The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean cover image

The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean

Latest episodes

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Apr 1, 2025 • 19min

The Battle over Human Chromosomes

It seems like a simple question: how many chromosomes do human beings have? But getting an accurate count proved surprisingly hard for much of last century. In fact, virtually every textbook once cited an incorrect number, until in 1956, a fiery Indonesian scientist finally determined the true count—and had to battle his boss over who would receive credit for this legacy-making discovery. preorder hardcover copies of MY NEW BOOK, Dinner with King Tut, for a 20 percent discount at this link only: bit.ly/dinnerwithkingtut. Use offer code “spoon”.
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Mar 25, 2025 • 21min

The Halley's Comet Panic

The 1910 return of Halley’s comet was greeted with rapture around the world—at least at first. Due to irresponsible speculation by scientists about the theoretical dangers of a close encounter with a comet, many people grew terrified of Halley’s approach and took drastic measures. They fled their homes, hid out in wells or caves, even committed suicide. It’s a grave reminder of scientific communication gone very wrong. preorder hardcover copies of MY NEW BOOK, Dinner with King Tut, for a 20 percent discount at this link only: bit.ly/dinnerwithkingtut. Use offer code “spoon”.   This offer will EXPIRE SOON, so take advantage today!
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Dec 10, 2024 • 20min

The Winter when People Ate Tulips

It’s the 80th anniversary of the Dutch Hongerwinter during World War II, which led to widespread starvation, and an inadvertent breakthrough in treating deadly celiac disease.
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Dec 3, 2024 • 17min

Why Keep a Diary of a Toxic Snakebite?

After 40 years of studying snakes, Karl Schmidt finally suffered his first bite. And when he did, he kept a gruesome diary to document the suffering and danger—right up to the edge of death...
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Nov 19, 2024 • 19min

Machiavellian Microbes

Parasites can force animals to do nefarious things by manipulating their minds—including, uncomfortably, the minds of human beings.
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Nov 12, 2024 • 19min

The Woman Who “Turned Back a Plague of Old Testament Proportions”

In refusing to approve the drug thalidomide, FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey spared thousands of babies from deadly birth defects and revolutionized drug research. But was her legacy all good?
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5 snips
Nov 4, 2024 • 18min

The Doom Lurking inside Trees

Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake has sparked a revolution in archaeology by studying radioactive tree rings—work that also terrifies astronomers, who fear it foretells doom for our civilization.
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Oct 29, 2024 • 18min

The Mona Lisa of the Seine

A woman who drowned in Paris became one of the most famous faces in the world as the model for CPR dummies, saving millions of lives and inspiring artists from Pablo Picasso to Michael Jackson—all while remaining completely unknown.
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Oct 22, 2024 • 18min

Savant Idiots

In the early 1800s, the first Egyptian mummies in Europe served as a crucial test for evolution—a test that, according to people then, evolution flunked.
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Oct 15, 2024 • 18min

When Mummymania Swept the World

In the 1800s, mummies found their way into everything from fertilizer to food, and were especially prized as medicine. Mummymania was a strange time...

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