{"podcast":{"title":"The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean","slug":"the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844","podcast_index_feed_id":550844,"rss_url":"https://feeds.redcircle.com/2d0e7d24-b3a2-4dfc-a54c-fefdbedbf2b8","website_url":"https://redcircle.com/shows/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean","image_url":"https://media.redcircle.com/images/2026/3/25/16/8acc36e9-3d93-4fce-94e0-f752e6eeabe1_62-6aaa0908-655f-4559-a05d-430cc696c652-shrunk.jpg","author":"Sam Kean","episode_count":135,"summary":"A topsy-turvy science-y history podcast by Sam Kean. I examine overlooked stories from our past: the dental superiority of hunter-gatherers, the crooked Nazis who saved thousands of American lives, the American immigrants who developed the most successful cancer screening tool in history, the sex lives of dinosaurs, and much, much more. These are charming little tales that never made the history books, but these small moments can be surprisingly powerful. These are the cases where history gets inverted, where the footnote becomes the real story.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844"},"episode":{"title":"Hotter than the Dickens","slug":"hotter-than-the-dickens","published_at":"2025-05-20T13:09:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844/hotter-than-the-dickens","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844","url":"https://samkean.com/podcast/","audio_url":"https://audio2.redcircle.com/episodes/3eea75fa-1d5d-47db-a1d8-3a9581715855/stream.mp3","summary":"When Charles Dickens published Bleak House in 1852, he included a scene where one character spontaneously combusts. 🔥 🔥 🔥 Readers loved it, but one of Dickens’s good friends—a former scientist—blasted Dickens for his scientific ignorance. It ignited one of the strangest controversies in literary history. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy","meta_description":"When Charles Dickens published Bleak House in 1852, he included a scene where one character spontaneously combusts. 🔥 🔥 🔥 Readers loved it, but one of Dic…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1087,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844/episodes/hotter-than-the-dickens/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844/hotter-than-the-dickens.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}