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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 ge ...
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcirc…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/b…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircl…
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Physicist Gyorgy Hevesy had a talent for tricks and stunts—including one that prevented Nazi stormtroopers from stealing a gold Nobel Prize. Our Sponsors: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Priva…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.co…
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Can Plastic Surgery Keep You out of Prison?
20:09
20:09
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One doctor’s controversial crusade to keep men and women out of prison through nose jobs, eye lifts, and other plastic surgery. Our Sponsors: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy Sam Kean
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.co…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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How the “Worst Serial Killer in Holland’s History” Went Free
20:58
20:58
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privac…
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The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 2)
21:47
21:47
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircl…
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The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 1)
19:43
19:43
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle…
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Don't Drink the Milk bonus episode - Milk: From mutations to mustaches
42:06
42:06
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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 re…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/priv…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircl…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/pr…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: ht…
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"Moldy Mary," The Forgotten Mother of Penicillin
21:04
21:04
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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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: * Use offer code SPOON at uncommongoods.com for 15% off! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy…
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