Each episode of Distillations podcast takes a deep-dive into a moment of science-related history in order to shed light on the present.
https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/podcast
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 4 days 11 hours 56 minutes
Disappearing Spoon: The Harvard Medical School Janitor Who Solved a Murder
On this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about a murder mystery that rocked Boston in 1849. Harvard University alum and physician George Parkman had gone missing. The last place he was seen alive was at the Harvard medical...
Disappearing Spoon: Burn After Watching
In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean breaks down the history of nitrocellulose. This thick, transparent liquid was the world’s first plastic and could be shaped into anything, including billiard balls and photography film. With...
History’s First Car Crash Victim
How a steam-powered automobile in 1869 snuffed out the life of the brilliant female naturalist and astronomer Mary Ward.
Real Life Zombies
What a bizarre psychological disorder can teach us about memory, human nature, and our sense of who we are.
How Climate Change Will Remake the Human Body
Scientists know how other animals’ bodies will change in warmer climates, but how will human beings respond?
The ‘Mary Poppins’ Cancer
The life of chimney sweeps was nasty, poor, brutish, filthy dirty, and usually short, thanks to a rare cancer of the genitals.
Kangaroo (and Pig and Monkey and Dog and Donkey) Courts
The long, wacky, and surprisingly thought-provoking history of trying animals in human courts.
Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
The Disappearing Spoon, a between the Science History Institute and New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean, returns for its second season on October 5, 2021. To celebrate, our producer, Rigoberto Hernandez, sat down with Kean to talk...
What Causes Alzheimer's?
Unexplainable podcast interviews Distillations about how Alzheimer’s research has stubbornly focused on a single theory for decades.
What the All Souls Trilogy Teaches Us about Alchemy, Family, and Knowledge Hierarchy
Ever since the book debuted in 2011, the All Souls franchise has taken on a life of its own with devoted fans all over the world. The TV show and annual —which the Science History Institute occasionally hosts—is based on the trilogy of books...