre Of Isaac
The story of indium is pretty straightforward, but its namesake is practically impossible to pin down.
48. Cadmium: Don’t You Know That You’re Toxic?
Cadmium will let you choose among a range of orange-ish hues, but it's some pretty awful news if you contract the "cadmium blues."
47. Silver: Our Own Image
Silver is more than just a precious metal. It's also a reflection of ourselves.
46. Palladium: The Old Razzle Dazzle
Those people who've been involved with palladium's history seem to harbor a dubious predilection for stretching the truth.
45. Rhodium: The Most Precious Metal
For some people, rhodium's most important aspect is its high price. For others, it's absolutely priceless.
44. Ruthenium: The Glow Cloud
Element 44 is technically not named for Russia... but perhaps it should be.
43. Technetium: Naturally Synthetic
It's only after we gave up searching for this element that we found it out in the universe.
42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons
Before we talk about one big gun, let's discuss 1,500 years of military technology.
41. Niobium: No More Tears
We delve into elemental etymology today, and get to investigate a chemical phenomenon.
40. Zirconium: Burning Up, Melting Down
Today, we reach the last element on the periodic table -- but only alphabetically speaking.
39. Yttrium: It’s A Quiet Village
Welcome to the sleepy Swedish town of Ytterby. I hope you like it, because we'll be spending an awful lot of time there later in the series.
38. Strontium: Little Town
Let's look past the bad reputation this element has to learn how it's an essential part of an idyllic childhood.
37. Rubidium: What’s Cooler Than Being Cool?
Rubidium is more explosive than the alkali metals above it on the table, but it's much more interesting when it's standing almost perfectly still.
36. Krypton: It’s A Metric
Like argon, today's noble gas coincidentally features prominently in science fiction -- albeit in name only. But krypton also takes a place in the science factual story of international weights and measures.
35. Bromine: Come At Me
Don't get too excited, because bromine is an element that brings the hammer down on both extreme emotions and extreme actions.
34. Selenium: A Fit Of Heat And Light
Throughout history, copying information has been arduous, messy, and even dangerous -- until one bored, depressed man figured out the secrets of selenium.
33. Arsenic: It’s Not Easy Being Green
Considering how synonymous this episode's element is with "poison," it's shocking how eager people have historically been to ingest the stuff.
32. Germanium: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Silicon gets all the press, but germanium was the real trailblazer of the Information Age.
31. Gallium: The Wet Bandits
Meet one of the periodic table's lesser-known liquid metals -- and beware some dangerous competition from a few felonious element collectors.
30. Zinc: The Lecture Circuit
Learn about some of Italy's most renowned chemists and how they inspired a most gruesome quest to conquer death.
29. Copper: Wires Crossed
We get lost in the woods with a couple of little guys in today's episode, and learn about a lesser-known American Civil War.
28. Nickel: Face Value
From religion to money to politics, nickel finds itself at the center of all kinds of awkward conversations.
27. Cobalt: Mischief Managed
Cobalt is a tricksy little element, which means the scientists who've dealt with it the most are some of the cleverest people to have ever walked the Earth.
26. Iron: As Above, So Below
Is iron a metal that's more valuable than gold, or are we forever trapped in its "hated shadow?"
25. Manganese: Undercover Operations
From giant prehistoric sharks to clandestine Cold War projects, manganese is an element that has concealed a lot of secrets.
24. Chromium: I’ll Be Your Mirror
It might be tempting to speed right on by, but it's worth stopping for a moment to gaze at element 24.
23. Vanadium: Beauty In The Background
From freeways to firefights to unfathomable depths, vanadium can often be found quietly doing the hardest work.
22. Titanium: Dignity Over Dentures
Titanium is an element valued as much for its beauty as its strength -- provided you can find a genuine sample of the stuff.
21. Scandium: Spoiling For A Fight
From jet fighters to sporting events to Low Earth Orbit, scandium seems to find itself at the center of conflict.
20. Calcium: Stone and Bone
Stories of turning flesh to stone -- and vice versa -- are common in mythology. With calcium, we see how those same transitions can happen in the real world.
19. Potassium: An Undeserved Reputation
There's no avoiding discussing the banana in this episode, even though it really doesn't deserve its strong association with Element 19.
18. Argon: More Than Meets The Eye
Today's element gets called "lazy," but that's actually a terrible misnomer.
17. Chlorine: Too High Or Too Low, There Ain’t No In-Betweens
Chlorine is an element that causes some extreme reactions, and occasionally inspires some pretty extreme reactions in humans, too.
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