Thomas Midgley Jr.’s Deadly Inventions

This 2019 episode shares how Hennig Brand discovered phosphorous by boiling pee. But he was really thought the secret to the philosopher’s stone might be found in urine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Tracy talks about amusing old illustrations of babies in utero. Holly shares anecdotes about George Stephenson's life that rarely make it into discussions of his life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

George Stephenson started life in extremely humble circumstances, but his ingenuity and pursuit of education led him to an impressive legacy. He invented a miner’s lamp, but is most well known for his work on locomotives and railways. Research: “George Stephenson (1781-1848).” ht ... Show More

Thomas Midgley's inventions caused his own death, hastened the deaths of millions of people around the world, and very nearly extinguished all life on land. Midgley and his employers didn't set out to poison the air with leaded gasoline or wreck the ozone layer with CFCs - but wh ... Show More

This week David talks to Helen Thompson about Dallas and the end of oil. How did the world’s most popular soap opera come to explain the energy crisis and the future of a world hooked on fossil fuels? Is the fate of the Ewing family – fire and ruin – going to be the fate of Ameri ... Show More

<p>Matt and Robert continue their discussion of Joey Mengs, and the collapse of the German Medical Establishment into Nazi terror.</p> <p>FOOTNOTES:</p> <ol> <li><a href="https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/the-sentimental-memoirs-of-the-angel-of-death/">https://revistapesquisa. ... Show More

In 1985, British scientists made what would turn out to be one of the most important environmental discoveries of the 20th century - finding a hole in the earth’s ozone layer.The British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, had been monitoring ozone levels for more than 30 years ... Show More

<p>Simple living, plain dress and pacifism. This is not a lifestyle typical of the United States. So how did the Amish come to be in America? Where did this religion come from? And how has their society changed with modernisation?</p><br><p>In this episode, Don and Dr Joseph Donn ... Show More

What if everything we think we know about the history of our species is wrong? That’s the provocative question at the heart of a new book by today’s guest, David Wengrow. Hailed as fascinating, brilliant, and potentially revolutionary, “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Hu ... Show More

Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery.In a few specific years across the 20th Century, the proportion of boys born, mysteriously spiked. We follow one researcher’s obsessive quest to find out why. And next, a tale of science and skulduggery. Michael Mann was a respe ... Show More