China's Foot Binding Tradition

The complex at Lalibela was excavated from volcanic rock about 700 years ago, and has been in continuous use since then. It's connected to the overall history of Christianity in Ethiopia -- different ...

25 Dec 201935min

Just a little Christmas Eve cheer for our listeners as everyone keeps an eye out for Santa! It's our 2017 episode about how NORAD started tracking Santa. There’s some myth-busting here, and maybe the ...

24 Dec 201932min

From its natural base substance, salicin, to the invention of its synthetic derivative form that we still use, the story of aspirin has its own controversy and conflict, including whether the proper c...

23 Dec 201929min

This 2011 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina continues the bushranger discussion. After 1853, many bushrangers were native-born. Ben Hall seemed on track for a peaceful life until two wrong...

21 Dec 201917min

It's easy to marvel at the work of scientists, both in terms of the scientific concepts themselves and in the ways scientists behave. Both of those things, as well as foreign language verb tense, feat...

20 Dec 201911min

Helium and humankind's understanding of it sits at the earliest intersection of astronomy and chemistry. The story of its discovery also features two scientists who were working on similar ideas concu...

18 Dec 201930min

She was one of the greatest experimental physicists of her era, publishing influential papers before she was even out of graduate school. She made multiple major contributions to the field during her ...

16 Dec 201931min

While Ned Kelly may be the most famous bushranger, he's certainly not the only one. Join previous hosts Deblina and Sarah as they explore the lives of early bush rangers in this 2011 classic. Learn m...

14 Dec 201920min