The Disappearing Spoon podcast
The Mysterious Mote
This bonus episode highlights an excerpt from Ferris Jabr’s book Becoming Earth.
The Disappearing Spoon is Distillations’ sister podcast, hosted by best-selling author Sam Kean. The show examines overlooked stories from our past, such as the dental superiority of hunter-gatherers, the sex lives of dinosaurs, and many more moments that never made the history books. When the footnote becomes the real story, small moments become surprisingly powerful.
The Debaucherous Legacy of Johnny Appleseed
Sam Kean explores how the legendary gardener’s reputation as the patron saint of the American wilderness ignores his boozy origins.
Sugar: The Most Evil Molecule
Trace how such a sweet treat has caused so much harm—from slavery to the Nazi death machine.
The Lifesaving Rat Poison
Follow blood thinner warfarin’s unlikely journey from moldy clover and cow killer to lifesaving drug.
The Making of a Lobotomist
The story behind notorious surgeon Walter Freeman’s contempt for his father, failures with his sons, and obsession with lobotomies.
The Murderer Who Made Movies Possible
When horses gallop, do all four hooves ever leave the ground at once? This episode recounts the saga that led to the answer.
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and the Irish Giant
Learn how the daring heist of an anatomical wonder forever sullied the reputation of a great scientist.
The Screwiest—and Perhaps Most Original—Idea of the 20th Century
An entomologist from Texas supposedly came up with ‘the single most original idea’ to eradicate screwworms.
The Bird with Four Sexes
Find out what a strange little sparrow can teach us about love, sex, and human biology.
When the Brain Deceives Itself
Learn what two famous neurological traumas—one involving a U.S. president, the other a Supreme Court justice—can teach us about how our own brains perceive reality.
Stephen Hawking and the Mistake That Made His Career
The third episode in a three-part series on legendary physicists and their dumbest mistakes.
Albert Einstein and the Worst Prediction in the History of Science
Learn about the physicist’s biggest-blunder-turned-greatest success.
How To Be Smarter Than Isaac Newton
Discover why the iconic physicist made an unbelievable error while hunting down criminals, and how you can avoid the same dumb mistake.
Claude Monet and Bee Purple
How cataracts nearly ruined the impressionist painter’s career—and then revived it by giving him an insect-like superpower.
The Unsung Heroes of Darwin’s Evolution
Learn how an obsession with crustaceans guided the naturalist toward his most consequential insights.
Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code
An interview with Sam Kean about his book ‘The Violinist’s Thumb.’
The Sinister Angel Singers of Rome
How a simple operation—castrating little boys—produced the greatest singers the world has ever known.
The Murderous Origins of the American Medical Association
How a bloody gun duel between two doctors in Transylvania sparked a frenzy of outrage—and helped create the American Medical Association.
The Big ‘What If’ of Cancer
How a feisty, suicidal Nobel laureate infuriated both Hitler and Stalin, and stalled cancer research for 50 years along the way.