Metal poisons. Odorless ones. Toxic plants. Iocane powder, arsenic, old lace, poisons as self-defense, black mirrors, Aqua Tofanas, movie myths, and the start of testing for that which ails or kills you: we’ve got Historical Toxicology with Pulitzer Prize-winning science author & chemistry connoisseur Deborah Blum. She wrote the beloved “Poisoner's Handbook: ... Show More
Oct 30
Mothman Mythology (YES, MOTHMAN) with Jeff Wamsley
Red eyes. Ten-foot wings. And an absolute dumptruck. Let’s get to the bottom of the great American mythology of the world’s sexiest cryptid, Mothman. Haunting the hills of West Virginia in 1966-67, he vanished as fast as he flew. Point Pleasant-raised Jeff Wamsley is the owner/op ... Show More
1h 23m
Oct 21
Broomology (BROOMS) with Cate O’Connell-Richards
Whisks and witches. Bristles and Shakers. Potions and prisons. From making brooms to jumping them, teacher, author, broomsquire, and Broomologist Cate O'Connell Richards gives us the overlooked history of how that broom got in your garage. So light a candle and tuck in for fibers ... Show More
1h 21m
Jul 2023
Special Episode: Deborah Blum & The Poison Squad
<p>Oh, to taste the food of the past. Strawberry jam made from farm-fresh strawberries. Milk straight from the cow. Cookies baked with freshly churned butter and brown sugar. Because that’s how it was, right? Everything used to be fresher, more pure, unadulterated by preservative ... Show More
1h 5m
Sep 2022
Ep. 126. Blum, Keener: The Poison Squad and the Fight for Food Safety Legislation
<p><strong>Deborah Blum</strong>, Director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT and the Publisher of <em>Undark</em> magazine, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning science journalist, columnist and author of six books, most recently, <em>The Poison Squad</em>, a 2018 New York T ... Show More
1h 46m
Jul 2018
50 Poison Special - A History of Russian Poisonings
Welcome to Part 1 of a bonus Unknown History miniseries: The Poison Chronicles. Eleanor Herman, author of The Royal Art of Poison, discusses the history of poison as a political tool used over centuries. In this first segment, Herman explores the use of poison throughout Russian ... Show More
10m 45s
Mar 2025
The Servants' Revenge: Arsenic & a Poisoned Pint of Beer
Why did two servants living in Plymouth, England, poison their whole household in 1675? How did they sneak arsenic into the food? And what on earth is pottage?Today Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney talk to Dr Blessin Adams, author of "Thou Savage Woman: female killers in early m ... Show More
51m 51s
<p dir="ltr">I hope you enjoy this spooky minisode bonus from the dark days of 2020! Let's meet one of history's most prolific female poisoners.</p> <p dir="ltr">You can now buy my ladycentric timelines, maps, and art prints <a href="https://www.theexploresspodcast.com/store" tar ... Show More