Distillations: Science + Culture + History

This show takes on the frothy subject of beer, and explores the science, culture, and history behind the suds. First, Bob and Michal go back to school--beer school--and they learn a few things about what makes beer so tasy.  Then we talk to Patrick E. McGovern, a beer and wine archaeologist, and Roger Barth, a  chemist, professor, and home brewer. They discuss the science behind beer, how modern craft breweries can help us understand ancient beers, and how technology has allowed us to drink like an ancient king. They also discuss the spiritual side of beer and the role beer has played in human evolution. SHOW CLOCK 00:07 Introduction 00:57 Bob and Michal go to beer school 07:12 Interview with Patrick E. McGovern and Roger Barth CREDITS Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy Guests: Patrick E. McGovern and Roger Barth Reporter, Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr   MUSIC: "Take Me Higher," Jahzzar "Green Lights," Jahzzar "Bill Pickett," Robodub "Portasound Dub" Robodub "Watch the Road Bub," All Urban Outfield "S

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 - freemusicarchi

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 mag

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 Fe

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 Kenw

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

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.   

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.  

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. 

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.

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.

It’s hard to make decisions without information, that’s why some researchers in the San Francisco area are collecting carbon dioxide data at the neighborhood level. As producer Andrew Stelzer discovers, the BEACON project does more than gather data; it also brings home the effects of small-scale events, such as rush hour, and allows researchers to track pollution to its source. Then Eileen Fleming discusses DIY monitoring with Shannon Dosemagen from the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science. Show Clock 00:00 Opening Credits 00:44 Introduction 01:44 Air Monitoring 09:02 Interview: Shannon Dosemagen 14:41 Closing Credits Credits Link to BEACON project: http://beacon.berkeley.edu/ Public Lab - http://publiclab.org/  Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Join us for the third installment of The Stages of Life, spotlighting the chemistry found in childhood, adulthood, and old age. We start by looking at what happens to the brain as we move into old age, and then we investigate how some tiny technology can help as hearing fades.

Today’s episode centers on adulthood. First, Pennsylvania State University’s Suzy Scherf tells us what’s going on in the brains of adolescents. Then, Katrina Roi takes a look at a common consumer product, the condom, and those who want to make it better. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:26 Introduction 01:09 Interview: Inside the Brain 05:38 The Chemistry Behind the Condom 14:10 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Tori Indivero for interviewing the scientists in this series. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

Today we begin a three-part series, The Stages of Life, spotlighting the chemistry found in childhood, adulthood, and old age. First, a look at the brains of children, followed by the colorful world of the crayon. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:27 Introduction 01:13 Interview: Inside the Brain 06:14 Colorful Chemistry, the World of Crayons 16:15 Closing Credits CREDITS The Three Stages of Life is part of CHF’s Thanks to Chemistry project, sponsored by BASF Corporation, The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, DuPont, and ExxonMobil. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

On today's show we look at how delicate desert ecosystems are affected by climate change. Then the impact of toxic metals on Rocky Mountain streams. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:33 Introduction 01:10 Feature: Water Webs 09:10 Interview: Johanna Kraus 14:48 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Diane Hope and Jody Roberts for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

On today's show we look at the modern power grid, on the brink of a new era. First, why the smart grid matters. Then, the critical mission of Caltech's Solar Army. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:34 Introduction 01:09 A Smarter Grid 10:11 The Solar Army 16:23 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Charlie Mintz and Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Video produced by Josh Kurz. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

On today's show we look at questionable appearance enhancers. First The Beauty Historian shares some shocking beauty rituals of yore. Then a look at how Brazilian Blowouts are making salon workers sick. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:38 Introduction 01:10 Interview: The Beauty Historian 06:22 Brazilian Blowouts 14:48 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Stephanie Coleman, Audrey Quinn, Mia Lobel, and Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

On today's show we investigate the science beneath our streets. First how a team of amateur speleologists is keeping Howe Caverns safe for future generations. Then a look at Philadelphia's historic sewer system. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:39 Introduction 01:24 Howe Caverns' Annual Cleanup 09:30 Interview: Adam Levine 16:02 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Amy Kraft,Adam Levine, Mia Lobel, and Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.

On today's show we learn how advances in urban agriculture are providing new access to fresh food. First how hundreds of tons of fishbones are cleaning up Oakland soil. Then tips on how to create your own backyard garden. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:30 Introduction 01:23 Fishbone Remediation 10:24 Interview: Alex Jones and Alice Edgerton 17:48 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Charlie Mintz, Alex Jones, Alice Edgerton, and Jennifer Dionisio for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.