The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean
A topsy-turvy science-y history podcast by Sam Kean. I examine overlooked stories from our past: the dental superiority of hunter-gatherers, the crooked Nazis who saved thousands of American lives, the American immigrants who developed the most successful cancer screening tool in history, the sex lives of dinosaurs, and much, much more. These are charming little tales that never made the history books, but these small moments can be surprisingly powerful. These are the cases where history gets inverted, where the footnote becomes the real story.
Latest episodes
May 3, 2022 • 20min
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and the Irish Giant
Charles Byrne was an eight-foot Irish giant ️who loved a beer or 3 with the lads. His funeral became a legendary party—as well as one of biggest scandals in science history, when a famous anatomist named John Hunter stole his body for dissection.
Apr 26, 2022 • 22min
The Screwiest—and Perhaps Most Original—Idea of the 20th Century
The New York Times one credited biologist Edward Knipling with “the most original idea of the 20th century.” What was it? A way to fight the screwworm, the vilest parasite on earth—and maybe stop malaria, the deadliest disease in human history, too.
Apr 19, 2022 • 24min
The Bird with Four Sexes
What a strange little sparrow can teach us about love, sex, human biology, and a whole lot more...
Apr 12, 2022 • 21min
When the Brain Deceives Itself
Can we ever truly lie to ourselves? Actually, yes—just ask Woodrow Wilson and William O. Douglas. They’re two famous examples of a bizarrely common neurological disorder. One that you might have fallen victim to yourself...
Apr 5, 2022 • 22min
Stephen Hawking and the Black Hole Mistake that Made His Career
In 1971, Stephen Hawking made a hasty, emotional mistake in a paper about black holes—and it turned out to be the smartest thing he ever did. Sometimes in science, big blunders are the best way forward...
Mar 29, 2022 • 20min
Albert Einstein and the Worst Prediction in the History of Science
Albert Einstein’s self-proclaimed “biggest blunder”—the cosmological constant in his theory of relativity—turned out to not be blunder at all. In fact, it might hold the key to the future of physics. (Now that’s genius!)
Mar 22, 2022 • 19min
How to Be Smarter than Isaac Newton
You think Isaac Newton was smart? Not so fast. He made one mistake so dumb that scholars still shake their heads over it. Find out how to avoid this mistake—and be smarter than Newton—in this episode...
Mar 15, 2022 • 21min
Claude Monet and Bee Purple
When Impressionist painter Claude Monet developed cataracts, he thought his painting career was over. Hardly. He actually developed a human superpower—the ability to see, like bees do, a much wider range of colors...
Mar 8, 2022 • 25min
The Unsung Heroes of Darwin’s Evolution
Charles Darwin didn’t give a crap about Galápagos finches, despite what you maybe heard. So what animals did light his fire while forming his theory of evolution? Pigeons, worms, and especially a despised marine pest—the lowly barnacle...
Dec 7, 2021 • 20min
The Sinister Angel Singers of Rome
How a simple operation—castrating little boys—produced the greatest singers the world has ever known...
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