Latest History of science Podcast Episodes
018 – Sunbathing
Wonder Cupboard - July 31, 2020 12:00 - 55 minutesWhat's that burning smell? The BBQ or your shoulders? Elena and Ian delve into the history, and often dubious science, of sunbathing and find scouts, hats, and granola along the way. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd love it if you ...
017 – Air Conditioning
Wonder Cupboard - June 29, 2020 12:00 - 56 minutesIs it me or is it hot in here? Elena and Ian try to keep their cool as they find out how A/C came to be, and the surprising ways it's changed our world. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd love it if you could leave us a review on App...
016 – Ice
Wonder Cupboard - June 04, 2020 12:00 - 1 hourIce, Ice, Baby. Not just lyrics from one of history’s great musicians, but also the topic of this episode. Elena and Ian take a cold, hard look at how chilling changed the world. Cool story, bro. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd lo...
015 – Are Viruses Alive?
Wonder Cupboard - April 27, 2020 12:00 - 48 minutesNot THAT virus. Well, yes, that one too, but not specifically. All of them, actually. Elena and Ian take a look at life and times of these vivacious virions by asking what it means to be alive at all… If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We...
014 – Beauty Part 2 with Simon Watt
Wonder Cupboard - April 04, 2020 12:00 - 1 hourImagine a perfect rhino. Done it? Great. Keep it in mind while Elena and Ian are joined by the Level Up Human podcast's Simon Watt, to discuss what we're really doing when we look for beauty in nature. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. W...
013 – Beauty Part 1 with Sabine Hossenfelder
Wonder Cupboard - February 04, 2020 12:00 - 51 minutesPhwoar, that equation, huh? Look at the numbers on that! No scientist has ever said this, hopefully, so why are there so-called 'beautiful' theories? Elena and Ian peruse this polynomial pageant, joined by theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, author of 'Lost In Math' and science blog Backre...
012 – Merry Christmas
Wonder Cupboard - December 26, 2019 12:00 - 23 minutes'Tis the season… for science and reason! Well, that's what the Victorians thought at least. Elena and Ian take a look at how science and Christmas became fashionable pals in the 19th Century. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd love i...
011 – Vaccines and Power
Wonder Cupboard - December 01, 2019 12:00 - 50 minutesVaccines are great, but not everyone agrees. Elena and Ian take a jab at finding out why and when we began our preoccupation with inoculation. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes too. A...
010 – Do We Live in a Simulation?
Wonder Cupboard - October 13, 2019 12:00 - 59 minutesIs this the real life? Is this just fantasy? A veritable landslide of such questions await you in this episode, which Elena and Ian wish to clarify is surprisingly, and almost entirely, Matrix-free™. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'...
009 – Lab Coats
Wonder Cupboard - May 19, 2019 12:00 - 48 minutesWhen did scientists start wearing white coats? Why do doctors wear them too? And are they strictly necessary in toothpaste commercials? Elena and Ian don their most fashionable lab jackets to look at the life and times of science's iconic wardrobe. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following...
Am I The Only One With Students Like This?
RoguePhD - April 01, 2019 04:00 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 1 ratingNo two students are the same, and what gets one student engaged may not work for everyone.
The Best Teaching Technology Is You
RoguePhD - April 01, 2019 04:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 1 ratingIf you are likable, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about your field, your students will want to learn. If you talk about the leaders in your area and the latest breakthroughs in your discipline, students will be motivated to learn even more. If you encourage your students—the simple feedback no...
Teaching Online: Best Practices
RoguePhD - April 01, 2019 04:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThe most basic best practices for teaching online.
Kudos to Students Can Go Far
RoguePhD - April 01, 2019 04:00 - 4 minutes ★★★★★ - 1 ratingJust a little praise in the classroom goes far, especially for adult learners. This is a very short episode that will open your eyes to some real easy techniques both in face to face and online classes.
008 – Valentine's Special: Mamie & Kenneth
Wonder Cupboard - February 14, 2019 12:00 - 27 minutesMamie and Kenneth Clark's work in psychology was instrumental in the fight to ban racial segregation in US schools. For Valentine's Day, Elena and Ian tell the story of one of their favourite scientific couples. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automa...
007 – What Are Numbers?
Wonder Cupboard - January 29, 2019 12:00 - 48 minutesWhat are they though? And where do they come from? Did someone invent them? Elena and Ian attempt to answer countless such questions in an episode critics are already rating Pi out of Planck. If you liked this episode, subscribing/following means you'll get the next one automatically. We'd love i...
Jungle Laboratories
Ventricles - December 13, 2018 14:34 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsThis episode concludes season one of Ventricles Podcast. We continue our series on politics in the history of technology in this episode. Professor Gabriela Soto Laveaga explains the central role that Mexico played in the creation of the birth control pill, a history that has often been told ab...
006 – Mesmerism
Wonder Cupboard - December 12, 2018 12:00 - 1 hourElena and Ian find out how one man and his impressive finger sparked the genesis of hypnosis and psychotherapy. Some waterfowl were harmed in the making of this episode.
Cybernetic Revolutionaries
Ventricles - November 07, 2018 16:39 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsHow are technologies shaped by political needs, and how do technologies enable new kinds of politics? In this episode, Professor Eden Medina tells the history of communications technologies in Chile, during the socialist government of Salvador Allende, in the early 1970s. She explains how the in...
Why is There a History of Medicine?
Ventricles - October 25, 2018 13:11 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsIf the human body has remained the same in the past few thousand years, why have our approaches to its treatment varied so much? How can an ailment exist in only one part of the world, and not another? Why do so many treatments in the history of Western medicine seem bizarre to us now? This epi...
Imagining Iraq
Ventricles - October 13, 2018 19:29 - 23 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsWhat will Iraq be like, 100 years in the future? How are Muslim women imagined in the future? In this episode, Professor Ahmed Ragab explores literary imaginaries of the future of the Middle East. He starts by discussing the story, Kahramana, from the recent short-story collection edited by Hass...
Canoes in Space
Ventricles - October 03, 2018 14:54 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsWhat can we learn about space exploration from Polynesian voyaging, or wayfinding? How does a frontier differ from a horizon? In this episode, Professor Eli Nelson explains the story of the Hokule‘a, a double-hulled voyaging canoe launched in 1975 to understand and recover the navigation techniq...
Coins, Medieval and Digital
Ventricles - September 26, 2018 22:42 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsWhat is money, and how is it changing? And what do bitcoins have in common with medieval coins? In this episode, Gili Vidan explains how the long history of coins can help us understand the history of digital currencies, something we perceive to be a radical break from the past. We start the epi...
Vaidyas with Wristwatches
Ventricles - September 20, 2018 12:56 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsHow do everyday technologies change our understanding of our own bodies? The pulse is a diagnostic tool common to many medical traditions, including Ayurveda, an ancient medicine of South Asia. In this episode, Professor Projit Mukharji tells us how the pulse has been understood by Ayurvedic pra...
The Pulse
Ventricles - September 12, 2018 15:10 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsThe body has many rhythms, but the pulse is one that people have paid close attention to. Over the last two millennia, the pulse has been used as a diagnostic tool in both Greek and Chinese medicine. In this episode, Professor Shigehisa Kuriyama discusses the history of the pulse in these two tr...
005 – What's the Language of Science?
Wonder Cupboard - September 11, 2018 12:00 - 38 minutesElena and Ian look at the languages science speaks… and the difficulties of writing them down. Guest starring: Galileo, Newton and the Fairy Pitta. This episode was recorded in celebration of peer review week: the planet's premier 7-day festival of intra-field regulation.
Telling Time
Ventricles - September 06, 2018 10:45 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsHow have humans kept track of time? What technologies have they developed to tell time, and how have they been influenced by religious and scientific cultures? In this episode, Dr. Sara Schechner, a historian of astronomy and an artist who has made sundials herself, speaks about the history of t...
004 – Flat Earth
Wonder Cupboard - August 30, 2018 21:00 - 1 hourAnd Round Earth. And Hollow Earth. And Treasure Chest Earth. Elena and Ian attempt to work out who thought the earth was shaped like what, and when. It's not as simple as you'd think. | Music credit: Tony Klarich / tonyklarich.com
003 – Sexy Plants
Wonder Cupboard - July 15, 2018 16:00 - 54 minutesPlants, eh? Phoar. Elena and Ian find out why botany became scandalously sexy for a whole century. Features two rude words and some extremely questionable poetry.
002 – Why Does Science Work?
Wonder Cupboard - March 22, 2018 09:00 - 42 minutesElena and Ian take a look at why science works, before getting embroiled in a boxing/wrestling match between realists and instrumentalists. Typical.