Distillations | Science History Institute

Latest Episodes:

Alchemy's Rainbow: Pigment Science and the Art of Conservation May 05, 2014

Show notes

This episode explores the colorful (and sometimes risk-filled) history of pigments and painters, and the conservators who save paintings from the ravages of time and accidental chemistry.

First we take an art field trip around Philadelphia as art historian and CHF fellow Elisabeth Berry Drago tries to paint like it's 1699. We visit a butcher shop, a tile store, and an art supply store to try to get what we need.

Then we talk to art conservator Mark F. Bockrath and Elisabeth Berry Drago. They tell us about the messy and occasionally dangerous process of making paints from pigments and talk about the transition to using paint from tubes. They also explain the conservation process and tell us why alchemists were so important to painters in early modern times.

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

Guests: Mark F. Bockrath and Elisabeth Berry Drago

Reporter, Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

MUSIC:

"Pensacola Twilight," Lee Rosevere - freemusicarchive.org

"Do What You Can," Lee Rosevere - freemusicarchive.org

"Backtime," Lee Rosevere - freemusicarchive.org

"Stardust," Phonotrash - freemusicarchive.org

"Sunny Day," The Rabbits - freemusicarchive.org

"Wonder Cycle," Chris Zabriskie - freemusicarchive.org

"Nia," Dubh Thrian - freemusicarchive.org

"Tragic," Semyon - freemusicarchive.org

"Converge to Some Centre," We Are All Alone - freemusicarchive.org

"First," Overlake - freemusicarchive.org

"The Plaintive Heating Griddle," Ergo Phizmiz - freemusicarchive.org

"Stabbings," Moby - mobygratis.com

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Meet Joe Palca: A Radio Story About Making Radio Stories Mar 18, 2014

Show notes

Joe Palca is one of the best science storytellers out there. In his 20 years as an NPR science correspondent he’s covered all sorts of obscure topics, from soccer-playing robots and oyster glue to turtle paleontology. He finds the humor in the serious and the thoughtful in the funny, usually by focusing on the human elements of stories.

“Stories are usually about people, those are the ones we remember. We don’t remember stories about transuranic elements,” Palca says.

We took this episode of Distillations on the road and visited Palca at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., where we got a behind-the-scenes tour of his program, Joe’s Big Idea.

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

Reporter, Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

MUSIC:

“Converge To Some Centre”- We Are All Alone

“Where the Magic Happens”- THERE

“Teletransportation” - Coma Stereo

“Elsewhere” - Phonotrash

“Solutions” - Lee Rosevere

“Tragic”- Semyon

All songs from the Free Music Archive, freemusicarchive.org

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Drawing History: Telling the Stories of Science through Comics and Graphic Novels Feb 04, 2014

Show notes

How do you show what the inside of an atom looks like? Or how a scientist feels in the moment of discovery? We decided to approach the human stories of science in a new way: by visualizing them.

First we visit author and illustrator Jonathan Fetter-Vorm in his studio. Then we stop in on a college animation class and hear from students creating cartoons about chemistry and fairies.

Then we talk to historian Bert Hansen and author and Jonathan Fetter-Vorm. They tell us how the comics of the 1930s, 40s and 50s relayed stories of “real heroes”—including doctors, chemists and physicists, and how new graphic genres are engaging readers and sparking their interest in history and science. They both suggest that surprise, emotion, and showing the impossible all work to engage readers in ways that written words alone cannot.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:04 Introduction

01:15 Studio visit #1: Jonathan Fetter-Vorm in Brooklyn

03:54 Studio visit #2: University of the Arts in Philadelphia

07:00 Interview with Bert Hansen and Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

15:06 Reflections from Bob and Michal

LINKS TO CONTENT:

"Heroism in Medical Science" from Dupont's radio drama, Cavalcade of America

"Now I am become Death" Robert Oppenheimer speech

"How the Public Became Interested in Medical Science"

"Science for Artists: University of the Arts Students Reflect on Animating Objects from CHF's Collection"

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy

Guests: Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and Bert Hansen

Reporter, Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

MUSIC:

“Stabbings”- Moby, mobygratis

"Isolate"- Moby, mobygratis

“The Plaintive Heating Griddle”- Ergo Phizmiz, Free Music Archive

“Awake in the Dream”- Infinite Third, Free Music Archive

"Sunny Day"- The Rabbits, Free Music Archive

"Do What You Can"- Lee Rosevere, Free Music Archive

"My Friends"- Quiet Orchestra, Free Music Archive

“Tragic”- Semyon, Free Music Archive

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Why the Chicken Became a Nugget and Other Tales of Processed Food Dec 20, 2013

Show notes

Have you ever wondered how chicken nuggets are made? Or what propylene glycol monostearate, monocalcium phosphate, or other listed ingredients are doing in your favorite packaged snacks? Distillations hosts Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy certainly did, and they went to the corner deli to inspect some processed food themselves.

They also spoke with experts Bryant Simon, a historian, and David Schleifer, a sociologist, about how trans fats and chicken nuggets arrived on the food scene as the healthier options, but have since turned into villains.

Both Simon and Schleifer suggest that when it comes to deciding what we eat, we might have less choice than we think. Class, geography, and convenience (for both food makers and food eaters) all play a role.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:03 Introduction

00:36 Michal Meyer tries her first Tastykake

03:39 Interview with Bryant Simon and David Schleifer

LINKS TO CONTENT:

"Afternoon Snack" - A video starring Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy.

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy

Guests: David Schleifer and Bryant Simon

Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

MUSIC:

“Run Up”- Moby, mobygratis

“Stabbings”- Moby, mobygratis

“Christmas All Alone”- Candlegravity, Free Music Archive

“Elsewhere”- Phonotrash, Free Music Archive

“Tragic”- Semyon, Free Music Archive

“Dragon’s Lair”- Thiaz Itch, Free Music Archive

“The Spirit”- Waylon Thornton, Free Music Archive

“Heroines”- Diablo Swing Orchestra, Free Music Archive

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Digging Up the Bodies: Debunking CSI and Other Forensics Myths Dec 03, 2013

Show notes

Thanks to modern technology most crimes these days can be neatly solved in under an hour. At least that's what fictional TV shows like CSI seem to suggest.

We wanted to address the so-called "CSI Effect," caused by the simplification of forensic science in popular culture. CSI and likeminded TV shows–with their heroic investigators solving crimes in mere minutes–mislead viewers and affect real court cases. The reality of investigation is much slower and more complex, but no less fascinating.

Hosts Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy speak with experts Anna Dhody, a physical and forensic anthropologist, and Lisa Rosner, a historian. They discuss the early days of solving crime and the on-going chemistry of the human body throughout life and death.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:03 Introduction

02:03 Past and present: the "CSI Effect"

05:00 Forensic science: its beginnings

06:40 Burke and Hare: the not-quite body snatchers

09:34 Digging up the bodies: mass murder in Peru

11:11 The chemistry of bodies

12:44 Skulls, phrenology, and race

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy

Guests: Anna Dhody and Lisa Rosner

Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

"Stabbings" by Moby, courtesy of Mobygratis.com

check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Zombies! How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Zombie Apocalypse Oct 22, 2013

Show notes

What can zombies teach us about our fears of survival? CHF's Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy talk to Deanna Day, a CHF fellow, and Robert Hicks, director of the College of Physicians’ Mütter Museum about what zombies can tell us about apocalyptic diseases and medical cures.

With the popularity of post-apocalyptic storytelling at an all-time high, CHF decided to look into the science, history, and sociology behind these fears.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:20 Introduction

01:55 Interview with Deanna Day and Robert Hicks

28:48 Reflections with Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

34:48 Closing Credits

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

Guests: Deanna Day and Robert Hicks

Editor: Mariel Carr

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.

Atomic Power and Promise: What's Become of Our Nuclear Golden Age? Oct 21, 2013

Show notes

Some say we are on the verge of a bright future in which nuclear power will play a major role in responding to climate change. Others say that we should expect more Fukushimas. Whichever way our nuclear future goes, there will be tradeoffs between energy and the environment.

Hosts Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy speak with nuclear historians Alex Wellerstein and Linda Richards. They discuss how our turbulent nuclear past has shaped, for better and for worse, our current attitudes.

Episode 181: Chemotherapy Sep 03, 2013

Show notes

Ancient Greek doctors knew about it, but could do nothing about the scourge we know as cancer. Producer Ed Prosser interviews historian Viviane Quirke about the development of chemotherapy drugs in the 20th century, drugs that for the first time offered hope to cancer patients. Next up producer Christine Laskowski goes on a very personal journey. Last year her father was among the more than 1 million Americans diagnosed with cancer. Along with radiation, his treatment included a drug called cisplatin. Cisplatin has nasty side effects, so why is a drug first used to treat cancer in the 1970s still used for many cancers?

Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits 00:33 Introduction 01:08 Interview: Viviane Quirke 06:58 Chemotherapy: Cisplatin 17:00 Closing Credits

Credits

Our theme music is composed by Andrew Chalfen. Additional credits may be found at http://chemheritage.org/distillations.

Episode 180: Best of Distillations #12 Aug 19, 2013

Show notes

It’s that time of year again where we dive into our archives and bring back some of our favorite segments from the past year. First, meet Ian MacLeod from our show Shipwrecks, a man who spends much of his time with sunken ships and who knows about the chemistry that eats at them. Next, a 19th-century Philadelphia church designed by Frank Furness is crumbling. Can it be saved? Find out in this feature from our show Neighborhood Preservation.

Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:01 Shipwrecks: Wrecked! 09:33 Neighborhood Preservation: The 19th Street Baptist Church 17:51 Closing Credits

Credits

Our feature producer is Diane Hope. www.dianehope.com Western Australia’s Maritime Museum in Fremantle http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/shipwrecks Pearl Harbor National Park Service http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm

Our theme music is composed and performed by Andrew Chalfen. Additional music includes “Ray – A Life Underwater,” by junior85; “Ghost Science,” by Teeth Mountain; “The Mollusk,” by Ween.

Episode 179: Best of Distillations #11 Aug 05, 2013

Show notes

It’s that time of year again where we dive into our archives and bring back some of our favorite segments from the past year. First we travel to Austin’s South by Southwest Festival from the show Hard to Stomach. Producer Lindsay Patterson takes a sniff at a public science experiment in which participants donated a few things they could do without. Say human cheese! Next, Mary Harris discovers that taste cells don’t just live on tongues. What do these cells get up to in the rest of the human body? Find out in this feature from our show, In Good Taste.

Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits 00:32 Introduction 01:03 Hard to Stomach: Armpit Cheese 08:45 In Good Taste: Super-Tasters 15:04 Closing Credits

Credits

Our theme music is composed and performed by Andrew Chalfen. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

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