Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück travelled a long road to finally meet each other. Little did they know, their collaboration would change how bacterial genetics was conducted. From attending summer camp for geniuses to gaining "enemy alien" stat

Salvador Luria: A Daring Escape

Apr 26th, 2020 1h 23m

Salvador Luria was a young doctor trying to find his calling in fascist Italy. A little help from his friends and the discovery of another physicist's paper put Salvador on the path to greatness. Little did he know that the path to greatness in

Max Delbruck: Sexy but Bad at Physics

Mar 14th, 2020 1h 8m

In the first episode of our three part arc on phage genetics pioneers, we discuss the early life and career of physicist Max Delbruck. From failing his PhD exams to failing out of Nazi indoctrination camps, Max worked under the mantra of "Go bi

Flight of the Monarch

Feb 29th, 2020 1h 3m

Monarch butterflies embark on a yearly 3000 mile migration to spend the winter in the mountains of central Mexico, but that is not the only amazing part of their story. Join us as we fire up the Winnebago to go in search of the Monarch's histor

2003: A SARS Odyssey

Feb 7th, 2020 1h 11m

A strange new illness began to spread from the wet markets in China during the winter of 2002. By early 2003, the world was in a panic due to a virus with pandemic potential. Surprise! 17 years later its all happening again! Join us as we trace

Tarrare: The Hungry Hungry Soldier

Jan 29th, 2020 58m 36s

It's the late 1700's in France and a different reign of terror is underway for the cats and dogs that happen to cross Tarrare's path. Join us as we gorge ourselves on the story of one of the most bizarre medical marvels of that era. Tarrare's u

Your Burning Questions: Part 2

Dec 23rd, 2019 1h 6m

Once again we take questions from all the listeners and try to answer them... if we don't get distracted by electric cloud discharges. Learn the answers to questions about petrified glass, mass extinctions and the Mandela Effect. Also we delve

Hello, Dolly! A Double Take on Cloning

Dec 1st, 2019 1h 18m

In 1995, the world was introduced to the most famous sheep in science history. While Dolly the sheep was the star of the show, she wasn't the first animal - or even the first sheep - ever cloned. Join us as we duplicate the surprisingly long hi

The Demon Core: Two Critical Deaths

Nov 12th, 2019 1h 12m

After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the third core slated for another shot at Japan was relegated for experimental use. But this instrument built for death would not go without taking a couple of lives of its own. Join us as we critic

What's Kraken?: The Search for the Giant Squid

Oct 25th, 2019 1h 5m

As far back as ancient Greece, seafarers have told myths of massive tentacled sea monster. From tales of the Kraken to Archie the preserved giant squid, this elusive cephalopod has terrified and captivated sailors and scientists alike. Come abo

Operation Paperclip: When the U.S. Hired Nazi Scientists

Oct 2nd, 2019 1h 11m

When the Third Reich fell, there was a mad grab for German technology by the United States. Although many of the scientists recruited under this top secret operation were proven or probable war criminals, the perceived advantages were too good

Your Burning Questions: Part 1

Sep 17th, 2019 1h 21m

You wanted to know about global warming, human evolution and hangovers... Well, here is the episode where we answer all your burning questions! Join us as we discuss Darwinian Demons, the "Ice Man" (not THAT Ice Man) and how to quantitatively t

Tasting the Stars: A Brief History of Champagne

Sep 9th, 2019 1h 4m

POP! FIZZ! CLINK! Join us as we uncork the bubbly history of Champagne! As we drink we'll find that exploding bottles can scare off monks, the English really loved their sugar, and slightly turning thousands of bottles every day can be quite a

No Laughing Matter: A Cautionary Tale of Nitrous Oxide

Aug 22nd, 2019 1h 1m

A polymath isolated it, a young scientist popularized it, a dentist applied it to his field, and we inhaled it at a party. It started off as a "glorious gas" but ended up as the undoing of a very thin-skinned dentist. Join us this week as we d

Worst Stomach Ache in History: Dr. Beaumont and Digestion

Aug 12th, 2019 1h 5m

Whether you're eating steak or guzzling down beer, everything you eat undergoes the process of digestion. For centuries this mechanism was poorly understood and a debate raged on. That is until one frontier doctor found himself a not so willing

Of Pigeons and PhDs: Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Jul 29th, 2019 1h 12m

Proof of the Big Bang had eluded astrophysicists throughout the early 20th century. That is until two radio-astronomers working for a telephone company stumbled upon of of the most significant find in cosmology. Join us as we listen to the univ

The Poison Squad: Harvey Wiley and Food Safety

Jul 15th, 2019 1h 7m

Before proper food safety regulation, everything from borax to formaldehyde could end up on your dinner plate. Then in the early 1900's, one wily chemists assembled a group of volunteers to eat poison for science. Join us as we digest the appe

A Very English Fossil: Piltdown Man

Jun 27th, 2019 1h 15m

In 1912, an amateur archeologist found a skull fragment and a jawbone in the English town of Piltdown. What was once thought as a ground breaking find turned out to be an elaborate fraud that misguided evolutionary biology for decades. Join us

Let's Go Tripping: The Synthesis of LSD

Jun 13th, 2019 1h 18m

It's the episode on acid, where we're NOT on acid. Extracted from a dangerous fungus, lysergic acid diethylamide became the preferred party drug of the counterculture. Join us as we take a trip from ergotism epidemics in the middle ages to mic

Fog of War: Fritz Haber and Chemical Warfare

Jun 1st, 2019 1h 12m

During the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans unleashed a vile weapon against Allied troops. Standing on the German side as the yellowish fog of war swept across the land killing thousands, was German scientist, Fritz Haber. Join us as we piec

The Price of Kindness: George Price and Altruism

May 23rd, 2019 1h 17m

Being a completely selfless person sounds like a wonderful thing, until you end up homeless sleeping on the street because you gave away all your possessions. Delusions of Jesus and the pursuit of scientific greatness drove George Price to a tr

The Double Helix Part 2: A Very Pretty Model

May 2nd, 2019 1h 6m

As the lives of these researchers have come together, a race for the DNA structure breaks out. Watson and Crick are seeking to beat Linus Pauling. Maurice Wilkins is trying to surpass Rosalind Franklin. And it seems Rosalind is running against

The Double Helix Part 1: Intertwining Lives

Apr 25th, 2019 1h 13m

On April 25, 1953, three papers appeared in the journal Nature establishing the helical structure of DNA. The authors of the first paper, James Watson and Francis Crick, are most commonly associated with the discovery. But their work heavily bo

Dog Gone: The Rabies Virus

Apr 11th, 2019 1h 9m

A frantic mother brings her son to the laboratory of France's most influential bacteriologist. The boy had been bitten by a rabid dog and would certainly die from the dreaded disease. But would the cautious Louis Pasteur use his untested vaccin

Sex, Drugs and Rocket Science: Jack Parsons Part 2

Mar 29th, 2019 1h 10m

Jack Parsons was a man living a double life. By day he was a pioneering rocket scientist but by night he was the leader of a Thelemite sex cult. Little did he know that messing with magic, drugs and teenage sister-in-laws would lead to a fiery