The Immortal Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at the age of 31. Before she passed, a tissue sample of her cancer cells was taken. Those cells have been the basis for decades...
15 Touko 20219min
Examine The Zipper
I’m guessing that almost everyone listening to this podcast has, within the last day, used a zipper. They are ubiquitous at this point and most people have never given them much thought. Yet, its inve...
14 Touko 202110min
Randomness
Randomness is all around us. Many of you probably think that this podcast is pretty random given that you have no clue what each day’s episode is going to be about. However, true randomness is a very ...
13 Touko 202112min
The Largest City in the World
The rise of civilization is sometimes defined as the urbanization of humanity. The transition from hunter-gatherers to living in settlements was a fundamental transformation of human society and allow...
12 Touko 202112min
The South Atlantic Anomaly
For years people believed that there was a part of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and planes would disappear called the Bermuda Triangle. It turned out that ships and planes didn’t disappear there at ...
11 Touko 20219min
Juan Sebastián Elcano
When I was growing up I was taught like so many people that Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the Earth. The problem with this is that is it isn’t true. In fact, Magellan never...
10 Touko 20218min
A History of Mother's Day
Every year, on the second Sunday in May, 96 countries around the world celebrate Mother’s Day. Dozens of other countries celebrate the same thing on different days throughout the year. Mother’s Day wa...
9 Touko 20219min
The USS William D. Porter: The Unluckiest Ship in WWII
During World War II, the United States had a fleet of over 1,200 combat ships. Each of them had a unique story and service record. With so many ships, there would be many stories of heroism, stories o...
8 Touko 20219min
