{"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":"The Worst of Times, the Asbestos Times","slug":"the-worst-of-times-the-asbestos-times","published_at":"2025-05-06T13:16:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-disappearing-spoon-a-science-history-podcast-with-sam-kean-550844/the-worst-of-times-the-asbestos-times","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/52d963cd-62fc-4e12-9341-768b0b30f286/stream.mp3","summary":"Asbestos was once considered a miracle substance—a wonder of the modern age, due to its role in stopping the fires that once plagued every major city. Unfortunately, it also shreds people’s lungs. Most countries were willing to live with that trade-off, until a crusading doctor named Irving Selikoff made it his life's mission to get asbestos banned. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy","meta_description":"Asbestos was once considered a miracle substance—a wonder of the modern age, due to its role in stopping the fires that once plagued every major city. Unf…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1067,"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/the-worst-of-times-the-asbestos-times/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/the-worst-of-times-the-asbestos-times.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}