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Distillations | Science History Institute
Distillations | Science History Institute
Science History Institute

Each episode of Distillations podcast takes a deep-dive into a moment of science-related history in order to shed light on the present.

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Episodes

Exploring 'Health Equity Tourism'

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a new public interest... more

24 Oct 2023 · 47 minutes
The Mothers of Gynecology

Of all wealthy countries, the United States is the most dangerous place to have a baby. Our maternal mortality rate... more

18 Apr 2023 · 56 minutes
Correcting Race

Certain medical instruments have built-in methods of correcting for race. They’re based on the premise that Black bodies are inherently... more

11 Apr 2023 · 48 minutes
"That Rotten Spot"

When the plague broke out in San Francisco in 1900 the public health department poured all of their energy into... more

04 Apr 2023 · 51 minutes
Black Pills

In 2005 the FDA approved a pill to treat high blood preassure only in African Americans. This so-called miracle drug... more

28 Mar 2023 · 54 minutes
Bad Blood, Bad Science

The word “Tuskegee” has come to symbolize the Black community’s mistrust of the medical establishment. It has become American lore. However, most people... more

21 Mar 2023 · 59 minutes
The African Burial Ground

In 1991, as crews broke ground on a new federal office building in lower Manhattan, they discovered human skeletons. It... more

14 Mar 2023 · 44 minutes
Return, Rebury, Repatriate

In 2019, Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, a community organizer and journalist, learned that the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology had a... more

07 Mar 2023 · 57 minutes
The Vampire Project

In the 1990s a liberal population geneticist launched the Human Genome Diversity Project. The goal was to sequence the genomes... more

28 Feb 2023 · 55 minutes
Keepers of the Flame

In the 1970s Barry Mehler started tracking race scientists and he noticed something funny: they all had the same funding... more

21 Feb 2023 · 1 hour, 3 minutes
Calamity in Philadelphia

In 1793 a yellow fever epidemic almost destroyed Philadelphia. The young city was saved by two Black preachers, Richard Allen... more

14 Feb 2023 · 40 minutes
BONUS: Cheddar Man

In 2018 ancient DNA researchers revealed their analysis of a 10,000 year old skeleton called Cheddar Man. He was the... more

10 Feb 2023 · 6 minutes
Origin Stories

It might seem as though the way we think about race now is how we’ve always thought about it—but it... more

07 Feb 2023 · 33 minutes
Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race

Our new season, Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, drops on February 7th.

20 Jan 2023 · 3 minutes
Mechanochemistry

What comes to mind when you think of a chemistry lab? Maybe it’s smoke billowing out of glassware, or colorful... more

13 Jul 2022 · 16 minutes
Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code

The Disappearing Spoon, a podcast collaboration between the Science History Institute and New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean, returns... more

01 Mar 2022 · 23 minutes
The Sinister Angel Singers of Rome

In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about Alessandro Moreschi, the so-called Angel of Rome. His voice... more

07 Dec 2021 · 18 minutes
The Murderous Origins of the American Medical Association

In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about the strange origin story of the American Medical Association.... more

30 Nov 2021 · 20 minutes
The Big ‘What If’ of Cancer

In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about Hermann Muller, a geneticist who in the 1920s discovered... more

23 Nov 2021 · 20 minutes
Disappearing Spoon: The Harvard Medical School Janitor Who Solved a Murder

On this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean talks about a murder mystery that rocked Boston in 1849. Harvard... more

16 Nov 2021 · 21 minutes
Distillations | Science History Institute
Origin Stories
Distillations | Science History Institute
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Listen now on

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Overcast
Podcast Addict
Pocket Casts
Castbox
Stitcher
Podbean
iHeartRadio
Player FM
Podcast Republic
Castro
RadioPublic
RSS

Description

It might seem as though the way we think about race now is how we’ve always thought about it—but it isn’t. Race was... more