In this episode of The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean breaks down the history of nitrocellulose. This thick, transparent liquid was the worlds first plastic and could be shaped into anything, including

How a steam-powered automobile in 1869 snuffed out the life of the brilliant female naturalist and astronomer Mary Ward.

What a bizarre psychological disorder can teach us about memory, human nature, and our sense of who we are.

Scientists know how other animals bodies will change in warmer climates, but how will human beings respond?

What is intelligence?

A short history of disability in the United States

Is seeing believing?

The surprising origins of developmental embryology

Our new season starts August 4th! 

Over the past few weeks Distillations has been talking to people who have special insight into the coronavirus crisis—biomedical researchers, physicians, public health experts, and historians. In this episode we talk with Magda Marquet, a...