One of the most basic tools of the medical profession is the stethoscope, but it’s a more recent invention than you might suspect. Its invention is credited to French doctor René Laënnec. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2017 episode covers Tudor's clever plan: In cold weather, he would harvest ice for cheap, and then sell it all around the world when it was hot. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy talk about the kitties in their lives and Mike's good fortune to have had his meals cooked for him. When they turn to smallpox, discussion covers the inevitable ways in which it informs thinking about the current pandemic. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smallpox is a viral disease that has existed for millennia. But it’s now one of only two diseases that’s been eradicated through human activity, and a global plan was enacted to do it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From caterer cat to war cat to museum guard, these three cats have their own unique places in history. Rest assured, while all creatures pass on, none of the cats in this episode meet a bad end. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2018 episode covers the famed courtier, explorer, historian, Member of Parliament and soldier. He was part of England's defense against the Spanish armada, as well the Tudor conquest of Ireland, some of which was truly horrifying. According to some people, he is now a ghost. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly and Tracy discuss Jo Nivison Hopper’s complex life story and how frustrating and angering it can be to research biographies like hers. They also talk about the availability of the Kerner Commission report to the public and the reiterative nature of the problems outlined in it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Half a century ago, a commission established by President Lyndon Johnson wrote a report that concluded that “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal.” The reported listed widespread social programs and reforms to counter the problem, and Johnson refused to accept it.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jo Nivison was an established artist before she married Edward Hopper. But her art career quickly became secondary to Ed's, and their life together, which is often described as a great collaboration, was really far darker than that. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2014 episode covers events from 1921, when coal miners fed up with unfair labor practices and exploitation took up arms against their employers. The resulting conflict lasted five days and has been called the biggest armed uprising on U.S. soil since the Civil War. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.