China's Foot Binding Tradition

Lots of foods are named after people, but sometimes the stories of those names are hard to pin down. This episode looks at where Granny Smith apples, nachos, and the Cobb salads get their names. Lear...

13 Sep 202132min

This 2018 episode covers one of the United States' first successful Jewish American writers, moving in the New York literary scene of the late 1800s. She also wrote one of the most famous poems of all...

11 Sep 202128min

Holly and Tracy talk about the aspects of the stethoscope story that didn't make it into the episode, including the classism related to cleanliness standards that often comes up in writeups about it. ...

10 Sep 202113min

In 1856, Foote became the first person to make a connection between the Earth’s temperature and the concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, though she’s rarely credited for it.  Learn ...

8 Sep 202140min

One of the most basic tools of the medical profession is the stethoscope, but it’s a more recent invention than you might suspect. Its invention is credited to French doctor René Laënnec. Learn more ...

6 Sep 202135min

This 2017 episode covers Tudor's clever plan: In cold weather, he would harvest ice for cheap, and then sell it all around the world when it was hot. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.i...

4 Sep 202139min

Holly and Tracy talk about the kitties in their lives and Mike's good fortune to have had his meals cooked for him. When they turn to smallpox, discussion covers the inevitable ways in which it inform...

3 Sep 202118min

Smallpox is a viral disease that has existed for millennia. But it’s now one of only two diseases that’s been eradicated through human activity, and a global plan was enacted to do it. Learn more abo...

1 Sep 202145min