Episode – 0832 : The Broad Street Cholera Outbreak Podcast Transcript In 1854 an unusually severe outbreak of cholera occurred in London. While cholera was not an uncommon disease, physicians […]
Episode – 0819 : The Days of the Week
Episode – 0819 : The Days of the Week Podcast Transcript Most of our major divisions of time are based on some sort of natural event. A year is one […]
Episode – 0720 : Geothermal Energy
Episode – 0720 : Geothermal Energy Podcast Transcript Wherever you happen to be listening to this show, at some level beneath your feet the rocks in the Earth reach a […]
Episode – 0676 : Friday the 13th
Episode – 0676 : Friday the 13th Podcast Transcript Friday the 13th is a day associated with bad luck and ill omens. However, why is this particular combination of day […]
Episode – 0504 : Everything You Wanted to Know About Seawater
Episode – 0504 : Everything You Wanted to Know About Seawater Podcast Transcript It covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, is one of the most common substances on Earth, and […]
Episode – 0461 : The Dancing Plague of 1518
Episode – 0461 : The Dancing Plague of 1518 Podcast Transcript People who love to dance are said to have dancing fever. Dancing fever is just a phrase and not […]
Episode – 0446 : Righties vs Lefties
Episode – 0446 : Righties vs Lefties Podcast Transcript Statistically speaking, about 90% of you listening to my words right now are right-handed. Of the rest of you, almost all […]
Episode – 0431 : The Unlikely Survival of Phineas Gage
Episode – 0431 : The Unlikely Survival of Phineas Gage Podcast Transcript On September 13, 1848, a 25-year-old man named Phineas Gage received a horrific brain injury while working on […]
Episode – 0421 : Ignaz Semmelweis
Episode – 0421 : Ignaz Semmelweis Podcast Transcript In the mid-19th century, a Hungarian physician advocated for an incredibly simple technique that would go on to save millions of lives. […]
Episode – 0418 : The Year Without A Summer
Episode – 0418 : The Year Without A Summer Podcast Transcript In 1816, the world experienced something that it had never seen before. All over the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, […]
Episode – 0406 : Snake Oil
Episode – 0406 : Snake Oil Podcast Transcript If you were to call someone a snake oil salesman, it usually means they are trying to defraud someone, and more specifically […]
Episode – 0405 : History of the Lullaby
Episode – 0405 : History of the Lullaby Podcast Transcript There are few things that are truly universal across all cultures and throughout history. These things are often so obvious […]
Episode – 0367 : Was Jeanne Calment Really The World’s Oldest Person?
Episode – 0367 : Was Jeanne Calment Really The World’s Oldest Person? Podcast Transcript On August 4, 1997, Jeanne Louise Calment passed away in Arles, France. At the time, it […]
Episode – 0322 : Tarrare: The Hungriest Man in History
Episode – 0322 : Tarrare: The Hungriest Man in History Transcript Have you ever been really full after a meal? Like really really full? Could you imagine eating and never […]
Episode – 0319 : Scurvy
Episode – 0319 : Scurvy Transcript When Europeans began sailing the high seas on extended voyages, the most deadly thing they encountered wasn’t enemy navies, starvation, or even shipwrecks. It […]
Episode – 0313 : The Immortal Henrietta Lacks
Episode – 0313 : The Immortal Henrietta Lacks Transcript Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at the age of 31. Before she […]
Episode – 0302 : Genie the Feral Child
Episode – 0302 : Genie the Feral Child Transcript In October 1970, a blind woman accidentally entered into a Los Angeles County welfare office with a child in tow. The […]
Episode – 0247 : A History of Vaccines
Episode – 0247 : A History of Vaccines Transcript Right now vaccinations are all over the news. There are many companies that have developed vaccines for COVID-19 and there is […]
Episode – 0209 : The Dionne Quintuplets
Episode – 0209 : The Dionne Quintuplets Transcript Multiple births happen very infrequently. The odds decrease dramatically the more children are born at once. The odds of twins is 1 […]
Episode – 0143 : Get the Lead Out
Episode – 0143 : Get the Lead Out Transcript Clair Patterson was a geochemist who worked at CalTech from the 1940s through the 1990s. His work involved studying the age […]