- The Russian Roswell
In 1959, nine Russian hikers mysteriously died on a trek through the snowy wilderness—fueling a half-century of hysterical conspiracies. Has science finally cracked the case?
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E8 - 21m - Apr 30, 2024 - When Tenure Means Life and Death
After a tenure dispute, mechanical engineer Valery Fabrikant murdered four colleagues in cold blood at his university in Montreal. So why is he still allowed to publish scientific papers?
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E7 - 20m - Apr 23, 2024 - A Deadly Soup for Babies
Chemist Justus von Liebig was perhaps the most famous scientist in the world in the mid-1800s—but quickly became infamous for his role in the killing of four starving infants.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E6 - 20m - Apr 16, 2024 - How the “Worst Serial Killer in Holland’s History” Went Free
Patient after patient died under the care of a single nurse in Holland. So why did so many statisticians think Lucia de Berk was innocent?
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E5 - 20m - Apr 9, 2024 - The Eclipse that Killed a King
Rama IV of Siam (from the “King and I” musical) used an eclipse to save his kingdom from greedy colonial powers. But it cost him his own life in the end.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E4 - 19m - Apr 2, 2024 - When Generosity Turns Pathological
One Brazilian man’s brain damage transformed him into a selfless giver. So why did he infuriate so many people—and what does his case say about the biological roots of generosity?
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E3 - 18m - Mar 26, 2024 - The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 2)
Jack Parsons was a devil-worshipping FBI rat who led a sex cult and was bosom buddies with L. Ron Hubbard. He was also one of the most important rocket scientists in history. (Episode 2 of 2)
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E2 - 21m - Mar 19, 2024 - The Sex-Cult “Antichrist” Who Rocketed Us to Space (part 1)
Jack Parsons was a devil-worshiping FBI rat who led a sex cult and was bosom buddies with L. Ron Hubbard. He was also one of the most important rocket scientists in history. (Episode 1 of 2)
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS8E1 - 19m - Mar 12, 2024 - Don't Drink the Milk bonus episode - Milk: From mutations to mustaches
Who put the cheese in your stuffed-crust pizza? Or cows on a Caribbean island? And when more than half the world's population can't actually digest milk, is it really essential for a healthy diet? On a trip through time and taste—to dairy-obsessed Bulgaria, colonial Trinidad and Tobago and the ‘Got Milk?’ era—we explore humanity's millennia-long relationship with milk.
Listen to Don't Drink the Milk wherever you get your podcasts! https://pod.link/1704462801
Also on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpBAZYDqAE8nzvIRx2dApgkDi3zkSe3GS
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy42m - Jan 16, 2024 - Was Darwin a Murderer?
In 1878, two Paris dandies murdered an old woman—and blamed Charles Darwin for their crime. But the wild scandal that followed only solidified Darwin as the greatest scientist of his age...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E10 - 20m - Nov 14, 2023 - Mass Psychosis in Food Science
Americans happily ate monosodium glutamate for decades. Then one (possibly fake) letter sparked mass hysteria over “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, and the bogus MSG scare was born...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E9 - 19m - Nov 7, 2023 - Accounting for Taste
Scientists have confirmed five basic human tastes—sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. But is that all? Debate now rages about adding a sixth or seventh or even eighth(!) to the Big Five...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E8 - 18m - Oct 31, 2023 - If Indiana Jones Were a Swindler
James Mellaart discovered one of the most important archaeological sites ever, Çatalhöyük in Turkey. But his lust for treasure—and a penchant for fraud—led him to throw it all away...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS3E7 - 19m - Oct 24, 2023 - The British Tobacco Empire
He helped launch the British Empire and spawned a public-health epidemic that killed hundreds of millions of people. Blame him for the lost colony of Roanoke, too. Thomas Harriot has a lot to answer for...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E6 - 19m - Oct 17, 2023 - "Moldy Mary," The Forgotten Mother of Penicillin
She helped discover arguably the most important drug in history. And she got zero credit. They called her Moldy Mary—but she turned that insult into triumph...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E5 - 21m - Oct 10, 2023 - The Most Exclusive Club in the World
As recent submersible tragedies reveal, it’s harder to reach extreme ocean depths than the Moon. Meet the people who got there first—and barely lived to tell to the tale...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E4 - 19m - Oct 3, 2023 - Death-Defying Science at 75,000 Feet
You wouldn’t think a lanky, awkward balloon geek would inspire Hollywood. But the death-defying Auguste Piccard was a worthy namesake for Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek fame...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E3 - 20m - Sep 26, 2023 - Proving Einstein Right
Albert Einstein’s relativity was just another theory at first, speculative and unproven—until Arthur Eddington and a special eclipse. Meet the weirdo scientist who made Einstein into *Einstein*...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E2 - 19m - Sep 20, 2023 - Einstein's Golden Moment
It was the most powerful emotional moment of Albert Einstein’s life—the instant he knew he was a genius. But in confirming his theory of relativity, it also opened him up to attacks, sometimes rather vicious, from around the world...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyS7E1 - 20m - Sep 12, 2023 - Everything You Know About Phineas Gage Is Wrong
Despite what you’ve heard, neuroscience’s most famous patient did not turn into a lying, drunken psychopath. He’s actually an amazing example of resiliency and overcoming trauma...
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy19m - Jul 11, 2023