Podcasts about Science History Institute

In 1960, one woman was all that stood between American families and a medical disaster of epidemic proportions. In this episode, the story of how that woman saved untold numbers of children and how all of us today are better off for her mostly-forgotten legacy. ReferencesErick, M. (n.d.). Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey. National Women's History Museum. Retrieved May 13, 2025, from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/frances-kathleen-oldham-kelseyHooper, C. L., & Henderson, D. R. (2024). Two Thalidomide Disasters: Myths about the FDA's role in the thalidomide tragedy have resulted in decades of it obstructing many beneficial drugs. Regulation, 47(4), 8+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828313658/GPS?u=vol_b733s&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=abff486b Janik, E., & Jensen, M. B. (2011). Giving them what they want: the Reinharts and quack medicine in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, 94(4), 28–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41331156 Kean, S. (2024). “Frances Oldham Kelsey, the FDA, and the battle against thalidomide” review: The noble bureaucrat [Review of “Frances Oldham Kelsey, the FDA, and the battle against thalidomide” by C. Warsh]. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/frances-oldham-kelsey-the-fda-and-the-battle-against-thalidomide-review-the-noble-bureaucrat-7f1fc379 Kean. S. (Host). (2024, November 12). The woman who ‘turned back a plague of Old Testament proportions' [Audio podcast episode]. In The Disappearing Spoon. Science History Institute. Knaier, R. G. (2017). Homeopathy on trial: "Allen v. Hyland's, Inc." and a failure of evidentiary gatekeeping. Jurimetrics, 57(3), 361–396. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26322714 Kriplin, N. (2017, February 5). The heroine of the FDA. Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-heroine-of-the-fdaMcFadden, R. D. (2015, August 7). Frances Oldham Kelsey, who saved U.S. babies from thalidomide, dies at 101. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/science/frances-oldham-kelsey-fda-doctor-who-exposed-danger-of-thalidomide-dies-at-101.htmlMcGovern, James. "Quieter Things: The Tale Of Frances Oldham Kelsey." Boulevard, no. 104-105, spring 2020, pp. 209+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A625413665/GPS?u=vol_b733s&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=8681eca8. Accessed 9 May 2025. Phillips, S. (2020, March 9). How a courageous physician-scientist saved the U.S. from a birth-defects catastrophe. Forefront. https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/biological-sciences-articles/courageous-physician-scientist-saved-the-us-from-a-birth-defects-catastropheWikipedia Contributors. (2024, August 26). Marion Merrell Dow. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Merrell_DowWikipedia Contributors. (2025a, January 3). Elixir sulfanilamide. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elixir_sulfanilamideWikipedia Contributors. (2025b, March 8). Frances Oldham Kelsey. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Oldham_KelseyWikipedia Contributors. (2025c, May 10). Food and Drug Administration. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration#History

Brooklyn-based goth-folk duo Charming Disaster's upcoming album The Double—their seventh full-length release—explores the world that exists behind the one we know, featuring songs inspired by nature, mortality, magic, ritual, and literary genres ranging from science fiction to Victorian horror. The new album was co-produced by band members Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris with longtime collaborator, recording engineer Don Godwin. All but one of the ten tracks were recorded at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, MD, with one song recorded by circus music composer Peter Bufano in Boston, MA. The Double will be released on CD, as a 12-inch colored vinyl LP, and on all digital platforms on May 16, 2025. The vinyl will be released in a 2-disc package that also includes Charming Disaster's 2024 compilation Time Ghost, a collection of singles released over the last decade.   The Double invites listeners to step across the border of an alternate reality, where spells are cast, time travel is possible, plants are taking over civilization, and vampires lurk in the shadows. Adventures in the darkness lie beyond the threshold.   The album's ten songs include “Black Locust,” a lullaby about mortality; “New Moon,” a magical nature ritual; “Trick of the Light,” a reimagining of Bram Stoker's Dracula; “Time Machine,” in which Charming Disaster change the past and start over again; “Scavengers,” a walk in the woods with vultures and bones; “Beautiful Night,” a defiant response to struggles with depression; “Vitriol,” a tribute to artist Thomas Little, who turns guns into ink; “Haunted Lighthouse,” a swashbuckling sea voyage; “Gang of Two,” a true crime adventure; and “Green Things,” a love letter to what grows between the cracks (and its inevitable takeover).   The album features an array of talented collaborators. Co-producer Don Godwin, who has worked on Charming Disaster's entire discography, contributed bass, drums, and horns as well as engineering and mixing. “Haunted Lighthouse” features Broadway percussionist Mike Dobson along with circus composer Peter Bufano, who played piano and accordion and engineered the track at Cirkestra World Headquarters in Boston, MA (with additional tracking at Tonal Park). “Scavengers” features cello recorded by Kate Wakefield of the duo Lung, who also created the string arrangement for “Beautiful Night.” Stefan Zeniuk of Gato Logo contributed saxophone to “Green Things.”   In conjunction with The Double, Charming Disaster is releasing the second edition of their “oracle deck” (similar to a Tarot deck). The Charming Disaster Oracle Deck contains 72 cards (including 12 new cards for the second edition), each representing one of the songs from Charming Disaster's discography. The cards feature illustrations commissioned from more than thirty different artists. The deck can be used as a divination tool, or as a visual accompaniment to Charming Disaster's music. The duo themselves use these cards in their live performances to determine the set through the element of chance.   Charming Disaster was formed by Bisker and Morris in 2012, inspired by the gothic humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the murder ballads of the American Folk tradition, and the dramatic flair of the cabaret. Together the duo write songs that tell stories about myth, magic, and mortality, using two voices to explore dark narratives and characters with a playfully macabre sensibility.   On their critically acclaimed albums Love, Crime & Other Trouble (2015), Cautionary Tales (2017), and SPELLS + RITUALS (2019), Charming Disaster explored death, crime, folklore, and the occult. On Our Lady of Radium (2022), they turned their attention to science and explored the life and discoveries of pioneering scientist Marie Curie. On Super Natural History (2023), they united the natural world and the metaphysical realm in a musical cabinet of curiosities.   The duo put out two releases in 2024: Time Ghost, an album-length collection of songs released as singles between 2013 and 2024; and Dance Me to the End of Bela Lugosi's Lovesong, an EP of covers paying tribute to a few of the band's influences: Leonard Cohen's “Dance Me to the End of Love,” “Bela Lugosi's Dead” by Bauhaus, and The Cure's “Lovesong.”   In Charming Disaster's live shows, the duo combine vocal harmonies and clever lyrics with ukulele, guitar, and foot percussion, with a cabaret-influenced performance style that straddles the line between concert and theatre and has been described as “haunted vaudeville” (Splice Magazine). Charming Disaster's music has been featured on the spooky hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale. They have opened for legendary cello-rock ensemble Rasputina, Goth icon Voltaire, and Amanda Palmer's punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. Their concerts have captivated audiences across the United States and in Europe. They have appeared alongside storytellers, comedians, fire eaters, puppets, burlesque artists, poets, and circus performers. Recent appearances have included Joe's Pub in NYC, Atlanta's massive pop culture convention Dragon Con, Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery, the Rochester Fringe Festival, Philadelphia's Science History Institute, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, VA, Cleveland's WizbangCircus Theatre, and the Coney Island Sideshow stage, as well as sundry bars, art galleries, theatres, bookstores, libraries, train cars, mausoleums, and museums.   LINKS: Website: www.charmingdisaster.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/charmingdisaster Instagram: http://instagram.com/charmingdisasterband YouTube: http://youtube.com/charmingdisasterband Bandcamp: http://charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RjkfhamohczSXjFy5WcZh   The Double preorder link: charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com/album/the-double     Tickets : Charming Disaster at The Foundry Cleveland June 5th with Cowboy Princess Brigade https://www.ticketweb.com/event/charming-disaster-cowboy-princess-brigade-the-foundry-tickets/14325923?utm_medium=affiliate&irgwc=1&clickid=yKYzFM2SwxycTOrRPc1Gt0d7UksRjjwhTXGA2E0&camefrom=CFC_BUYAT_219208&impradid=219208&REFERRAL_ID=tmfeedbuyat219208&wt.mc_id=aff_BUYAT_219208&utm_source=219208-Bandsintown&impradname=Bandsintown&ircid=4272   C-Level Pete Francis Tickets : https://www.ticketweb.com/event/peter-francis-of-dispatch-the-winchester-tickets/14338833?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=lakewood-events  

Amidst the chaos of 19th century New York City, one poor immigrant woman named Ann Lohman managed to climb her way out of the slums and into a brownstone mansion on 5th avenue. But her means of doing this rubbed some people the wrong way. Ann, alias Madame Restell, was a notorious abortionist operating in the city with satellite offices in Philadelphia and Boston. She built an empire selling married women birth control and performing procedures to help them end unwanted pregnancies. Soon after she began this profitable practice, there were many who hoped to take her down, put a stop to it. But not for the reasons you might expect. Not for the reasons people oppose abortion today. Turns out, abortion, though mostly unseen and unspoken of, has been mostly an accepted necessity throughout history. It wasn't until the mid 1800s when women like Madame Restell rose up, challenging the status quo that abortion became controversial. Let's fix that. Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: Smithsonian Magazine "Madame Restell: The Abortionist of 5th Avenue"Science History Institute "How Notorious Abortionist Madame Restell Built a Drug Empire"The New York Historical Society "Life Story: Ann Trow Lohman, a.k.a Madame Restell"The New York Historical Society "Urbanization"Johns Hopkins University "A Brief History of Abortion in the US"CNN "Abortion is ancient history: Long before Roe, women terminated pregnancies"Shoot me a message!

Celebrating 50+2 years of Scholarship: Department of the History and Sociology of Science - A Conversation with Department Founder and Science History Institute Founder Arnold Thackray by Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine

Historians of medicine often express the desire for their work to reach broader audiences; however, popular platforms—be they television, radio, podcasts, corporate or social media—can reach many but touch few. History of Medicine Week is dedicated to exploring the risks, benefits, experiences, and best practices for historians of medicine to make meaningful connections beyond familiar scholarly communities. This episode: Scottie Buehler Moderator Sam Houston State University Rana Hogarth Innate project, Science History Institute & History and Sociology of Science Department, University of Pennsylvania Sarah Handley-Cousins Executive Editor, Nursing Clio & Department of History, University of Buffalo Jeremy Greene Director of the Institute of the History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University For more information on this and other topics, please see https://www.chstm.org/video/200

In "What's Going On and Why Does it Matter?," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance data, the H5N1 influenza outbreak in dairy cattle, and a CDC Health Alert on dengue virus.  Increased Risk of Dengue Virus Infections in the United States (Health Alert Network, CDC) Dr. Joseph Goldberger & the War on Pellagra (Office of NIH History & Stetten Museum, National Institutes of Health) Joseph Goldberger's Filth Parties (Sam Kean, Science History Institute) Sign up for CIDRAP's daily newsletter MORE EPISODES       SUPPORT THIS PODCAST

"Everything in our world is chemistry and chemistry is everywhere in our lives," - David Allen Cole, CEO of the Science History InstituteThis episode is one for the history books. Smart Acids hosts Andy Erickson and Chris Ernst welcome "The Historian" David Allen Cole, CEO of the Science History Institute, to share stories and historical context around the perception of chemicals, areas of upcoming chemistry innovation, historical scares and advances within chemistry, and how the chemical industry's past informs our present as we innovate and solve for the future.  Bonus: Dwayne "The Rock" Roark, Univar Solutions VP Public Affairs, Government Relations and Communications, drops in (14:36) to school us on the Univar Solutions origin story as the organization approaches its 100-year anniversary with sharing our own history of innovation.Dive into more history at sciencehistory.orgSmart Acids™ is the source for product insights and current market moves related to chemical and specialty ingredient distribution—breaking it all down one boron at a time. Join hosts Andy Erickson and Chris Ernst for straightforward and honest chat that speaks to the why behind pricing and supply, delivered in a smart, fun and entertaining way. Smart Acids is the winner of a B2 Silver Award, a top national recognition among leading global brands and marketers in B2B.About the hosts: Andy Erickson, senior director of product marketing for essential chemicals, and Chris Ernst, senior director of product marketing for solvents, converse with guests from chemistry and specialty ingredient backgrounds who are keyed in to manufacturing and markets across industries.Univar Solutions is a leading global specialty chemical and ingredient distributor representing a premier portfolio from the world's leading producers, and helping to keep communities healthy, fed, clean and safe. With the industry's largest private transportation fleet and technical sales force, unparalleled logistics know-how, deep market and regulatory knowledge, formulation and recipe development, and leading digital tools, we offer tailored solutions and value-added services to a wide range of markets, industries and applications.

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I interview Elena Serrano, a research member of the Project Cirgen at the Universitat de València and Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institut d'Història de la Ciència (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). She trained in the former Centre for the History of Science in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and in the History of Science and Philosophy Department in Cambridge University before taking postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, and Sydney University. In the late eighteenth century, enlightened politicians and upper-class women in Spain debated the right of women to join one of the country's most prominent scientific institutions: the Madrid Economic Society of Friends of the Country. Societies such as these, as Elena Serrano describes in her book, were founded on the idea that laypeople could contribute to the advancement of their country by providing “useful knowledge,” and their fellows often referred to themselves as improvers, or friends of the country. After intense debates, the duchess of Benavente, along with nine distinguished ladies, claimed, won, and exercised the right of women to participate in shaping the future of their nation by inaugurating the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, or the Committee of Ladies of Honor and Merit. Ten years later, the Junta established a network of over sixty correspondents extending from Tenerife to Asturias and Austria to Cuba.  In Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022), Serrano tells the unknown story of how the duchess and her peers—who succeeded in creating the only known female branch among some five hundred patriotic societies in the eighteenth century—shaped Spanish scientific culture. Her study reveals how the Junta, by stressing the value of their feminine nature in their efforts to reform education, rural economy, and the poor, produced and circulated useful knowledge and ultimately crystallized the European improvement movement in Spain within an otherwise all-male context. Your host for this episode is Paula de la Cruz-Fernández. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen became the first person to observe helium, an element never before seen on Earth, on August 18th, 1868.  Janssen had been observing a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India when he noticed a bright yellow line with a wavelength of 587.49 nanometers in the spectrum of the chromosphere of the Sun. He initially assumed the line to be sodium, but, upon further investigating his hunch that it might be a new element, concluded he had stumbled upon something hitherto unknown. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly try their damndest to explain how Spectroscopy works; reveal which scientist first detected the presence of helium on Earth; and query the French Academy of Sciences' impartiality when it came to attributing the discovery… Further Reading: ‘How Scientists Discovered Helium, the First Alien Element, 150 Years Ago' (Smithsonian Magazine, 2018): ​​https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-scientists-discovered-helium-first-alien-element-1868-180970057/ ‘The High-Flying, Death-Defying Discovery of Helium' (Science History Institute, 2021): https://sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-high-flying-death-defying-discovery-of-helium/ ‘Helium 101' (National Geographic, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLUcO26Q7wE #Science #Discoveries #France #India #1800s Love the show? Join 

Canadian wildfires cover US cities in haze, we learn what it like to be n NYC with Duncan Dee (former chief operating officer at Air Canada). This week on Journo Corner: we cover more smokey skies outside and fireworks inside, with John Ivison (political journalist, National Post, author of Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister). As interest rates climb, Canadians let non-mortgage debt pile up. Rebecca Oakes (vice president of advanced analytics, Equifax Canada) helps us what this mean for Canadians and what could help. David Johnston's testimony raises more questions about his report on foreign interference, Jenny Kwan (NDP Member of Parliament for Vancouver East) joins us to discuss. Is Is Apple's VR headset the way of the future or another pricey gimmick? Mike Agerbo (host of Get Connected and The App Show)tells us all about the new tech gadget and new board games look to the past to tackle modern global issues. Sherri Sheu (Curatorial Fellow, Science History Institute, Philadelphia) joins us to talk all about it.

Certain medical instruments have built-in methods of correcting for race. They're based on the premise that Black bodies are inherently different from White bodies. The tool that measures kidney function, for example, underestimates how severe some Black patients' kidney disease is, and prevents them from getting transplants. Medical students and doctors have been trying to do away with race correction tools once and for all. And they're starting to see some success. About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race “Correcting Race” is Episode 9 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute's highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innateis made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Credits  |   Resource List   |   Transcript Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Raghunath Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer “Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.   Resource List A Unifying Approach for GFR Estimation: Recommendations of the NKF-ASN Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Disease, by Cynthia Delgado, Mukta Baweja, Deidra C Crews, Nwamaka D Eneanya, Crystal A Gadegbeku, Lesley A Inker, Mallika L Mendu, W Greg Miller, Marva M Moxey-Mims, Glenda V Roberts, Wendy L St Peter, Curtis Warfield, Neil R Powe A Yearslong Push to Remove Racist Bias From Kidney Testing Gains New Ground, by Theresa Gaffney   ‘An entire system is changing': UW Medicine stops using race-based equation to calculate kidney function, by Shannon Hong  Breathing Race into the Machine: The Surprising Career of the Spirometer from Plantation to Genetics, by Lundy Braun  Expert Panel Recommends Against Use of Race in Assessment of Kidney Function, by Usha Lee McFarling  Hidden in Plain Sight – Reconsidering the Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms, by Darshali A. Vyas, Leo G. Eisenstein, and David S. Jones Medical student advocates to end racism in medicine, by Anh Nguyen  Precision in GFR Reporting Let's Stop Playing the Race Card, by Vanessa Grubbs  Reconsidering the Consequences of Using Race to Estimate Kidney Function, by Nwamaka Denise Eneanya,  Wei Yang, Peter Philip Reese

This week, we finish our three part episode on the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures. ----more---- The movies discussed on this week's episode are: The Adventures of a Gnome Named Gnorm (1990, Stan Winston) Big Man on Campus (1989, Jeremy Paul Kagan) Dream a Little Dream (1989, Marc Rocco) Earth Girls Are Easy (1989, Julien Temple) Far From Home (1989, Meiert Avis) Paperhouse (1989, Bernard Rose) Parents (1989, Bob Balaban) The Rainbow (1989, Ken Russell) Wonderland (1989, Philip Saville)   TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   At the end of the previous episode, Vestron Pictures was starting to experience the turbulence a number of independent distributors faced when they had a successful film too soon out of the gate, and the direction of the company seemingly changes to go chasing more waterfalls instead of sticking to the rivers and the lakes they were used to.   Welcome to Part Three of our miniseries.   As we enter 1989, Vestron is seriously in trouble. More money has gone out then has come back in. It seems that they needed one more hit to keep going for a while longer. But if you were to look at their release schedule for the year, which included a pickup from the recently bankrupt DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, there wasn't really anything that felt like it could be a Dirty Dancing-like break out, except for maybe the pickup from the recently bankrupt DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group.    But we'll get there in a moment.   Their first film from 1989 is a certifiable cult film if there ever was one, but the problem with this label is that the film tagged as so was not a success upon its initial theatrical release. Bob Balaban, the beloved character actor who had been regularly seen on screen since his memorable debut in Midnight Cowboy twenty years earlier, would make his directorial debut with the black comedy horror film Parents.   Bryan Madorsky stars as Michael Laemle, a ten year old boy living in the California suburbs in the 1950s, who starts to suspect mom and dad, played by Mary Beth Hurt and Randy Quaid, might be cannibals. It's a strange but fun little movie, and even Ken Russell would compare it favorably over David Lynch's Blue Velvet during one contemporary interview, but sadly, it would take far more time for the film to find its audience than Vestron could afford.   Opening in 94 theatres on January 27th, the $3m Parents could not overcome a series of negative reviews from critics, and it would only gross $278k in its first three days. Vestron would not strike any additional prints of the film, and would cycle the ones they did have around the country for several months, but after four months, the film could only attract $870k in box office receipts. But it would become something of a cult hit on video later in the year.   In 1992, British filmmaker Bernard Rose would make his American directing debut with an all-time banger, Candyman. But he wouldn't gotten Candyman if it wasn't for his 1989 film Paperhouse, an inventive story about a young girl whose drawings seem to manifest into reality. British actor Ben Cross from Chariots of Fire and American actress Glenne Headly from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels plays the young girl's parents.   Outside of Gene Siskel, who would give the film a thumbs down on his movie review show with Roger Ebert despite acknowledging Rose's talent as a filmmaker and being fascinated by the first two-thirds of the movie, the critical consensus was extraordinary. But it appears Siskel may have never actually written a review of the film for the Chicago Tribune, as the film still has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the film would only earn $6,700 from its single screen playdate at the Carnegie Hall Cinemas when it opened on February 17th, and the film would get little support from Vestron after that. More single playdates in major cities that added up to a $241k box office tally after fourteen weeks in release.   Marc Rocco's Dream a Little Dream would be the third film in The Two Coreys Cinematic Universe. Corey Feldman plays a high school student who, through one of the strangest plot twists in the whole body switching genre, finds himself switching places with two time Academy Award-winner Jason Robards, playing a professor who is looking for immortality through entering a meditative alpha state. Meredith Salinger and Piper Laurie also find themselves switching bodies as well, while Corey Haim plays the goofball best friend with not a whole lot to do. The supporting cast also includes veteran character actors Harry Dean Stanton and Alex Rocco, the latter who agreed to do the film because it was directed by his son.   When the film opened on March 3rd, it would be Vestron's second widest release, opening on more than 1,000 theatres. But just like the previous year's License to Drive, the pairing of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman did not set the box office on fire, opening in fifth place with $2.57m in ticket sales, compared to the #1 film of the week, the Morgan Freeman drama Lean on Me, which would gross twice as much as Dream a Little Dream while playing in 125 fewer theatres. In its second week, the film would lose 56 theatres and 52% of its opening weekend audience, falling all the way to 13th place with a gross of only $1.25m. By week three, the movie would move to dollar houses, and trudge along for several more months, until it closed in the middle of summer with only $5.55m in the till.   In the late 1970s and early 1980s, writer/director Jeremy Paul Kagan had directed and occasionally written several big ticket movies, including the 1977 Henry Winkler drama Heroes, which also starred Sally Field and, in his first post-Star Wars movie, Harrison Ford, and the 1985 Meredith Salinger/John Cusack adventure film The Journey of Natty Gann. Which makes his Natty Gann follow up, Big Man on Campus, such a head scratcher.   A modern adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Big Man on Campus was written by Allan Katz, who had been working in television for nearly twenty years writing for and producing shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and MASH. Katz would also star in the movie as the titular hunchback, even though he had never once acted on any of his shows. But at least he had a good cast supporting him, including Gerrit Graham, Melora Hardin, Jessica Harper, Tom Skerritt, and Cindy Williams.   I can only find one playdate for the film ever, in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque in March 1989, so while this mostly qualifies as a direct to video release, I feel compelled to at least give it a token mention here.   Have you ever heard of a movie called The Fruit Machine? Of course you haven't, because that's a horrible name for a movie, no matter what it's about. When Vestron acquired this British drama about young gay men who go on the run after they witness a murder, the first thing they did was change the title to Wonderland. Not that Wonderland gives you any more of an idea of what the movie is about than The Fruit Machine. But, whatever.   Today, the movie has two things going for it. One, an early role for Robbie Coltrane, playing a transvestite who operates a nightclub for gay men and transvestites called, you guessed it, The Fruit Machine. Second, the musical score was written by Hans Zimmer, in one of his earliest film jobs. Ironically, Wonderland would be the the third movie scored by Hans Zimmer to be released by Vestron in a four month period, after Burning Secret and Paperhouse.   Wonderland would open at the Quad Cinemas in New York City on April 28th, to poor reviews but a decent $11,500 opening weekend. But the film would not be able to maintain much of an audience, and after five weeks, Wonderland was out of the Quad Cinemas, never to play another theatre in America, with just $50k in the till.   Ken Russell's third and final film in his contract with Vestron was The Rainbow, an adaptation of a 1915 novel by D.H. Lawrence, whose 1920 novel Women in Love had been adapted by Russell in 1969. Glenda Jackson, who had won the Academy Award for her role in Women in Love, here plays the mother of the character she played in the other film. Here, she co-stars with Sammi Davis as Ursala, the younger sister of Jackson's Women in Love character, who finds herself attracted to Anton, a young man in town, as well as her gym teacher Winifred.   As one would expect from Ken Russell, the supporting cast is top notch, including future Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, regular Russell collaborator Christopher Gable, and Blowup star David Hemmings. The film would open at the Paris Theatre in New York City on May 5th, where it would gross a very good $22k, spurred on by great reviews from most of the city's major critics, several of which noted the film to be Russell's best in a number of years. So it would be sad that the film would end up being the lowest grossing of the three films he'd make with Vestron, only earning a total of $444k after three months in mostly single playdates in major markets.   In 1985, Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum would work together on a forgettable horror comedy film called Transylvania 6-5000, whose name was a pun on a popular 1940 song recorded by Glenn Miller. In 1986, the pair would work together again in David Cronenberg's amazing remake of the cheesy 1950s horror film The Fly. In late 1987, shortly after the pair married, they would work together for a third time, on another comedy, and on a movie that was this time based on an actual song.    Earth Girls Are Easy was the name of a song that appeared on comedian Julie Brown's 1984 EP Goddess in Progress, and was originally developed as a movie at Warner Brothers Studio. The studio would get cold feet when Absolute Beginners, the big British musical directed by music video director Julien Temple, failed big time everywhere in the world except for the UK. Temple was slated to direct Earth Girls Are Easy, and Brown, as the co-writer and co-star of the film, was committed to the filmmaker, even if it meant Warners putting the film into turnaround.   Which they did, in 1986.   It would take nearly a year to get the project back on track, after being rejected by every other major studio and production company in Hollywood, until the French banking giant Credit Lyonnais agree to finance the film, provided they could cut the budget from $14m to $10m, and if the filmmakers could make a distribution deal with the bank's preferred distributor, the then newly-formed DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group.   The film, about a manicurist in Los Angeles who helps three aliens blend into human culture after they accidentally crash land their spaceship into her pool, would begin production in Los Angeles in October 1987. Davis played the manicurist, and Goldblum one of the aliens, alongside Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey, while the remaining cast would include a number of great comedic actors like MASH's Larry Linville, Michael McKean, Rick Overton, and Charles Rocket, as well as Los Angeles media personality Angelyne as basically herself.   While the film was nearing completion in early 1988, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group would go out of business, leaving Credit Lyonnais in need of a new distributor for their investment. But after Temple turned in his first cut of the film, Credit Lyonnais would send Temple back into his editing bay, where he and his team would spend nearly another five months  winnowing out various scenes and completely excising a big and expensive musical number based on one of the other songs on Brown's 1984 EP, I Like ‘Em Big and Stupid, because it just didn't work for the film. Additional scenes would be shot, and the budget would end up being $11m.    The film would have its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1988, and attract attention from a number of distributors including MGM/UA, New World Pictures and Twentieth Century-Fox, but Vestron would end up putting in the winning bid.   The film would originally be set for a February 1989 release, but would get delayed until May 12th. When it finally opened on 317 screens in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philly, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC, the film would gross $893k, putting in twelfth place for the weekend, but its per screen average would be the fourth best amongst the films in the top twenty. The film would fall one place in its second week,  losing 35% of its opening weekend audience, grossing $577k. The film would slowly hemorrhage theatres and box office until the plug was pulled in mid-July with only $3.9m in tickets sold.   The sole lasting legacy of the film is that Damon Wayans enjoyed working so much with Jim Carrey that when Damon's brother Kenan Ivory Wayans was putting together a new comedy television show together thanks to the success of his movie I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, Damon would get his brother to give Carrey a chance. In Living Color would make Carrey and the Wayans Brothers stars, and would change the course of comedy. So there's that…   In late June, the Lightning Pictures imprint would release their first movie in nearly two years, Far From Home. The film starred the then-fourteen year old Drew Barrymore as a young girl traveling cross country with her father, who get stuck in a small desert town in Nevada on their way to back to Los Angeles, who must deal with some very strange characters in the trailer park they're staying in, as they slowly discover nothing is as it's supposed to be. Matt Frewer, Max Headroom himself, plays the dad, who must protect his daughter while he figures out how to get the hell out of town alive.   Truth be told, the movie sucks, and it's really creepy in how it sexualizes Barrymore, but there's one hell of a great supporting cast doing their best to keep the joint from totally stinking the place up. Richard Masur, Academy Award nominee Susan Tyrell, Anthony Rapp from Adventures in Babysitting, Jennifer Tilly, and beloved character actor Dick Miller. When Vestron opened the film in four theatres in third-tier regions on June 30th, it was little surprise the film got some very bad notices, although one unnamed reviewer for Variety felt the need to note that Barrymore, who again was only fourteen at the time, had “a baby face, dreamy eyes and a playboy model's body.” The film would gross just $3,763 in its first and only weekend in theatres.   But that wasn't even the worst news of the week for Vestron.   On the same day as they opened Far From Home, Vestron had been informed by Security Pacific Bank in Los Angeles that the $100 million line of credit the company had with them was being terminated. 140 of the approximately 300 Vestron staff members, mostly from the Los Angeles office, were let go, including the President of Production, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Distribution, and the Vice President of Publicity and Promotion. While Vestron Video would continue for a while, in large part thanks to a $15.7m payoff during a dispute over home video ownership rights to the 1986 Best Picture winner Platoon, the theatrical distribution unit was effectively dead. Some movies, including the Fred Savage/Howie Mandel comedy Little Monsters, the Harry Dean Stanton-led comedy Twister, and the Kathryn Bigelow-directed action thriller Blue Steel with Jamie Lee Curtis, would be sold off to other companies, but the titles left behind would see their planned theatrical releases cancelled and eventually be released direct to video.   Thanks to some of the legacy titles in their video catalog, including Dirty Dancing, Vestron would be able to stave off the inevitable, but in January 1991, the company would file for bankruptcy, their final film being the Stan Winston-directed fantasy buddy comedy The Adventures of a Gnome named Gnorm. Filmed in 1988 as Upward, the film featured Anthony Michael Hall as an Los Angeles Police Detective who has to team up with a gnome, a puppet created by Winston, the effects wizard who also directed the film, to solve a murder. For Winston, it was deja vu all over again, as his previous directorial effort, Pumpkinhead, found itself in limbo for a while when its distributor, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, filed for bankruptcy in 1987 before they could release that film.   In bankruptcy court, Live Entertainment, partially owned by 1990s mega movie production company Carolco Pictures, would purchase all of Vestron's assets for $24m. Live used the assets as collateral to secure a line of credit from industry friendly banks, so they could start their own production and distribution company, of which their only moment of note was helping to finance Reservoir Dogs when no one else would.   Eventually, Live Entertainment would be sold off to Bain Capital, a private investment firm co-founded by Mitt Romney, in 1997, and they would rebrand Live as Artisan Entertainment. Artisan today is best known as the little independent distributor of The Blair Witch Project, but they also would enter into an agreement with Marvel Comics to make movies for 15 of their characters, including Ant-Man, Black Panther, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Longshot, Morbius, Mort the Dead Teenager, and the Power Pack.   Artisan would produce two movies based on Marvel characters, Man-Thing and The Punisher, although neither of those films would be released by Artisan. Artisan would declare bankruptcy in 2003, and Marvel would be one of the companies to place a bid for them. Lionsgate would end up becoming the winning bidder for Artisan's assets, which is how the vast majority of Vestron titles are now owned by a company that didn't even exist when Vestron closed shop.   Today, Lionsgate is the owner of the assets of a number of the companies we've spoken about on this podcast in the past, and will be talking about in the future, including Crown International, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, Embassy Pictures, and New World Pictures. And it's also a major reason why so many of the movies we discuss in these episodes looking back at past companies are completely unknown today. As big as Lionsgate is, with nearly $3.6 billion in revenue in 2022, they aren't going to be able to keep up with the chain of ownership for every movies from every company they've purchased, and they're not going to put the money in to the movies that are barely remembered today. The Film Foundation, the non-profit organization co-founded by Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, which is dedicated to film preservation, estimates the average cost to do a photochemical restoration of a color feature with sound to between $80,000 to $450,000 dollars, not including the cost of a 2k or 4k digital scan. I'm going to have a link in the show notes on our website at The80sMoviePodcast.com to a November 2018 article from the Science History Institute about the process of restoring films. It's not a long read, but it's a fascinating read. I hope you'll check it out.   So there you have it, the end of the line for Vestron Pictures, and many of the movies they helped to make and distribute, most of which you cannot find today in any form.   Thank you for listening.   We'll talk again next week when Episode 105, on the 1985 teen comedy O.C. and Stiggs, directed by Robert Altman, will be discussed.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

This week, we finish our three part episode on the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures. ----more---- The movies discussed on this week's episode are: The Adventures of a Gnome Named Gnorm (1990, Stan Winston) Big Man on Campus (1989, Jeremy Paul Kagan) Dream a Little Dream (1989, Marc Rocco) Earth Girls Are Easy (1989, Julien Temple) Far From Home (1989, Meiert Avis) Paperhouse (1989, Bernard Rose) Parents (1989, Bob Balaban) The Rainbow (1989, Ken Russell) Wonderland (1989, Philip Saville)   TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   At the end of the previous episode, Vestron Pictures was starting to experience the turbulence a number of independent distributors faced when they had a successful film too soon out of the gate, and the direction of the company seemingly changes to go chasing more waterfalls instead of sticking to the rivers and the lakes they were used to.   Welcome to Part Three of our miniseries.   As we enter 1989, Vestron is seriously in trouble. More money has gone out then has come back in. It seems that they needed one more hit to keep going for a while longer. But if you were to look at their release schedule for the year, which included a pickup from the recently bankrupt DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, there wasn't really anything that felt like it could be a Dirty Dancing-like break out, except for maybe the pickup from the recently bankrupt DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group.    But we'll get there in a moment.   Their first film from 1989 is a certifiable cult film if there ever was one, but the problem with this label is that the film tagged as so was not a success upon its initial theatrical release. Bob Balaban, the beloved character actor who had been regularly seen on screen since his memorable debut in Midnight Cowboy twenty years earlier, would make his directorial debut with the black comedy horror film Parents.   Bryan Madorsky stars as Michael Laemle, a ten year old boy living in the California suburbs in the 1950s, who starts to suspect mom and dad, played by Mary Beth Hurt and Randy Quaid, might be cannibals. It's a strange but fun little movie, and even Ken Russell would compare it favorably over David Lynch's Blue Velvet during one contemporary interview, but sadly, it would take far more time for the film to find its audience than Vestron could afford.   Opening in 94 theatres on January 27th, the $3m Parents could not overcome a series of negative reviews from critics, and it would only gross $278k in its first three days. Vestron would not strike any additional prints of the film, and would cycle the ones they did have around the country for several months, but after four months, the film could only attract $870k in box office receipts. But it would become something of a cult hit on video later in the year.   In 1992, British filmmaker Bernard Rose would make his American directing debut with an all-time banger, Candyman. But he wouldn't gotten Candyman if it wasn't for his 1989 film Paperhouse, an inventive story about a young girl whose drawings seem to manifest into reality. British actor Ben Cross from Chariots of Fire and American actress Glenne Headly from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels plays the young girl's parents.   Outside of Gene Siskel, who would give the film a thumbs down on his movie review show with Roger Ebert despite acknowledging Rose's talent as a filmmaker and being fascinated by the first two-thirds of the movie, the critical consensus was extraordinary. But it appears Siskel may have never actually written a review of the film for the Chicago Tribune, as the film still has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the film would only earn $6,700 from its single screen playdate at the Carnegie Hall Cinemas when it opened on February 17th, and the film would get little support from Vestron after that. More single playdates in major cities that added up to a $241k box office tally after fourteen weeks in release.   Marc Rocco's Dream a Little Dream would be the third film in The Two Coreys Cinematic Universe. Corey Feldman plays a high school student who, through one of the strangest plot twists in the whole body switching genre, finds himself switching places with two time Academy Award-winner Jason Robards, playing a professor who is looking for immortality through entering a meditative alpha state. Meredith Salinger and Piper Laurie also find themselves switching bodies as well, while Corey Haim plays the goofball best friend with not a whole lot to do. The supporting cast also includes veteran character actors Harry Dean Stanton and Alex Rocco, the latter who agreed to do the film because it was directed by his son.   When the film opened on March 3rd, it would be Vestron's second widest release, opening on more than 1,000 theatres. But just like the previous year's License to Drive, the pairing of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman did not set the box office on fire, opening in fifth place with $2.57m in ticket sales, compared to the #1 film of the week, the Morgan Freeman drama Lean on Me, which would gross twice as much as Dream a Little Dream while playing in 125 fewer theatres. In its second week, the film would lose 56 theatres and 52% of its opening weekend audience, falling all the way to 13th place with a gross of only $1.25m. By week three, the movie would move to dollar houses, and trudge along for several more months, until it closed in the middle of summer with only $5.55m in the till.   In the late 1970s and early 1980s, writer/director Jeremy Paul Kagan had directed and occasionally written several big ticket movies, including the 1977 Henry Winkler drama Heroes, which also starred Sally Field and, in his first post-Star Wars movie, Harrison Ford, and the 1985 Meredith Salinger/John Cusack adventure film The Journey of Natty Gann. Which makes his Natty Gann follow up, Big Man on Campus, such a head scratcher.   A modern adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Big Man on Campus was written by Allan Katz, who had been working in television for nearly twenty years writing for and producing shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and MASH. Katz would also star in the movie as the titular hunchback, even though he had never once acted on any of his shows. But at least he had a good cast supporting him, including Gerrit Graham, Melora Hardin, Jessica Harper, Tom Skerritt, and Cindy Williams.   I can only find one playdate for the film ever, in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque in March 1989, so while this mostly qualifies as a direct to video release, I feel compelled to at least give it a token mention here.   Have you ever heard of a movie called The Fruit Machine? Of course you haven't, because that's a horrible name for a movie, no matter what it's about. When Vestron acquired this British drama about young gay men who go on the run after they witness a murder, the first thing they did was change the title to Wonderland. Not that Wonderland gives you any more of an idea of what the movie is about than The Fruit Machine. But, whatever.   Today, the movie has two things going for it. One, an early role for Robbie Coltrane, playing a transvestite who operates a nightclub for gay men and transvestites called, you guessed it, The Fruit Machine. Second, the musical score was written by Hans Zimmer, in one of his earliest film jobs. Ironically, Wonderland would be the the third movie scored by Hans Zimmer to be released by Vestron in a four month period, after Burning Secret and Paperhouse.   Wonderland would open at the Quad Cinemas in New York City on April 28th, to poor reviews but a decent $11,500 opening weekend. But the film would not be able to maintain much of an audience, and after five weeks, Wonderland was out of the Quad Cinemas, never to play another theatre in America, with just $50k in the till.   Ken Russell's third and final film in his contract with Vestron was The Rainbow, an adaptation of a 1915 novel by D.H. Lawrence, whose 1920 novel Women in Love had been adapted by Russell in 1969. Glenda Jackson, who had won the Academy Award for her role in Women in Love, here plays the mother of the character she played in the other film. Here, she co-stars with Sammi Davis as Ursala, the younger sister of Jackson's Women in Love character, who finds herself attracted to Anton, a young man in town, as well as her gym teacher Winifred.   As one would expect from Ken Russell, the supporting cast is top notch, including future Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, regular Russell collaborator Christopher Gable, and Blowup star David Hemmings. The film would open at the Paris Theatre in New York City on May 5th, where it would gross a very good $22k, spurred on by great reviews from most of the city's major critics, several of which noted the film to be Russell's best in a number of years. So it would be sad that the film would end up being the lowest grossing of the three films he'd make with Vestron, only earning a total of $444k after three months in mostly single playdates in major markets.   In 1985, Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum would work together on a forgettable horror comedy film called Transylvania 6-5000, whose name was a pun on a popular 1940 song recorded by Glenn Miller. In 1986, the pair would work together again in David Cronenberg's amazing remake of the cheesy 1950s horror film The Fly. In late 1987, shortly after the pair married, they would work together for a third time, on another comedy, and on a movie that was this time based on an actual song.    Earth Girls Are Easy was the name of a song that appeared on comedian Julie Brown's 1984 EP Goddess in Progress, and was originally developed as a movie at Warner Brothers Studio. The studio would get cold feet when Absolute Beginners, the big British musical directed by music video director Julien Temple, failed big time everywhere in the world except for the UK. Temple was slated to direct Earth Girls Are Easy, and Brown, as the co-writer and co-star of the film, was committed to the filmmaker, even if it meant Warners putting the film into turnaround.   Which they did, in 1986.   It would take nearly a year to get the project back on track, after being rejected by every other major studio and production company in Hollywood, until the French banking giant Credit Lyonnais agree to finance the film, provided they could cut the budget from $14m to $10m, and if the filmmakers could make a distribution deal with the bank's preferred distributor, the then newly-formed DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group.   The film, about a manicurist in Los Angeles who helps three aliens blend into human culture after they accidentally crash land their spaceship into her pool, would begin production in Los Angeles in October 1987. Davis played the manicurist, and Goldblum one of the aliens, alongside Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey, while the remaining cast would include a number of great comedic actors like MASH's Larry Linville, Michael McKean, Rick Overton, and Charles Rocket, as well as Los Angeles media personality Angelyne as basically herself.   While the film was nearing completion in early 1988, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group would go out of business, leaving Credit Lyonnais in need of a new distributor for their investment. But after Temple turned in his first cut of the film, Credit Lyonnais would send Temple back into his editing bay, where he and his team would spend nearly another five months  winnowing out various scenes and completely excising a big and expensive musical number based on one of the other songs on Brown's 1984 EP, I Like ‘Em Big and Stupid, because it just didn't work for the film. Additional scenes would be shot, and the budget would end up being $11m.    The film would have its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1988, and attract attention from a number of distributors including MGM/UA, New World Pictures and Twentieth Century-Fox, but Vestron would end up putting in the winning bid.   The film would originally be set for a February 1989 release, but would get delayed until May 12th. When it finally opened on 317 screens in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philly, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC, the film would gross $893k, putting in twelfth place for the weekend, but its per screen average would be the fourth best amongst the films in the top twenty. The film would fall one place in its second week,  losing 35% of its opening weekend audience, grossing $577k. The film would slowly hemorrhage theatres and box office until the plug was pulled in mid-July with only $3.9m in tickets sold.   The sole lasting legacy of the film is that Damon Wayans enjoyed working so much with Jim Carrey that when Damon's brother Kenan Ivory Wayans was putting together a new comedy television show together thanks to the success of his movie I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, Damon would get his brother to give Carrey a chance. In Living Color would make Carrey and the Wayans Brothers stars, and would change the course of comedy. So there's that…   In late June, the Lightning Pictures imprint would release their first movie in nearly two years, Far From Home. The film starred the then-fourteen year old Drew Barrymore as a young girl traveling cross country with her father, who get stuck in a small desert town in Nevada on their way to back to Los Angeles, who must deal with some very strange characters in the trailer park they're staying in, as they slowly discover nothing is as it's supposed to be. Matt Frewer, Max Headroom himself, plays the dad, who must protect his daughter while he figures out how to get the hell out of town alive.   Truth be told, the movie sucks, and it's really creepy in how it sexualizes Barrymore, but there's one hell of a great supporting cast doing their best to keep the joint from totally stinking the place up. Richard Masur, Academy Award nominee Susan Tyrell, Anthony Rapp from Adventures in Babysitting, Jennifer Tilly, and beloved character actor Dick Miller. When Vestron opened the film in four theatres in third-tier regions on June 30th, it was little surprise the film got some very bad notices, although one unnamed reviewer for Variety felt the need to note that Barrymore, who again was only fourteen at the time, had “a baby face, dreamy eyes and a playboy model's body.” The film would gross just $3,763 in its first and only weekend in theatres.   But that wasn't even the worst news of the week for Vestron.   On the same day as they opened Far From Home, Vestron had been informed by Security Pacific Bank in Los Angeles that the $100 million line of credit the company had with them was being terminated. 140 of the approximately 300 Vestron staff members, mostly from the Los Angeles office, were let go, including the President of Production, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Distribution, and the Vice President of Publicity and Promotion. While Vestron Video would continue for a while, in large part thanks to a $15.7m payoff during a dispute over home video ownership rights to the 1986 Best Picture winner Platoon, the theatrical distribution unit was effectively dead. Some movies, including the Fred Savage/Howie Mandel comedy Little Monsters, the Harry Dean Stanton-led comedy Twister, and the Kathryn Bigelow-directed action thriller Blue Steel with Jamie Lee Curtis, would be sold off to other companies, but the titles left behind would see their planned theatrical releases cancelled and eventually be released direct to video.   Thanks to some of the legacy titles in their video catalog, including Dirty Dancing, Vestron would be able to stave off the inevitable, but in January 1991, the company would file for bankruptcy, their final film being the Stan Winston-directed fantasy buddy comedy The Adventures of a Gnome named Gnorm. Filmed in 1988 as Upward, the film featured Anthony Michael Hall as an Los Angeles Police Detective who has to team up with a gnome, a puppet created by Winston, the effects wizard who also directed the film, to solve a murder. For Winston, it was deja vu all over again, as his previous directorial effort, Pumpkinhead, found itself in limbo for a while when its distributor, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, filed for bankruptcy in 1987 before they could release that film.   In bankruptcy court, Live Entertainment, partially owned by 1990s mega movie production company Carolco Pictures, would purchase all of Vestron's assets for $24m. Live used the assets as collateral to secure a line of credit from industry friendly banks, so they could start their own production and distribution company, of which their only moment of note was helping to finance Reservoir Dogs when no one else would.   Eventually, Live Entertainment would be sold off to Bain Capital, a private investment firm co-founded by Mitt Romney, in 1997, and they would rebrand Live as Artisan Entertainment. Artisan today is best known as the little independent distributor of The Blair Witch Project, but they also would enter into an agreement with Marvel Comics to make movies for 15 of their characters, including Ant-Man, Black Panther, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Longshot, Morbius, Mort the Dead Teenager, and the Power Pack.   Artisan would produce two movies based on Marvel characters, Man-Thing and The Punisher, although neither of those films would be released by Artisan. Artisan would declare bankruptcy in 2003, and Marvel would be one of the companies to place a bid for them. Lionsgate would end up becoming the winning bidder for Artisan's assets, which is how the vast majority of Vestron titles are now owned by a company that didn't even exist when Vestron closed shop.   Today, Lionsgate is the owner of the assets of a number of the companies we've spoken about on this podcast in the past, and will be talking about in the future, including Crown International, the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, Embassy Pictures, and New World Pictures. And it's also a major reason why so many of the movies we discuss in these episodes looking back at past companies are completely unknown today. As big as Lionsgate is, with nearly $3.6 billion in revenue in 2022, they aren't going to be able to keep up with the chain of ownership for every movies from every company they've purchased, and they're not going to put the money in to the movies that are barely remembered today. The Film Foundation, the non-profit organization co-founded by Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, which is dedicated to film preservation, estimates the average cost to do a photochemical restoration of a color feature with sound to between $80,000 to $450,000 dollars, not including the cost of a 2k or 4k digital scan. I'm going to have a link in the show notes on our website at The80sMoviePodcast.com to a November 2018 article from the Science History Institute about the process of restoring films. It's not a long read, but it's a fascinating read. I hope you'll check it out.   So there you have it, the end of the line for Vestron Pictures, and many of the movies they helped to make and distribute, most of which you cannot find today in any form.   Thank you for listening.   We'll talk again next week when Episode 105, on the 1985 teen comedy O.C. and Stiggs, directed by Robert Altman, will be discussed.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

In the 1990s a liberal population geneticist launched the Human Genome Diversity Project. The goal was to sequence the genomes of “isolated” and “disappearing” indigenous groups throughout the world. The project did not go as planned—indigenous groups protested it, and scientists and anthropologists criticized it. This episode examines what went wrong and asks the question: can anti-racist scientists create racist science?  About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race “The Vampire Project” is Episode 4 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute's highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innate is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Ragunath Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer “Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

In the 1970s Barry Mehler started tracking race scientists and he noticed something funny: they all had the same funding source. One wealthy man was using his incredible resources to prop up any scientist he could find who would validate his white supremacist ideology—and make it seem like it was backed by a legitimate scientific consensus. About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race “Keepers of the Flame” is Episode 3 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute's highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innate is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Ragunath Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer “Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.   Resource List ‘The American Breed': Nazi eugenics and the origins of the Pioneer Fund, by Paul Lombardo  The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund, by William Tucker The New Eugenics: Academic Racism in the U.S. Today, by Barry Mehler  The Phil Donahue Show  Superior: The Return of Race Science, by Angela Saini

Welcome to Weird Web Radio! I'm your host, Lonnie Scott! This episode features the amazing Goth Folk Music duo Charming Disaster! I promised both of them that this interview would be different from any other they experienced. Well, that promise held true! We chatted about their music, their history personal and professional, witchcraft, hauntings, monsters, and so much more! Charming Disaster - Ellia and Jeff - have a new Album called Supernatural History AND an Oracle Deck out! Please do go grab both! The Charming Disaster BIO: Brooklyn, NY-based musical duo Charming Disaster performs playfully dark original songs inspired by death, crime, myth, magic, science, and the occult, inspired by the macabre humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the murder ballads of the Americana tradition, and the dramatic flair of the cabaret. In their live performances, they combine vocal harmonies and clever lyrics with ukulele, guitar, and virtuosic foot percussion, drawing listeners into a haunting, offbeat universe of paranormal romance, con artists, circus tents, and ancient gods. Charming Disaster's music has been featured on the spooky hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale, they have opened for legendary cello-rock ensemble Rasputina, goth icon Voltaire, and Amanda Palmer's punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls. The duo have captivated audiences across the United States,appearing alongside storytellers, comedians, fire eaters, puppets, burlesque artists, poets, and circus performers. Recent appearances have included Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre in NYC, the Rochester Fringe Festival, Philadelphia's Science History Institute, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, VA, Cleveland's Wizbang Circus Theatre, and the Coney Island Sideshow stage. Their latest album, Super Natural History, is a musical cabinet of curiosities inspired by both the natural world and the metaphysical realm, uniting the worlds of magic and science with songs that explore subjects like witchcraft, monsters, and the underworld alongside bats, plants, poisons, and parasites. Super Natural History is an alchemical experiment of sorts—magic and science may seem like contradictory concepts, but for Charming Disaster they are opposite sides of the same coin: alternate ways to see the world and consider its mysteries. Charming Disaster On The Web: Website: charmingdisaster.com Facebook: facebook.com/charmingdisaster Instagram: @charmingdisasterband YouTube: youtube.com/charmingdisasterband Bandcamp: charmingdisaster.bandcamp.com Spotify: sptfy.com/charmingdisaster Enjoy the show! Stay Weird! Want to know what Ellie and Jeff aka Charming Disaster talk about in the BONUS Audio?! It's a Special Member's Only Episode!! All that and more in the members only bonus audio extended interview! Join here! It's time to sport a new look? Hell yes! Check out the Official Weird Web Radio Store for Shirts, Hoodies, Hats, and more! Real quick! Do you want a Tarot Reading from an international award winning professional? Look no more! I'm here! Go to my site http://tarotheathen.com to reserve your reading today! You can also come join the Facebook discussion group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weirdwebradio/ New Instagram for Weird Web Radio! Follow for unique content and videos! https://www.instagram.com/weirdwebradio/ You can make a One-Time Donation to help support the show and show some love! Is this show worth a dollar to you? How about five dollars? Help support this podcast! That gets you into the Weird Web Radio membership where the extra goodies appear! Join the membership at patreon.com/weirdwebradio or at weirdwebradio.com and click Join the Membership! SHOW NOTES: SUBSCRIBE ON iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify! Also streaming on mobile apps for podcasts! Intro voice over by Lothar Tuppan. Outro voice over by Lonnie Scott Intro & Outro Music by Nine Inch Nails on the album ‘7', song title ‘Ghost', under Creative Commons License.

In 1793 a yellow fever epidemic almost destroyed Philadelphia. The young city was saved by two Black preachers, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, who organized the free Black community in providing essential services and nursing the sick and dying. Allen and Jones were assured of two things: that stepping up would help them gain full equality and citizenship, and that they were immune to the disease. Neither promise turned out to be true.  About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race “Calamity in Philadelphia” is Episode 2 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute's highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innate is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Ragunath Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer Richard Allen voiceover by Jason Carr “Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. Resource List How the Politics of Race Played Out During the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic, by Alicia Ault A short account of the malignant fever, lately prevalent in Philadelphia: with a statement of the proceedings that took place on the subject in different parts of the United States, by Mathew Carey Medicalizing Blackness: Making Racial Difference in the Atlantic World, 1780-1840, by Rana A. Hogarth A narrative of the proceedings of the black people, during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia, in the year 1793, by Absalom Jones and Richard Allen Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers, by Richard Newman Observations upon the origin of the malignant bilious, or yellow fever in Philadelphia, and upon the means of preventing it: addressed to the citizens of Philadelphia, by Benjamin Rush Bishop Richard Allen: Apostle of Freedom, produced by Dr. Mark Tyler Transcript

It might seem as though the way we think about race now is how we've always thought about it—but it isn't. Race was born out of the Enlightenment in Europe, along with the invention of modern western science. And it was tied to the politics of the age—imperialism and later slavery. This episode traces the origins of race science to the Enlightenment, examines how the Bible influenced racial theories, and considers how we still have a hard time letting go of the idea of race. About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race “Origin Stories” is Episode 1 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute's highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innate is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Ragunath Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer "Innate Theme" composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to our colleagues, Jacqueline Boytim and James Voelkel, for their help with this episode. Resource List Archaeology under the Blinding Light of Race, by Michael Blakey  Breathing Race into the Machine: the Surprising Career of the Spirometer from Plantation to Genetics, by Lundy Braun  Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science, by Terence Keel  Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century, by Dorothy Roberts "Jesus Loves the little Children," song by Cedarmont Kids  Medicalizing Blackness: Making Racial Differences in the Atlantic World, 1780-1840, by Rana Hogarth The Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann Schedel Superior: The Return of Race Science, by Angela Saini Find the full transcript here.

An update on the spring season of Disappearing Spoon (early episodes for Patreon subscribers!), plus a trailer for the new "Innate" series from the great people behind the Science History Institute's "Distillations podcast"Our Sponsors:* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Dearest Dashies: It's time to learn about the Most Dangerous Woman in the World, aka, Mother Jones. Have you ever heard of her? Do you read the magazine that has her namesake? Mother Jones is a worthy woman to know and love and maybe resurrect from the dead. She stood up for what was right as far as labor rights and wrongs go. When she showed up, everyone listened. Not only did she have important things to say, she said it in an Irish brogue, which Beth and Kelly can almost do. Thanks for listening. It is an act of love. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands Cite your sources: Knights of Labor - Definition, Goals & Leader - HISTORY, 7 October 2021, https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/knights-of-labor. Accessed 13 November 2022. “The History of Mother Jones – Mother Jones.” Mother Jones, https://www.motherjones.com/about/history/. Accessed 13 November 2022. Jones, Mother. “Mother Jones.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Jones. Accessed 13 November 2022. “Mother Jones.” AFL-CIO, https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/mother-jones. Accessed 13 November 2022. Roberts, Jacob. “Yellow Fever Fiend.” Science History Institute, 7 April 2014, https://sciencehistory.org/distillations/yellow-fever-fiend. Accessed 13 November 2022. Schumann, Larisa R., and Darrin Lythgoe. “Disease & Death in Early America.” Tully Area Historical Society, https://www.tullyhistoricalsociety.org/tahs/medical.php#yellowfvr. Accessed 13 November 2022.

Episode 219 - Elena Conis, PhD, MS, MJ Dan Sterenchuk and Tommy Estlund are honored to have as our guest, Elena Conis, PhD, MS, MJ. She's a historian of U.S. public health and medicine, with a special focus on the history of infectious diseases, environmental health, vaccines, pesticides, scientific controversies, and the public's understanding of health and health science. Her research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Library of Medicine, the Science History Institute, UCLA's Charles Donald O'Malley Research Fellowship, and Emory University, where she was formerly the Mellon Foundation Faculty Fellow in Health and the Humanities and a faculty member in the Department of History. At Berkeley, she teaches in the Graduate School of Journalism and the Media Studies Program, and she directs the joint graduate program in Public Health and Journalism. Personal Website: http://www.elenaconis.com How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT - Book Website: https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/elena-conis/how-to-sell-a-poison/9781645036746/ Note: Guests create their own bio description for each episode. The Curiosity Hour Podcast is hosted and produced by Dan Sterenchuk and Tommy Estlund. The Curiosity Hour Podcast is listener supported! The easiest way to donate is via the Venmo app and you can donate to (at symbol) CuriosityHour (Download app here: venmo.com) The Curiosity Hour Podcast is available free on 13 platforms: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, Soundcloud, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podbean, PlayerFM, Castbox, and Pocket Casts. Disclaimers: The Curiosity Hour Podcast may contain content not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion advised. The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are solely those of the guest(s). These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of The Curiosity Hour Podcast. This podcast may contain explicit language. The Public Service Announcement near the end of the episode solely represents the views of Tommy and Dan and not our guests or our listeners. Thank you to the publisher and Professor Conis for providing a digital review copy of the book in preparation for interview.

We grow up being educated on the power of science to explain the physical world.  But Dr. Elena Conis offers a more complex view of the role of science in public life—and the stories and understanding it offers all of us as we grapple with everything from pesticides, to vaccines, and climate change. Conis is a writer and historian of medicine, public health and the environment and an affiliate of Berkeley's Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society and the Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.  Prior to joining the Graduate School of Journalism, she was a professor of history and the Mellon Fellow in Health and Humanities at Emory University.  She was also award-winning health columnist for the Los Angeles Times, where she wrote the “Esoterica Medica,” “Nutrition Lab,” and “Supplements” columns.  Conis' current research focuses on scientific controversies, science denial, and the public understanding of science, and has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine, and the Science History Institute.  Her first book, “Vaccine Nation: America's Changing Relationship with Immunization,” received the Arthur J. Viseltear Award from the American Public Health Association and was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title and a Science Pick of the Week by the journal Nature.  Her latest book is “How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall and Toxic Return of DDT.”  She holds a Ph.D. in the history of health sciences from UCSF, master's degrees in journalism and public health from Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in biology from Columbia University.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cavendish was a prolific poet, playwright, and natural philosopher. She published multiple works under her own name before that was common for a woman, and she published at least five major works on natural philosophy. Research: Boyle, Deborah. “Margaret Cavendish on Gender, Nature, and Freedom.” Hypatia vol. 28, no. 3 (Summer 2013). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24542000 British Library. “Margaret Cavendish.” https://www.bl.uk/people/margaret-cavendish British Library. “Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World.” https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/margaret-cavendishs-blazing-world "Cavendish, Margaret." Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library, edited by Julie L. Carnagie, et al., vol. 3: Vol. 1: Biographies, UXL, 2002, pp. 60-65. Gale In Context: World History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3426300052/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=36cbb94b. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022. Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle and C.H. Firth. “The life of William Cavendish, duke of Newcastle, to which is added The true relation of my birth, breeding and life.” London : J.C. Nimmo. 1886. Cunning, David, "Margaret Lucas Cavendish", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/margaret-cavendish/. Donagan, B. Lucas, Sir Charles (1612/13–1648), royalist army officer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 28 Apr. 2022. Donagan, B. Lucas, Sir Thomas (1597/8–1648/9), royalist army officer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 28 Apr. 2022. English Heritage. “Margaret Cavendish.” https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/margaret-cavendish/ Fransee, Emily Lord. “Mistress of a New World: Early Science Fiction in Europe's ‘Age of Discovery.'” Public Domain Review. 10/11/2018. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/mistress-of-a-new-world-early-science-fiction-in-europes-age-of-discovery Frederickson, Anne. “First Lady.” Distillations. Science History Institute. 4/15/2013. https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/first-lady Gryntaki, Gelly. “Margaret Cavendish: Being A Female Philosopher In The 17th Century.” The Collector. 7/24/2021. https://www.thecollector.com/margaret-cavendish-female-philosopher-17th-century/ Knight, J. Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle (1624?–1674). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 27 Apr. 2022, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.001.0001/odnb-9780192683120-e-4940. Marshall, Eugene. “Margaret Cavendish (1623—1673).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/margaret-cavendish/ Newcastle, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle. “The cavalier in exile; being the lives of the first Duke & Duchess of Newcastle.” London, G. Newnes, Ltd. 1903. Poetry Foundation. “Duchess of Newcastle Margaret Cavendish.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/margaret-cavendish Project Vox team. (2019). “Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.” Project Vox. Duke University Libraries. https://projectvox.org/cavendish-1623-1673/ Robbins, Michael. “The Royally Radical Life of Margaret Cavendish.” The Paris Review. 4/15/2019. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/04/15/the-royally-radical-life-of-margaret-cavendish/ Sarasohn, Lisa T. "Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, vol. 20, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008, pp. 79-81. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2830905568/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=88a78131. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022. Walter, J. Lucas, John, first Baron Lucas of Shenfield (1606–1671), royalist landowner. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 28 Apr. 2022. Wilkins, Emma. “Margaret Cavendish and the Royal Society.” Notes and Records. Volume 68, Issue 3. 5/14/2014. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2014.0015 Wills, Matthew. “'Mad Meg,' the Poet-Duchess of 17th Century England.” JSTOR Daily. 3/10/2019. https://daily.jstor.org/mad-meg-the-poet-duchess-of-17th-century-england/ Woolf, Virginia. “The Common Reader.” New York. Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1925. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1940s, the insecticide DDT was widely used to combat insect-borne human diseases like malaria and control insects in agricultural applications, gardens, and inside homes. In the 1950s, it became evident that the pesticide was causing extensive health and environmental damage. In 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring alerted the public to the long-lasting dangers of pesticide use. And in 1972, the United States EPA issued an order for DDT's cancellation due to adverse environmental effects and human health risks; in the years that followed, dozens of other countries followed suit. The process took decades, and continues to evolve as DDT remains in use for malaria control today. Historian Elena Conis traced the history of DDT in How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT, following a trail of corporate manipulation and manufactured doubt in science geared to keep the profits flowing. Using the story of DDT as a cautionary tale, Conis argued that we need new ways to communicate about science before it's too late — especially in our current era of public confusion about protecting our health and the rampant spread of misinformation. Science, she reminded us, is a constantly-evolving discipline and not just an immutable collection of facts — changing how we view it could help us make better decisions about health, both for ourselves and the environment. Elena Conis is a writer and historian of medicine, public health, and the environment. She teaches at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Media Studies Program, and directs the graduate program in Public Journalism. Her current research focuses on scientific controversies, science denial, and the public understanding of science, and has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine, and the Science History Institute. Her first book, Vaccine Nation: America's Changing Relationship with Immunization, received the Arthur J. Viseltear Award from the American Public Health Association and was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title and a Science Pick of the Week by the journal Nature. Sally James is a writer and journalist who covers science and medical research. She has written for The Seattle Times, South Seattle Emerald, Seattle and UW Magazines, among others.  For the Emerald, she has been focusing during the pandemic on stories about health and access for communities of color. In the past, she has been a leader and volunteer for the nonprofit Northwest Science Writers Association. For many years, she was a reviewer for Health News Review, fact-checking national press reporting for accuracy and fairness. Buy the Book: How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT  Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here. 

We are honored and happy to announce that we've been invited to be a part of this panel to discuss labor history in Philly. Join us. It's gonna be a good one.The Fruits of Our Labor: Exploring the History of Work in PhiladelphiaOn May 2, 2022 at 12:00 PM, the Carpenters' Company will be holding a symposium exploring the history of work in Philadelphia at the Science History Institute. Journalist, historian and author Kim Kelly will be the keynote speaker at this event.More information can be found at the link below:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-fruits-of-our-labor-exploring-the-history-of-work-in-philadelphia-tickets-256274603237

The Disappearing Spoon, a podcast collaboration between the Science History Institute and New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean, returns for its third season on March 8, 2022. To celebrate, our producer, Padmini Parthasarathy, sat down with Kean to talk about his book The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code. This interview is a great companion piece for the new season of The Disappearing Spoon, which tackles all sorts of strange and interesting stories about the geniuses we know well—from Einstein and his great scientific blunder that turned out to be correct, to Monet and the cataracts that almost made him put down his brush forever. Listen as Kean talks about violin protégé Niccolo Paganini, whose genes were both a blessing and a curse, the scientific arms race that led to the mapping of the human genome, and the sometimes-murky lines between human and non-human. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Padmini Parthasarathy Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer Photo: Wikimedia Commons

On this episode of Think Theory Radio we are joined by Megan Piorko, a postdoctoral fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. She works on seventeenth-century alchemical texts, material and visual culture, and early modern technologies of secrecy. She and her colleagues Sarah Lang & Richard Bean recently deciphered alchemists John Dee & Arthur Dee's formula for the mystical philosopher's stone. Listen in for a fascinating discussion on alchemy, history, and mysticism!

What secret alchemical knowledge could be so important it required sophisticated encryption? The setting was Amsterdam, 2019. A conference organized by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry had just concluded at the Embassy of the Free Mind, in a lecture hall opened by historical fiction author Dan Brown. At the conference, Science History Institute postdoctoral researcher Megan Piorko presented a curious manuscript belonging to English alchemists John Dee (1527–1608) and his son Arthur Dee (1579–1651). In the pre-modern world, alchemy was a means to understand nature through ancient secret knowledge and chemical experiment. Within Dee's alchemical manuscript was a cipher table, followed by encrypted ciphertext under the heading “Hermeticae Philosophiae medulla”—or Marrow of the Hermetic Philosophy. The table would end up being a valuable tool in decrypting the cipher, but could only be interpreted correctly once the hidden “key” was found. It was during post-conference drinks in a dimly lit bar that Megan decided to investigate the mysterious alchemical cipher—with the help of her colleague, University of Graz postdoctoral researcher Sarah Lang. A Recipe for the Elixir of Life Megan and Sarah shared their initial analysis on a history of chemistry blog and presented the historical discovery to cryptology experts from around the world at the 2021 HistoCrypt conference. Based on the rest of the notebook's contents, they believed the ciphertext contained a recipe for the fabled Philosophers' Stone—an elixir that supposedly prolongs the owner's life and grants the ability to produce gold from base metals. The mysterious cipher received much interest, and Sarah and Megan were soon inundated with emails from would-be code-breakers. That's when Richard Bean entered the picture. Less than a week after the HistoCrypt proceedings went live, Richard contacted Lang and Piorko with exciting news: he'd cracked the code. Megan and Sarah's initial hypothesis was confirmed; the encrypted ciphertext was indeed an alchemical recipe for the Philosophers' Stone. Together, the trio began to translate and analyze the 177-word passage. The Alchemist Behind the Cipher But who wrote this alchemical cipher in the first place, and why encrypt it? Alchemical knowledge was shrouded in secrecy, as practitioners believed it could only be understood by true adepts. Encrypting the most valuable trade secret, the Philosophers' Stone, would have provided an added layer of protection against alchemical fraud and the unenlightened. Alchemists spent their lives searching for this vital substance, with many believing they had the key to successfully unlocking the secret recipe. Arthur Dee was an English alchemist and spent most of his career as royal physician to Tsar Michael I of Russia. He continued to add to the alchemical manuscript after his father's death—and the cipher appears to be in Arthur's handwriting. We don't know the exact date John Dee, Arthur's father, started writing in this manuscript, or when Arthur added the cipher table and encrypted text he titled “The Marrow of Hermetic Philosophy.” However, we do know Arthur wrote another manuscript in 1634 titled Arca Arcanorum—or Secret of Secrets—where he celebrates his alchemical success with the Philosophers' Stone, claiming he discovered the true recipe. He decorated Arca Arcanorum with an emblem copied from a medieval alchemical scroll, illustrating the allegorical process of alchemical transmutation necessary for the Philosophers' Stone. Cracking the Code What clues led to decrypting the mysterious Marrow of the Hermetic Philosophy passage? Adjacent to the encrypted text is a table resembling one used in a traditional style of cipher called a Bellaso/Della Porta cipher—invented in 1553 by Italian cryptologist Giovan Battista Bellaso, and written about in 1563 by Giambattista della Porta. This was the first clue. The Latin title indicated the text itself was also in Latin. This was ...

October 11, 1995. Professor Mario Molina is at his desk at MIT when he gets a long distance call from Sweden. It's the Nobel Committee, telling him he's won that year's prize in chemistry, making this chemistry prize the first awarded to a Mexican-born scientist and the first recognizing environmental science work. The Nobel Committee thanks Molina and the other winners for having "contributed to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic consequences." How did two scientists with no background in atmospheric chemistry identify a dangerous, invisible reaction that was putting the planet in peril? And why was the whole world able to pull together to prevent the worst?Special thanks to our guests, Don Blake, Richard Stolarski, and A.R. Ravishankara, and to the Science History Institute for sharing its oral history interview with Mario Molina. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Disappearing Spoon, a podcast collaboration 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 about his new book The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science. This interview is a great companion piece for The Disappearing Spoon series since some of the stories in the book relate directly to some of the stories in the upcoming season. In this interview Kean talks about some of the case studies in his book, including how Thomas Edison shifted his ethics on the death penalty because of a grudge, how a part-time chemist from Philadelphia became an unlikely spy, and how an American doctor purposefully infected people in Guatemala with venereal diseases—all in the name of science. Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer

Fresh off a hometown visit to Cleveland, Colleen brings us the story of the Cuyahoga: a river once so polluted with industrial sludge, it burned. At least thirteen times. While the largest and most damaging conflagration occurred in 1952, it was the 1969 river fire that made national headlines, thanks to Mayor Carl Stokes. As one of the first Black mayors of a major American city, the charismatic and media-savvy Stokes connected the dots between economic inequality and environmental degradation, and advocated on the national stage for legislation that would clean up the “urban environment,” starting with the Cuyahoga and Lake Erie. Today, the pristine Cuyahoga is a symbol of pride for Clevelanders, yet this civic success story belies the reality of ongoing inequality there. Colleen shares her personal history of growing up in “a city with no superlatives,” her own chance connection to Stokes, and how she's begun parsing the difference between “environmentalism” and “environmental justice.” Also, Leah shares an update on the so-called Mystery Seeds from China. Support us on Patreon for bonus content and early access to episodes.  Mentioned in this episode: “The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds” by Chris Heath (The Atlantic, 7/15/21); Burning River Pale Ale; The Good Time III boat; The Mayor and The People: Carl B Stokes (album by Oliver Nelson); “Carl B. Stokes and the 1969 River Fire” (National Parks Service); “The Cities: The Price of Optimism” (Time, 8/1/69), “The Myth of the Cuyahoga River Fire” (Distillations Podcast, Science History Institute); “Bringing Back Trees to ‘Forest City's Redlined Areas to Help Residents and the Climate” (NPR, 6/23/21).

Fresh off a hometown visit to Cleveland, Colleen brings us the story of the Cuyahoga: a river once so polluted with industrial sludge, it burned. At least thirteen times. While the largest and most damaging conflagration occurred in 1952, it was the 1969 river fire that made national headlines, thanks to Mayor Carl Stokes. As one of the first Black mayors of a major American city, the charismatic and media-savvy Stokes connected the dots between economic inequality and environmental degradation, and advocated on the national stage for legislation that would clean up the “urban environment,” starting with the Cuyahoga and Lake Erie. Today, the pristine Cuyahoga is a symbol of pride for Clevelanders, yet this civic success story belies the reality of ongoing inequality there. Colleen shares her personal history of growing up in “a city with no superlatives,” her own chance connection to Stokes, and how she's begun parsing the difference between “environmentalism” and “environmental justice.” Also, Leah shares an update on the so-called Mystery Seeds from China. Visit our website for more info. Support The Horticulturati on Patreon for bonus content and early access to episodes.  Mentioned in this episode: “The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds” by Chris Heath (The Atlantic, 7/15/21); Burning River Pale Ale; The Good Time III boat; The Mayor and The People: Carl B Stokes (album by Oliver Nelson); “Carl B. Stokes and the 1969 River Fire” (National Parks Service); “The Cities: The Price of Optimism” (Time, 8/1/69), “The Myth of the Cuyahoga River Fire” (Distillations Podcast, Science History Institute); “Bringing Back Trees to ‘Forest City's Redlined Areas to Help Residents and the Climate” (NPR, 6/23/21).

Ever since the book A Discovery of Witches 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 All Souls Con—which the Science History Institute occasionally hosts—is based on the trilogy of books about witches, vampires, and demons by author Deborah Harkness. Distillations sat down with Jen Daine and Cait Parnell, the hosts of the All Souls podcast, Chamomile and Clove; art historian Stephenie McGucken; and medievalist actor, journalist, and author Sarah Durn to talk about the series' alchemical roots, the material culture in the TV show, and how the book's found-family theme mirrors the fandom. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer

(Part 1/2) This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing a pair of episodes from Distillations, a podcast from the Science History Institute. We rely on rare-earth elements to make many essential technologies like smartphones, medical imaging devices, and wind turbines. But how much do you know about where these extraordinary materials come from? In this two-part series, Distillations hosts Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago explore the source of rare earths' “magic,” the costs of acquiring these elements and what scientists are doing to try to find a way to produce them sustainably. A transcript of this episode will be available shortly at cen.acs.org. Find more stories from Distillations at Distillations.org. Image credit: Courtesy of Distillations/C&EN

(Part 2/2) This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing a pair of episodes from Distillations, a podcast from the Science History Institute. We rely on rare-earth elements to make many essential technologies like smartphones, medical imaging devices, and wind turbines. But how much do you know about where these extraordinary materials come from? In this two-part series, Distillations hosts Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago explore the source of rare earths' “magic,” the costs of acquiring these elements and what scientists are doing to try to find a way to produce them sustainably. A transcript of this episode will be available shortly at cen.acs.org. Find more stories from Distillations at Distillations.org. Image credit: Courtesy of Distillations/C&EN

Parmi les histoires les plus fascinantes, il y a celle qu'on a surnommée « La fée verte », qui fût l'un des apéritifs les plus servis en France. Adhérez à cette chaîne pour obtenir des avantages : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN4TCCaX-gqBNkrUqXdgGRA/join   Pour soutenir financièrement la chaîne, trois choix: 1. Cliquez sur le bouton « Adhérer » sous la vidéo. 2. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hndl 3. UTip: https://utip.io/lhistoirenousledira Avec: Laurent Turcot, professeur en histoire à l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada Script: Alexis Lambert Montage: Gabriel Dupuis Abonnez-vous à ma chaine: https://www.youtube.com/c/LHistoirenousledira Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/histoirenousledira Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurentturcot Les vidéos sont utilisées à des fins éducatives selon l'article 107 du Copyright Act de 1976 sur le Fair-Use. Pour aller plus loin: ARNOLD, Wilfried Niels. « Absinthe », Scientific American, 2007 [En ligne] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/absinthe-history/ HICKS, Jesse. « The Devil in a Little Green Bottle: A History of Absinthe », Distilliations, Science History Institute, 2010 [En ligne] https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-devil-in-a-little- green-bottle-a-history-of-absinthe ADAMS, Jad. Hideous Absinthe: History of the Devil in a Bottle. London – New York, I.B Tauris, 2004, 294 pages. BAKER, Phil. The Dedalus book of Absinthe. Sawtry, Dedalus Books, 2011 (2001), 278 pages. LANIER, Doris. Absinthe--The Cocaine of the Nineteenth Century: A History of the Hallucinogenic Drug and Its Effect on Artists and Writers in Europe and the United States. Jefferson, McFarland Publishing, 2004 (1995), 185 pages. #histoire #documentaire

Plastic gets a bad rap — over the years, it's become synonymous with environmental destruction, cheap fakery, needless consumption, and mass-produced junk. But there's a reason plastic is everywhere — it's inexpensive, strong, and versatile; a shapeshifter that over the past century has revolutionized the way we live, from science and medicine to consumer goods. So, what exactly is it that makes plastic both a miracle and a menace? On this episode, we explore the science behind the dual nature of plastic. We hear stories about how plastic shaped everything from our homes to women's bodies; what's standing in the way of creating greener plastics; and how waxworms and garbage dump bacteria could hold the key to breaking down our plastic waste. Also heard on this week’s episode: For years, we’ve been hearing about the promise of “greener” plastics that aren’t made from fossil fuels and are easier to compost. So why haven’t they taken hold yet? Alan Yu reports. Plastics engineer and chemist Chris DeArmitt, PhD, a leading plastic materials expert, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, makes the case for why a lot of what we think about plastic is far more complicated than it seems. DeArmitt's book is “The Plastics Paradox: Facts for a Brighter Future.” We talk with Isabelle Marina Held, a postdoctoral fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, about how plastic revolutionized women's fashion and shaped their silhouettes.

In the season 2 finale of British Murders, I tell the story of Sarah Dazley aka The Potton Poisoner.Dazley was found guilty of murdering her ex-husband William Dazley in October 1842.Her weapon of choice was arsenic.Dazley was also accused of killing her first husband, Simeon Mead, as well as the pair's son, Jonah Mead, however, she wasn't charged with either of those murders.Dazley was sentenced to death by hanging, with her execution taking place at Bedford Prison on August 5, 1843.Follow British Murders on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/britishpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/britishmurdersTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@britishmurdersTwitter: https://twitter.com/britishmurdersYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZBEA6gflnKGCtrLtTN8WgMerchandise available here:https://teespring.com/stores/britishmurdersSupport the show on Patreon for early access to ad-free-episodes:https://www.patreon.com/britishmurdersMake a one-off donation here:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/britishmurders All episodes are available on my website:https://www.spreaker.com/show/british-murdersPlease send any British murder case suggestions to:britishmurderspodcast@gmail.comIntro music:David John Brady - 'Throw Down the Gauntlet'https://linktr.ee/davidjohnbradymusicMy recording equipment:Shure SM57 Dynamic MicFocusrite Scarlett Solo USB Audio InterfaceEdited in:AudacityReferences:Arsenic: general information. (n.d.). GOV.UK. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arsenic-properties-incident-management-and-toxicology/arsenic-general-informationMeyer, M. (2011, April 29). An Everyday Poison. Science History Institute. https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/an-everyday-poisonJohnson, B. (n.d.). Victorian Poisoners. Historic UK. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Victorian-Poisoners/BBC. (n.d.). The Domesday Book. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/doomsday_01.shtmlSarah Dazley - A Victorian Poisoner. (n.d.). Capital Punishment U.K. Retrieved April 7, 2021, from http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/dazley.htmlThe Potton Poisoner, Wrestlingworth, Beds, UK. (2010, July 29). Waymarking. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM9BZB_The_Potton_Poisoner_Wrestlingworth_Beds_UKBrown, R. (2003, February 28). Sarah Dazley and the Merry Family of Bedford. Musical Traditions. http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/bbals_02.htmMansion-House - Extraordinary Charge of Murders. (1843, March 25). Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 2. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.The Wrestlingworth Poisoning Case. (1843, April 15). The Morning Post, 4. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.The Wrestlingworth Murder. (1843, July 25). The Morning Post, 7. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.The Wrestlingworth Poisoning Cases. (1843, July 26). The Bury and Norwich Post. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.The Wrestlingworth Murder. (1843, July 29). The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser, 3. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.Miscellaneous. (1843, July 29). The Leeds Mercury, 7. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.The Wrestlingworth Murder. (1843, July 29). The Ipswich Journal, 4. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.Conviction for Murder. (1843, July 29). The Star of Freedom, 3. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.No Title. (1843, August 10). The Bradford Observer, 5. Retrieved from Newspapers.com.Tolmachev, I. (2019, December 24). A Brief History of Photography: The Beginning. Envato Tuts+. https://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/a-history-of-photography-part-1-the-beginning--photo-1908Carlton, G. (2020, December 16). 27 Victorian Death Photos — And The Disturbing History Behind Them. All That’s Interesting. https://allthatsinteresting.com/victorian-death-photosMcMahon, M. (2021, February 20). What Is the Marsh Test? InfoBloom. https://www.infobloom.com/what-is-the-marsh-test.htmLow, P. (n.d.). The Murder Act 1972. University of Leicester. Retrieved April 17, 2021, from https://www.criminalcorpses.com/murder-act-timeline/

The Science History Institute has launched a second podcast! We've teamed up with New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean to bring you even more stories from our scientific past. Don't worry, Distillations podcast isn't going anywhere; we're still producing the in-depth narrative-style episodes you know and love! We've just doubled your history of science listening pleasure. For the next 10 weeks we'll bring you stories from the footnotes of the history of science, from the saga of the male birth control pill to this inaugural episode: how the smallpox vaccine made its way around the world before refrigeration. Amid all the logistical headaches of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, one huge challenge involves the cold chain. The cold chain is a network of freezers and refrigerators that keep vaccine doses at the consistently cold temperatures they need to stay viable. Though complicated, this is all doable in the 21st century. But how did the world's very first vaccine, created for smallpox in 1796, make it around the world? Live carriers—specifically, orphan boys. Credits Host: Sam Kean Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer “Delamine” by Blue Dot Sessions "La Flecha Incaia" by El Conjunto Sol Del Peru. All other music composed by Jonathan Pfeffer.  

Dr. Rachel Gross joins the History of Gear to talk about the legacy of Bob Gore and the creation of Gore-Tex. Read Dr. Gross’s piece on the Science History Institute website about Bob Gore’s impact on the industry.https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/bob-gores-cozy-revolutionCheck out more work from Dr. Gross on her website and stay in touch with her on Twitter.https://rachel-gross.com/https://twitter.com/rachelsgross?lang=enFor more conversations with outdoor movers and shakers, subscribe wherever you get podcasts including on Spotify, iTunes, Podbean, or each Sunday at 4 pm (MT) on Aggie Radio, 92.3 FM in beautiful Cache Valley, Utah.Follow Aggie Radio for more great news, content, and other podcasts at aggieradio.com and make sure to follow Highlander on Instagram and Facebook. The Highlander Podcast is sponsored by the Outdoor Product Design & Development program at Utah State University, a four year, undergraduate degree training the next generation of product creators for the sports and outdoor industries.Learn more at https://opdd.usu.edu/

On tonight’s into the absurd, we talk with Christopher Munden, editor of the arts and theater website Phindie, and the Philly Fiction series of short story collections. Phindie provides independent coverage of Philadelphia theater and arts, with a focus on independent theater. Articles provide critical reaction to new works and publicize events of interest to fans of theater and arts in Philly.Chris has also written and edited for Visit Philly, FringeArts, the National Constitution Center, the Historical Society of Philadelphia, Science History Institute, the Philadelphia History Museum, and other local institutions.He is a cofounder of the sports non-profit Kensington Soccer Club and a cohost of the theater podcast Chosen by Committee. Find him @cpmunden.

Plastic gets a bad rap — over the years, it’s become synonymous with environmental destruction, cheap fakery, needless consumption, and mass-produced junk. But there’s a reason plastic is everywhere — it’s inexpensive, strong, and versatile; a shapeshifter that over the past century has revolutionized the way we live, from science and medicine to consumer goods. So, what exactly is it that makes plastic both a miracle and a menace? On this episode, we explore the science behind the dual nature of plastic. We hear stories about how plastic shaped everything from our homes to women’s bodies; what’s standing in the way of creating greener plastics; and how waxworms and garbage dump bacteria could hold the key to breaking down our plastic waste. Also heard on this week’s episode: For years, we’ve been hearing about the promise of “greener” plastics that aren’t made from fossil fuels and are easier to compost. So why haven’t they taken hold yet? Alan Yu reports. Plastics engineer Chris DeArmitt — who’s also a chemist and polymer scientist — makes the case for why a lot of what we think about plastic is far more complicated than it seems. DeArmitt’s book is “The Plastics Paradox: Facts for a Brighter Future.” We talk with Isabelle Marina Held, a postdoctoral fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, about how plastic revolutionized women’s fashion and shaped their silhouettes.

WE ATEN'T DEAD and if you got that reference, congrats, you are also a giant nerd. We check in very quickly to let you know where we've been, and when the museum is reopening! Plus, a brief discussion of the Philadelphia accent, men yelling at or at least near Nancy, and our friends over at the Science History Institute and a really cool outdoor exhibit that they have up.

Bucks County Bytes presents to you, Laura Igoe, curator of American Art at Michener Museum here in Bucks County. Laura has held multiple positions at Harvard Art Museum, Princeton University Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Science History Institute of Philadelphia. Laura graduated with a Ph.D. in art history from Temple University and her research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum among many other institutions. Welcome Laura as she speaks about Michener, the exhibits, the pandemic crisis, and who she is, and how her love of Michener here in Bucks Country drew her to concentrate here in Bucks and the American Art exhibits she so loves. Michener Museum is built on the property that once housed the old Bucks County Jail, the James. A. Michener Art Museum's history is a part of a large and lasting legacy that spans over 130 years and is deep-rooted in the Doylestown community. With its ties to the notorious jail and its metamorphosis into what is now Bucks County's premier cultural institution and America's hub for Pennsylvania Impressionism, the Michener represents the transformative power art has on individuals and communities alike.Submissions for Essential Work 2020: A Community Portrait - deadline January 15, 2021Essential Work-Bucks County Artist submissions page-Essential Work 2020: A Community PortraitMichener Museum and Laura Igoe, Ph.D. following links:Michener Art MuseumFacebookMichener ArtTwitter@MichenerArtInstagram@michenerartLinkedInMichener Art MuseumYouTubeJames A. Michener Art MuseumSupport the show (https://paypal.me/msexpresso?locale.x=en_US)

For over a century, the treatments and technologies used to treat diabetes have evolved. New tools are now available to aid in diabetes management and to help patients further manage and better control their glucose levels. 1,2 Through their recently announced collaboration, Dexcom and Lilly are at the forefront of enhancing diabetes care. 3 In this episode Dr. Chad Worz and guest speakers Deirdre Ibsen and Dr. Thomas Blevins discuss these important technological and therapeutic achievements over time, as well as 2 products available from Dexcom and Lilly and how they may benefit patients with diabetes. References:  Dexcom G6 Pro User Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Dexcom-G6-Pro-User-Guide.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2020. Lyumjev [Prescribing Information]. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly USA, LLC. Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly and Dexcom team up on new program to help improve diabetes management. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/dexcom-g6-pro/training-resources. Accessed October 12, 2020. Centers for Disease Control. National Diabetes Statistics Report 2020 Estimates of Diabetes and Its Burden in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Diabetes and Quality of Life. http://journal.diabetes.org/diabetesspectrum/00v13n1/pg48.htm. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Caring for the Caregiver. https://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/1/37.full-text.pdf. Accessed October 15, 2020. Ali MK, Bullard KM, Gregg EW. Achievement of goals in U.S. diabetes care, 1999-2010. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(3):287-288. Foster NC, Beck RW, Miller KM, et al. State of type 1 diabetes management and outcomes from the T1D Exchange in 2016-2018. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2019;21(2):66-72. American Diabetes Association. 7. Diabetes Technology: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2020. Diabetes Care. 2020;43(suppl 1):S77-S88. Hirsch IB. History of Glucose Monitoring. https://professional.diabetes.org/sites/professional.diabetes.org/files/media/db201811.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. White JR. A brief history of the development of diabetes medications. Diabetes Spectr. 2014;27(2):82-86. Science History Institute. Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/frederick-banting-charles-best-james-collip-and-john-macleod. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Timeline. https://www.diabetes.org/resources/timeline. Accessed October 9, 2020. Humalog [Prescribing Information]. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly USA, LLC. Selam J-L. Evolution of diabetes insulin delivery devices. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010;4(3):505-513. American Association of Diabetes Educators. Insulin Injection Know-How. https://www.diabeteseducator.org/docs/default-source/legacy-docs/_resources/pdf/general/Insulin_Injection_How_To_AADE.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. Hyllested-Winge J, Jensen KH, Rex J. A review of 25 years' experience with the NovoPen® family of insulin pens in the management of diabetes mellitus. Clin Drug Investig. 2010;30(10):643-674. Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly Launches KwikPen(TM) for Humalog(R) and Humalog Mixtures [press release]. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-launches-kwikpentm-humalogr-and-humalog-mixtures. Accessed October 12, 2020. American Diabetes Association. 6. Glycemic Targets: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2020. Diabetes Care. 2020;43(suppl 1):S66-S76. Garber AJ, Handelsman Y, Grunberger G, et al. Consensus statement by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology on the comprehensive type 2 diabetes management algorithm - 2020 executive summary. Endocr Pract. 2020;26(1):107-139. Fonseca VA, Grunberger G, Anhalt H, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring: a consensus conference of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology. Endocr Pract. 2016;22(8):1008-1021. Battelino T, Danne T, Bergenstal RM, et al. Clinical targets for continuous glucose monitoring data interpretation: recommendations from the international consensus on time in range. Diabetes Care. 2019;42(8):1593-1603. Dexcom G6 Pro Unblinded Patient Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Dexcom-G6-Pro-Unblinded-Patient-Guide.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2020. Dexcom Announces FDA Clearance of New Dexcom G6 Pro CGM. https://provider.dexcom.com/industry-news/fda-authorizes-dexcom-g6-pro. Accessed October 2, 2020. Beck RW, Riddlesworth T, Ruedy K, et al. Effect of continuous glucose monitoring on glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes using insulin injections: the DIAMOND randomized clinical trial. 2017;317(4):371-378. Beck RW, Riddlesworth TD, Ruedy K, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring versus usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes receiving multiple daily insulin injections: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167(6):365-374. Polonsky WH, Hessler D, Ruedy KJ, Beck RW. The impact of continuous glucose monitoring on markers of quality of life in adults with type 1 diabetes: further findings from the DIAMOND randomized clinical trial. Diabetes Care. 2017;40(6):736-741. Pratley RE, Kanapka LG, Rickels MR, et al. Effect of continuous glucose monitoring on hypoglycemia in older adults with type 1 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. 2020;323(23):2397-2406. Ruedy KJ, Parkin CG, Riddlesworth TD, Graham C. Continuous glucose monitoring in older adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes using multiple daily injections of insulin: results from the DIAMOND trial. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2017;11(6):1138-1146. Lind M, Polonsky W, Hirsch IB, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring vs conventional therapy for glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes treated with multiple daily insulin injections: the GOLD randomized clinical trial. 2017;317(4):379-387. Frequently Asked Questions. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/dexcom-g6-pro/faqs. Accessed October 15, 2020. Dexcom Products: Dexcom G6 Pro. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/professional-cgm. Accessed October 15, 2020. How to Customize Alarm and Alerts. https://www.dexcom.com/faqs/how-to-customize-alarm-and-alerts. Accessed October 15, 2020. Trend Arrows and Treatment Decisions. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/dexcompdf/HCP_Website/LBL015804+G6+Trend+Arrows+and+Treatment+Decisions.pdf. Accessed October 15, 2020. Why CGM? https://provider.dexcom.com/why-cgm. Accessed October 12, 2020. Pharmacy Coverage. https://provider.dexcom.com/pharmacy-coverage. Accessed October 12, 2020. Is There Reimbursement for Using Dexcom G6 Pro? https://provider.dexcom.com/faqs/there-reimbursement-using-dexcom-g6-pro. Accessed October 12, 2020. Hypoglycemia Unawareness. https://provider.dexcom.com/education-research/clinical-evidence/clinical-studies/real-time-continuous-glucose-monitoring-cgm. Accessed October 15, 2020. Garg SK, Wernicke-Panten K, Wardecki M, et al. Safety, immunogenicity, and glycemic control of insulin aspart biosimilar SAR341402 versus originator insulin aspart in people with diabetes also using insulin glargine: 12-month results from the GEMELLI 1 trial. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2020;22(7):516-526. Dexcom G6 Pro Blinded Patient Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/HCP_Website/Dexcom+G6+Pro+Resources/LBL017177+Rev+004+Artwork%2C+Dexcom+G6+Pro+Blinded+Patient+Guide+US_r5_WEB.pdf. Accessed November 24, 2020. Dexcom CLARITY Diabetes Management Software. https://www.dexcom.com/clarity. Accessed May 15, 2020. Blevins T, Zhang Q, Frias JP, Jinnouchi H, Chang AM. Randomized double-blind clinical trial comparing ultra rapid lispro with lispro in a basal-bolus regimen in patients with type 2 diabetes: PRONTO-T2D. Diabetes Care. Published online July 2, 2020. doi: 10.2337/dc19-2550. Klaff L, Cao D, Dellva MA, et al. Ultra rapid lispro improves postprandial glucose control compared with lispro in patients with type 1 diabetes: results from the 26-week PRONTO-T1D study. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2020;22(10):1799-1807. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over a century, the treatments and technologies used to treat diabetes have evolved. New tools are now available to aid in diabetes management and to help patients further manage and better control their glucose levels. 1,2 Through their recently announced collaboration, Dexcom and Lilly are at the forefront of enhancing diabetes care. 3 In this episode Dr. Chad Worz and guest speakers Deirdre Ibsen and Dr. Thomas Blevins discuss these important technological and therapeutic achievements over time, as well as 2 products available from Dexcom and Lilly and how they may benefit patients with diabetes. References:  Dexcom G6 Pro User Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Dexcom-G6-Pro-User-Guide.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2020. Lyumjev [Prescribing Information]. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly USA, LLC. Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly and Dexcom team up on new program to help improve diabetes management. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/dexcom-g6-pro/training-resources. Accessed October 12, 2020. Centers for Disease Control. National Diabetes Statistics Report 2020 Estimates of Diabetes and Its Burden in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Diabetes and Quality of Life. http://journal.diabetes.org/diabetesspectrum/00v13n1/pg48.htm. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Caring for the Caregiver. https://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/1/37.full-text.pdf. Accessed October 15, 2020. Ali MK, Bullard KM, Gregg EW. Achievement of goals in U.S. diabetes care, 1999-2010. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(3):287-288. Foster NC, Beck RW, Miller KM, et al. State of type 1 diabetes management and outcomes from the T1D Exchange in 2016-2018. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2019;21(2):66-72. American Diabetes Association. 7. Diabetes Technology: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2020. Diabetes Care. 2020;43(suppl 1):S77-S88. Hirsch IB. History of Glucose Monitoring. https://professional.diabetes.org/sites/professional.diabetes.org/files/media/db201811.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. White JR. A brief history of the development of diabetes medications. Diabetes Spectr. 2014;27(2):82-86. Science History Institute. Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/frederick-banting-charles-best-james-collip-and-john-macleod. Accessed October 1, 2020. American Diabetes Association. Timeline. https://www.diabetes.org/resources/timeline. Accessed October 9, 2020. Humalog [Prescribing Information]. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly USA, LLC. Selam J-L. Evolution of diabetes insulin delivery devices. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010;4(3):505-513. American Association of Diabetes Educators. Insulin Injection Know-How. https://www.diabeteseducator.org/docs/default-source/legacy-docs/_resources/pdf/general/Insulin_Injection_How_To_AADE.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2020. Hyllested-Winge J, Jensen KH, Rex J. A review of 25 years’ experience with the NovoPen® family of insulin pens in the management of diabetes mellitus. Clin Drug Investig. 2010;30(10):643-674. Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly Launches KwikPen(TM) for Humalog(R) and Humalog Mixtures [press release]. https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-launches-kwikpentm-humalogr-and-humalog-mixtures. Accessed October 12, 2020. American Diabetes Association. 6. Glycemic Targets: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2020. Diabetes Care. 2020;43(suppl 1):S66-S76. Garber AJ, Handelsman Y, Grunberger G, et al. Consensus statement by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology on the comprehensive type 2 diabetes management algorithm - 2020 executive summary. Endocr Pract. 2020;26(1):107-139. Fonseca VA, Grunberger G, Anhalt H, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring: a consensus conference of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology. Endocr Pract. 2016;22(8):1008-1021. Battelino T, Danne T, Bergenstal RM, et al. Clinical targets for continuous glucose monitoring data interpretation: recommendations from the international consensus on time in range. Diabetes Care. 2019;42(8):1593-1603. Dexcom G6 Pro Unblinded Patient Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Dexcom-G6-Pro-Unblinded-Patient-Guide.pdf. Accessed October 12, 2020. Dexcom Announces FDA Clearance of New Dexcom G6 Pro CGM. https://provider.dexcom.com/industry-news/fda-authorizes-dexcom-g6-pro. Accessed October 2, 2020. Beck RW, Riddlesworth T, Ruedy K, et al. Effect of continuous glucose monitoring on glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes using insulin injections: the DIAMOND randomized clinical trial. 2017;317(4):371-378. Beck RW, Riddlesworth TD, Ruedy K, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring versus usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes receiving multiple daily insulin injections: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167(6):365-374. Polonsky WH, Hessler D, Ruedy KJ, Beck RW. The impact of continuous glucose monitoring on markers of quality of life in adults with type 1 diabetes: further findings from the DIAMOND randomized clinical trial. Diabetes Care. 2017;40(6):736-741. Pratley RE, Kanapka LG, Rickels MR, et al. Effect of continuous glucose monitoring on hypoglycemia in older adults with type 1 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial. 2020;323(23):2397-2406. Ruedy KJ, Parkin CG, Riddlesworth TD, Graham C. Continuous glucose monitoring in older adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes using multiple daily injections of insulin: results from the DIAMOND trial. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2017;11(6):1138-1146. Lind M, Polonsky W, Hirsch IB, et al. Continuous glucose monitoring vs conventional therapy for glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes treated with multiple daily insulin injections: the GOLD randomized clinical trial. 2017;317(4):379-387. Frequently Asked Questions. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/dexcom-g6-pro/faqs. Accessed October 15, 2020. Dexcom Products: Dexcom G6 Pro. https://provider.dexcom.com/products/professional-cgm. Accessed October 15, 2020. How to Customize Alarm and Alerts. https://www.dexcom.com/faqs/how-to-customize-alarm-and-alerts. Accessed October 15, 2020. Trend Arrows and Treatment Decisions. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/dexcompdf/HCP_Website/LBL015804+G6+Trend+Arrows+and+Treatment+Decisions.pdf. Accessed October 15, 2020. Why CGM? https://provider.dexcom.com/why-cgm. Accessed October 12, 2020. Pharmacy Coverage. https://provider.dexcom.com/pharmacy-coverage. Accessed October 12, 2020. Is There Reimbursement for Using Dexcom G6 Pro? https://provider.dexcom.com/faqs/there-reimbursement-using-dexcom-g6-pro. Accessed October 12, 2020. Hypoglycemia Unawareness. https://provider.dexcom.com/education-research/clinical-evidence/clinical-studies/real-time-continuous-glucose-monitoring-cgm. Accessed October 15, 2020. Garg SK, Wernicke-Panten K, Wardecki M, et al. Safety, immunogenicity, and glycemic control of insulin aspart biosimilar SAR341402 versus originator insulin aspart in people with diabetes also using insulin glargine: 12-month results from the GEMELLI 1 trial. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2020;22(7):516-526. Dexcom G6 Pro Blinded Patient Guide. https://dexcompdf.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/HCP_Website/Dexcom+G6+Pro+Resources/LBL017177+Rev+004+Artwork%2C+Dexcom+G6+Pro+Blinded+Patient+Guide+US_r5_WEB.pdf. Accessed November 24, 2020. Dexcom CLARITY Diabetes Management Software. https://www.dexcom.com/clarity. Accessed May 15, 2020. Blevins T, Zhang Q, Frias JP, Jinnouchi H, Chang AM. Randomized double-blind clinical trial comparing ultra rapid lispro with lispro in a basal-bolus regimen in patients with type 2 diabetes: PRONTO-T2D. Diabetes Care. Published online July 2, 2020. doi: 10.2337/dc19-2550. Klaff L, Cao D, Dellva MA, et al. Ultra rapid lispro improves postprandial glucose control compared with lispro in patients with type 1 diabetes: results from the 26-week PRONTO-T1D study. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2020;22(10):1799-1807. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since March, Philadelphia area photographer Kyle Cassidy has taken pictures of essential workers as a part of a series called “Between Us and Catastrophe:” healthcare workers, Instacart shoppers, members of city government, sanitation workers, and more.  Cassidy interviewed these workers as well, asking them about the risks they’re taking and the sacrificing they’re making to keep us all safe. “Some of these people are fighting COVID because they heard the clarion call and they ran out to stand between us and this virus and fight it. And other people are fighting this virus because we left them out there,” he says. Why could pictures like these, highlighting essential workers, stay with us as the most enduring images of 2020?  Cassidy’s photographs are currently on display at an outdoor exhibit at the Science History Institute. 

We've collaborated with Philadelphia photographer Kyle Cassidy to tell the stories of our city's essential workers. This fall his large-scale portraits of nurses, sanitation workers, Instacart shoppers, mask-makers, and delivery drivers will be on display on the exterior of the Science History Institute, in Old City Philadelphia. Find out more at sciencehistory.org/pandemic. Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Music by Blue Dot Sessions: "Arlan Vale," "Alum Drum," "Setting Pace," "Kalstead," "Drone Pine," and "Raskt Landsby."

Outer space is crowded. Satellites, pieces of rocket, and stuff that astronauts left behind, such as cameras and poop, are just floating around. This space junk can pose a threat to our communication systems. In this episode we talk with Lisa Ruth Rand, a fellow at the Science History Institute, about her upcoming book on space junk. She tells us how space weather—that's right, there's space weather—can have an effect on what falls on Earth. She also talks about how our views on space debris reveal our attitudes back on Earth and how space junk truly made the space age global. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Resource List Interview with Marie Ruman. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 24, 1978. Judd, Bridget. “NASA's Skylab met its demise in Australia more than 40 years ago—but was it really an accident?” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 30, 2020.  The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, “Cosmos 954.” January 25, 1978, American Archive of Public Broadcasting.  Rand, Lisa Ruth. “Orbital Decay: Space Junk and the Environmental History of Earth's Planetary Borderlands.” PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 2016.  Rand, Lisa Ruth. “Wasted Space: The History of Orbiting Junk.” Science History Institute, December 5, 2019. Trudeau, Pierre Elliott. Speech at the House of Commons of Canada, January 24, 1978. 

There’s a common assumption that to be a scientist you must also be a genius, someone who excelled at school and learns easily and quickly. But are these really the qualities necessary to produce new scientific knowledge? Collin Diedrich is a research scientist with a doctorate in molecular virology and microbiology. On paper he might seem to be the archetypal smart scientist, but the reality is more complicated. Collin has multiple learning disabilities, and he has struggled to overcome the stigma that comes with them for his entire life. In this episode we explore how our narrow definition of intelligence not only holds back people such as Collin, but also prevents the creation of new scientific knowledge that benefits us all. This is the second of two episodes about science and disability and was produced in collaboration with the Science and Disability oral history project at the Science History Institute. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Resource List Martucci, Jessica. “History Lab: Through the Lens of Disability.” Science History Institute, June 22, 2019.   Martucci, Jessica. “Through the Lens of Disability.” Distillations, November 8, 2018.  Martucci, Jessica. “Science and Disability.” Distillations, August 18, 2017.  Diedrich, Collin. Oral history conducted on 19 and 22 June 2017 by Jessica Martucci and Gregory S. Waters, Science and Disability project, Science History Institute.   

Salty, sweet, sour, bitter. Scientists once thought these were the only tastes, but in the early 20th century, a Japanese chemist dissected his favorite kombu broth and discovered one more: umami. In recent years, umami has become a foodie buzzword, but for nearly a century, the Western world was in full-blown umami denial—didn’t believe it existed. And we might have stayed that way if it weren’t for our most notorious and potent source of umami: MSG.   A 1930s advertisement for Ajinomoto. (Courtesy of the Science History Institute.)   Advertising brochure from the late 1940s until the early 1950s for Ac'cent, an MSG product manufactured by the International Minerals & Chemical Corporation. (Courtesy of the Science History Institute.)   Kikunae Ikeda, who proposed the idea of umami as a fifth basic taste. (Wikimedia Commons)   Guest:  Nirupa Chaudhari is a professor of physiology & biophysics at the University of Miami. Kumiko Ninomiya is the director of the Umami Information Center.  Footnotes & Further Reading:  Special thanks to Sarah Tracy for some background on MSG in the United States. Read a translation of Kikunae Ikeda's original manuscript in Journal of the Chemical Society of Tokyo. "A Short History Of MSG" discusses Ajinomoto's marketing techniques, as well as reception of MSG in the United States and around the globe.  If you're dying to see the Mr. Umami video mentioned in this story, watch it here. Hear more chefs gushing over umami at the Austin Food & Wine Festival.  Credits:  Science Diction is hosted and produced by  Johanna Mayer. Elah Feder is our editor and producer. Nathan Tobey contributed story editing, and Kaitlyn Schwalje contributed writing and research. Thanks also to Lauren J. Young and Attabey Rodríguez Benítez for research help. Our composer is Daniel Peterschmidt, and they also did sound design. Chris Wood mastered this episode. We had fact checking from Michelle Harris. Nadja Oertelt is our Chief Content Officer.

Everyone knows that observation is a key part of the scientific method, but what does that mean for scientists who can’t see? Judith Summers-Gates is a successful, visually impaired chemist who uses a telescope to read street signs. If the thought of a blind scientist gives you pause, you’re not alone. But stop and ask yourself why. What assumptions do we make about how knowledge is produced? And who gets to produce it? And who gets to participate in science? In this episode we go deep into the history of how vision came to dominate scientific observation and how blind scientists challenge our assumptions. This is the first of two episodes about science and disability and was produced in collaboration with the Science and Disability oral history project at the Science History Institute. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Resource List Lemonick, Sam. “Artificial intelligence tools could benefit chemists with disabilities. So why aren’t they?” C&EN, March 18, 2019.  Martucci, Jessica. “History Lab: Through the Lens of Disability.” Science History Institute, June 22, 2019.   Martucci, Jessica. “Through the Lens of Disability.” Distillations, November 8, 2018.  Martucci, Jessica. “Science and Disability.” Distillations, August 18, 2017.  Slaton, Amy. “Body? What Body? Considering Ability and Disability in STEM Disciplines.”120th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, January 23, 2013. Summers-Gates, Judith. Oral history conducted on 20 January and 6 February 2017 by Jessica Martucci and Lee Sullivan Berry, Science and Disability project, Science History Institute. 

Plastic was supposed to be a material to liberate us, and propel humanity into a new age of production! But less than a century on and we are seeing the adverse effects! From microplastics to ghost nets, plastic can be found everywhere! From our highest mountains, to our deepest trenches, plastic exists! So how did we even get here, and what steps can we take to start living a plastic-free life now? But more than that, we are also going to talk about the disposition we can foster in ourselves in order to strive for a more sustainable life that is plastic-free!   Contact Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jon.kahler/ Website: http://www.jonkahler.com/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jonkahler/ Email: contact.jonkahler@gmail.com   References: [1] Parker, L. (2018, December 20). Fast Facts about Plastic Pollution. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/plastics-facts-infographics-ocean-pollution/ [1] Geyer, R., Jambeck, J., & Law, K. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 1-5. [1] Science History Institute. (2019). History and Future of Plastics. Retrieved from Science History Institute: https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics [1] Science History Institute. (2019). History and Future of Plastics. Retrieved from Science History Institute: https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics [1] Usborne, S. (2019, July 16). The big fashion fight: can we remove all the toxic, invisible plastic from our clothes? Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/jul/16/the-big-fashion-fight-can-we-remove-all-the-toxic-invisible-plastic-from-our-clothes [1] Gibbens, S. (2019, October 4). Can medical care exist without plastic? Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/can-medical-care-exist-without-plastic/ [1] Parker, L. (2018, December 20). Fast Facts about Plastic Pollution. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/plastics-facts-infographics-ocean-pollution/ [1] Morelle, R. (2019, May 13). Mariana Trench: Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic bag. Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48230157 [1] Katz, C. (2019, October 30). Why does the Arctic have more plastic than most places on Earth? Retrieved from National Geographic : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/10/remote-arctic-contains-more-plastic-than-most-places-on-earth/ [1] Oliver Ridley Project. (2019). What are Ghost Nets? Retrieved from Oliver Ridley Project: https://oliveridleyproject.org/what-are-ghost-nets [1] Kershaw, P. (2016). Marine Plastic Debris & Microplastics. Nairobi: United Nation Environment Programme. [1] Kershaw, P. (2016). Marine Plastic Debris & Microplastics. Nairobi: United Nation Environment Programme. [1] Wit, W., & Bigaud, N. (2019). No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion From Nature To People. Callaghan: WWF. [1] United Nations. (2017). Microplastics in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Rome: UN. [1] McCormick, E. (2019, June 17). Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/17/recycled-plastic-america-global-crisis [1] ABC. (2019, August 9). Australia is going to stop shipping its plastics and other recyclable waste overseas. Retrieved from ABC: https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/australia-is-going-to-stop-shipping-its-recycling-overseas/11400496

Learn about why natural selection favors superstitions; why the way our noses smell is way more complicated than we thought; and where scientists think 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object, came from. How natural selection favors superstitions by Cameron Duke Foster, K. R., & Kokko, H. (2008). The evolution of superstitious and superstition-like behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1654), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0981  Hájek, A. (2018). Pascal’s Wager (E. N. Zalta (Ed.)). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/index.htmlpascal-wager/index.html  Johnson, D. D. P., Blumstein, D. T., Fowler, J. H., & Haselton, M. G. (2013). The evolution of error: error management, cognitive constraints, and adaptive decision-making biases. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(8), 474–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2013.05.014  The way our noses smell is way more complicated than we thought by Cameron Duke Making sense of scents: 3-D videos reveal how the nose detects odor combinations. (2020, April 9). Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-scents-d-videos-reveal-nose.html Xu, L., Li, W., Voleti, V., Zou, D.-J., Hillman, E. M. C., & Firestein, S. (2020). Widespread receptor-driven modulation in peripheral olfactory coding. Science, 368(6487). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz5390  Chess, A., Simon, I., Cedar, H., & Axel, R. (1994). Allelic inactivation regulates olfactory receptor gene expression. Cell, 78(5), 823–834. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(94)90562-2  Morrison, J. (2014). Human nose can detect 1 trillion odours. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2014.14904 The Scent of a Molecule. (2017, November 17). Science History Institute. https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-scent-of-a-molecule We might finally know the origin of the first known interstellar object 'Oumuamua by Grant Currin Origin of the first known interstellar object ’Oumuamua. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/caos-oot041220.php  ‌In Depth | Oumuamua – NASA Solar System Exploration. (2019, December 19). NASA Solar System Exploration. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/oumuamua/in-depth Davis, N. (2020, April 13). Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua believed to be ‘active asteroid.’ The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/13/interstellar-object-oumuamua-believed-to-be-active-asteroid  PSRD: Active Asteroids. (2019). Hawaii.edu. http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May19/active-asteroids.html  Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY 

Lisa Ruth Rand talks about the Starlink satellite program. She also talks about Project West Ford, which attempted to create an artificial ionosphere in 1961 by launching millions of copper needles into orbit. Rand is the Haas Postdoctoral Fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. Her op-ed on Starlink and Project West Ford appeared in the July 8th 2019 edition of Scientific American.

In this episode I bring you part 1 of my conversation with the incredible Ingrid Ockert.Dr Ingrid Ockert is a historian of science and media in the 20th century. She holds a PhD from the History of Science Program at Princeton University. Ingrid was the was the 2018-2019 NASA/HSS History Fellow and is currently serving as a post-doctoral fellow at the Science History Institute.We had a great conversation about representations of science on TV, and the intersections between Star Trek, geopolitics, and society. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/space-junk-podcast. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/space-junk-podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lisa Ruth Rand talks about the Starlink satellite program. She also talks about Project West Ford, which attempted to create an artificial ionosphere in 1961 by launching millions of copper needles into orbit. Rand is the Haas Postdoctoral Fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. Her op-ed on Starlink and Project West Ford appeared in the July 8th 2019 edition of Scientific American.

Come see Distillations LIVE for our Halloween Spooktacular! The show is Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm at the Science History Institute in Old City Philadelphia.

For almost as long as there have been television networks, science shows have been part of the TV landscape. But science programming didn’t begin by accident. At first it was a way for TV stations to build trust with their audiences; then it was used as a ploy to get families to buy more television sets. But as the world changed, so did science on TV. Distillations interviewed Ingrid Ockert, a fellow at the Science History Institute and a historian of science and media, about five key contributors to the science television landscape: the Johns Hopkins Science Review, Watch Mr. Wizard, NOVA, 3-2-1 Contact, and our favorite turtleneck-wearing celebrity scientist, Carl Sagan. Our conversation revealed that successful science shows have always had one thing in common: they don’t treat their audiences like dummies.

We all know the legacy that Sputnik had on U.S. science education. Washington poured more than a billion dollars into overhauling the U.S. science curriculum. But television was transformed too. According to Ingrid Ockert, a Haas Fellow at the Science History Institute and a NASA History Fellow, the television show “Continental Classroom” was launched as a direct response to the Sputnik challenge. Five days a week, “Continental Classroom” was broadcast into American homes to encourage and inspire budding scientific minds. From “Watch Mr. Wizard” to “Mythbusters,” lots of Americans have grown up watching various science television programs. Ockert walks us through how science has changed television, and how television has influenced science.

91 years ago the medical world changed forever with the discovery of penicillin. Through the hard work of many scientists, today bacterial infections are nearly trivial. But the threat of resistant bacterial is threatening to reverse 100 years of medical progress Music: Lost Radiance - On The Planet Far Away (ver. 1) Sources: Websites – Alexander Fleming. Science History Institute. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/alexander-fleming Howard Walter Florey and Ernst Boris Chain. Science History Institute. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/howard-walter-florey-and-ernst-boris-chain Antibiotics found in some of the world’s rivers exceed ‘safe’ levels, global study finds. University of York. https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2019/research/antibiotics-found-in-some-of-worlds-rivers/ Threat of 'nightmare bacteria' exhibiting resistance to last-resort antibiotic colistin. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181220104707.htm Reports – Antimicrobial Resistance: Tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations. Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/AMR%20Review%20Paper%20-%20Tackling%20a%20crisis%20for%20the%20health%20and%20wealth%20of%20nations_1.pdf No Time to Wait: Securing the Future from Drug-Resistant Infections. Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. https://www.who.int/antimicrobial-resistance/interagency-coordination-group/IACG_final_report_EN.pdf?ua=1

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by Alexis Pedrick, the manager of public programs at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They talk about all things rare earths, including the Rare Earth Elements Project at the institute. They also discuss the podcast Alexis co-hosts, Distillations. Follow Alexis’s work: @SciHistoryOrg.

In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by Alexis Pedrick, the manager of public programs at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They talk about all things rare earths, including the Rare Earth Elements Project at the institute. They also discuss the podcast Alexis co-hosts, Distillations. Follow Alexis’s work: @SciHistoryOrg.

The 17 rare earth elements are often called the spices or vitamins of industry. While we don’t need much of them, they’re sprinkled in small amounts through our most powerful, futuristic, and dare we say it, magical tools. They power our iPhones and computers; they’re in wind turbines and hybrid cars. They’re in dental implants, X-ray machines, and life-saving cancer drugs. They have unusual magnetic and electrical properties that make our gadgets faster, stronger, and lighter. And we've all been coasting along enjoying their magic for a while now. In fact, we've come to expect magic. But magic comes at a cost, and in the case of mining and processing rare earths, that cost is environmental devastation. Most of us in the Western world aren’t aware of the destruction/ because most rare earths are mined elsewhere. But some scientists are trying to find a more environmentally sound way to get them. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Reporter: Rigoberto Hernandez Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Music courtesy of the Audio Network, Blue Dot Sessions, and the Free Music Archive. Research Notes Abraham, David. Elements of Power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.  The Californian Rare Earths Mine Caught between Trump and China. Bloomberg News, September 26, 2018.   “China-Japan Boat Crash Video Posted.” Al Jazeera, November 5, 2010.  “China Threatens to Cut Off Rare Earth Minerals as Trade War Escalates.” MSNBC, May 30, 2019.  “Colorado Experience: Uranium Mania.” Rocky Mountain PBS, November 2, 2017.  “Critical Materials Strategy.” U.S. Department of Energy, December 2010.   Desai, Pratima. “Tesla’s Electric Motor Shift to Spur Demand for Rare Earth Neodymium.”Reuters, March 12, 2018.  Gifford, Rob. “Yellow River Pollution Is Price of Economic Growth.” National Public Radio, All Things Considered, December 11, 2007.  Haxel, Gordon, Hedrick, James, Orris, Greta. “Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology.” U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 087-02, November 20, 2002.  Kalantzakos, Sophia. China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.  Kean, Sam. “Ytterby: The Tiny Swedish Island That Gave the Periodic Table Four Different Elements.” Slate, July 16, 2010.  Kim, Meeri. “Exposing the Trail of Devastation.” Sarah Lawrence College Magazine,” Fall 2018.  Klinger, Julie. Rare Earth Frontiers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2017.  Lovins, Amory. “Clean Energy and Rare Earths: Why Not to Worry.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 23, 2017. “Obama Denounces China on Rare Earth Elements.” AFP News Agency, March 13, 2012.  “PBS NewsHour; June 14, 2010 7:00 pm–8:00 pm EDT.” American Archive of Public Broadcasting (WGBH and the Library of Congress), Boston and Washington, DC. Accessed June 24, 2019.  “Running from Rare Earth Metals.” Bloomberg, June 30, 2015.  Salomon, Charlotte Abney. “Finding Yttrium: Joan Gadolin and the Development of a ‘Discovery.’” CHF Brown Bag Lecture Series, March 10, 2015.  “Story of Color Television.” RCA, 1956.  Thomson, Gene. “Hot Canyon.” Ames Laboratory, June 18, 2012.  Turner, Roger. “Material Matters: The Past and Present of Rare Earth Elements Essential to Our Future.” Joseph Priestley Society Lecture, Science History Institute, Philadelphia, February 14, 2019. 

The 17 rare earth elements are often called the spices or vitamins of industry. While we don’t need much of them, they’re sprinkled in small amounts through our most powerful, futuristic, and dare we say it, magical tools. They power our iPhones and computers; they’re in wind turbines and hybrid cars. They’re in dental implants, X-ray machines, and life-saving cancer drugs. They have unusual magnetic and electrical properties that make our gadgets faster, stronger, and lighter. And we've all been coasting along enjoying their magic for a while now. In fact, we've come to expect magic. But magic comes at a cost, and in the case of mining and processing rare earths, that cost is environmental devastation. Most of us in the Western world aren’t aware of the destruction/ because most rare earths are mined elsewhere. But some scientists are trying to find a more environmentally sound way to get them. Credits Hosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago Reporter: Rigoberto Hernandez Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: James Morrison Music courtesy of the Audio Network, Blue Dot Sessions, and the Free Music Archive. Research Notes Abraham, David. Elements of Power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015.  The Californian Rare Earths Mine Caught between Trump and China. Bloomberg News, September 26, 2018.   “China-Japan Boat Crash Video Posted.” Al Jazeera, November 5, 2010.  “China Threatens to Cut Off Rare Earth Minerals as Trade War Escalates.” MSNBC, May 30, 2019.  “Colorado Experience: Uranium Mania.” Rocky Mountain PBS, November 2, 2017.  “Critical Materials Strategy.” U.S. Department of Energy, December 2010.   Desai, Pratima. “Tesla’s Electric Motor Shift to Spur Demand for Rare Earth Neodymium.”Reuters, March 12, 2018.  Gifford, Rob. “Yellow River Pollution Is Price of Economic Growth.” National Public Radio, All Things Considered, December 11, 2007.  Haxel, Gordon, Hedrick, James, Orris, Greta. “Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology.” U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 087-02, November 20, 2002.  Kalantzakos, Sophia. China and the Geopolitics of Rare Earths. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.  Kean, Sam. “Ytterby: The Tiny Swedish Island That Gave the Periodic Table Four Different Elements.” Slate, July 16, 2010.  Kim, Meeri. “Exposing the Trail of Devastation.” Sarah Lawrence College Magazine,” Fall 2018.  Klinger, Julie. Rare Earth Frontiers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2017.  Lovins, Amory. “Clean Energy and Rare Earths: Why Not to Worry.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 23, 2017. “Obama Denounces China on Rare Earth Elements.” AFP News Agency, March 13, 2012.  “PBS NewsHour; June 14, 2010 7:00 pm–8:00 pm EDT.” American Archive of Public Broadcasting (WGBH and the Library of Congress), Boston and Washington, DC. Accessed June 24, 2019.  “Running from Rare Earth Metals.” Bloomberg, June 30, 2015.  Salomon, Charlotte Abney. “Finding Yttrium: Joan Gadolin and the Development of a ‘Discovery.’” CHF Brown Bag Lecture Series, March 10, 2015.  “Story of Color Television.” RCA, 1956.  Thomson, Gene. “Hot Canyon.” Ames Laboratory, June 18, 2012.  Turner, Roger. “Material Matters: The Past and Present of Rare Earth Elements Essential to Our Future.” Joseph Priestley Society Lecture, Science History Institute, Philadelphia, February 14, 2019.