105. Light Bulbs

In the final part of our series, Zachary Crockett talks to a man with a storied — and controversial — career in the body parts business. This episode was originally published on October 29th, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information abou ...  Show more

In the first of two episodes, Zachary Crockett digs into the strange and discomfiting history of cadavers, and the industry that has emerged around them. This episode was originally published on October 22nd, 2023. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for ...  Show more

They should have died out when the lightbulb was invented. Instead they’re a $10 billion industry. What does it mean that we still want tiny fires inside our homes?

How did Thomas Edison rise from obscure origins in a frontier town in Michigan to become the most famous man of his age and one of the greatest inventors of all time? In part 2, we cover Edison's life from his invention of the light bulb to his death. Sources: Edison by Edmund Mo ...  Show more

February 24, 1893. Most homes don't have electricity. And yet, one of the technology's pioneers, Nikola Tesla, is about to give the world a glimpse into a fully electrified future. He takes the stage at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and begins a demonstration. He shoots ...  Show more

Are chemical elements critical for the modern economy in dangerously short supply? It's a question that Justin Rowlatt poses a century and a half after the Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev published the original periodic table.Justin speaks to two chemists - Andrea Sella of Unive ...  Show more