Science History Podcast

Episode 106. The Space Race: Leroy Chiao

Those of us who grew up during the Cold War were keenly aware of the space race between the US and USSR. With us to relive the victories and tragedies of the space race i

Episode 105. Curie's Elements: Dava Sobel

Marie Curie was one of the most remarkable scientists in history. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win two, and the only person ever to e

Episode 104. Pugwash: John Holdren

On July 9, 1955, mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell announced the Russell-Einstein manifesto, which warned the world of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.

Episode 103. Astronomy: Sarah Alam Malik

What did the ancient world discover about the cosmos? What were the contributions of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo? How did the science of astronomy advance under Newto

Episode 102. Chemicals & Children's Health: Tracey Woodruff

Chemical exposures in the womb can lead to what biologists call organizational effects - that is, impacts on the developing child that are irreversible. How were developm

Episode 101. Longitude: Emily Akkermans

The age of exploration altered the course of human history, but how did early explorers find their way? Calculating their latitude at sea was a relatively straightforward

Episode 100. Bohr's Legacy: Tomas Bohr

Today we explore the life and legacy of the physicist Niels Bohr through the reflections of his grandson Tomas Bohr. Tomas is an Emeritus Professor at the Technical Unive

Episode 99. Rapa Nui's Collapse: Mike Pitts

Often in the history of science, myths overrun scientific findings and take hold with such force that they are difficult or nearly impossible to dislodge from public unde

Episode 98. Retrospective: Tom Lehrer's Mathematics

The Science History Podcast, now in its 9th year, has spanned Trump's first term in office, four years of the Biden Administration, and a year of the second Trump Adminis

Episode 97. Forever Chemicals: Sharon Udasin

Today's episode is a discussion on the history of PFAS, or forever chemicals, including their accidental development, incorporation into commercial products, concerns abo

Episode 96. The Weather: Simon Winchester

The weather has always been a critical element of the human experience - deadly during storms and droughts, sustaining when aligned with the harvest schedule, beautiful a

Episode 95. The River War: James Muller

In Episodes 10 and 11 of the Science History Podcast, I interviewed James Muller on the role that Winston Churchill played in the unparalleled advancement of science and

Episode 94. Lead Poisoning: Bruce Lanphear

Our health, and the health of wildlife, depends on a clean environment. Since the advent of the industrial revolution, our environment has suffered from waves of pollutio

Episode 93. Attacks on University Research: Claudia Polsky

The year 2025 has seen the most aggressive moves ever by the US executive branch against scientific research as the Trump Administration has gutted federal science and re

Episode 92. ATSDR: Jaimi Dowdell

In Episode 62, I interviewed two Reuters journalists about how industry and government in the United States use conservation easements to avoid rigorous cleanup of contam

Episode 91. Political Bias: Bill von Hippel

In prior episodes, we examined political interference and bias in science in a few contexts, including episode 3 on the history of U.S. congressional attacks on science,

Episode 90. Physicists as Biologists: William Lanouette

In prior episodes, I have interviewed many people about the history of physics and physics-adjacent topics such as nuclear disarmament. Many of the physicists we have dis

Episode 89. Göttingen Physics: Tim Salditt, Kurt Schönhammer, & Sarah Köster

Prior to the rise of Nazism, the University of Göttingen hosted most of the top physicists in the world, either as resident or visiting scientists. With us to discuss the

Episode 88. Polymerase Chain Reaction: Henry Erlich

The history of science is punctuated by moments of technological innovation that produce a paradigm shift and a subsequent flurry of discovery. A recent technological inn

Episode 87. Meitner's Atom: Marissa Moss

Lise Meitner was the most important female physicist of the 20th century. She made fundamental discoveries on the atom, including, most famously, being the first to disco