Distillations: Science + Culture + History

Baseball, track, swimming, biking—is there any sport that hasn’t suffered a scandal in the past few years? It turns out that the obvious culprits—performance enhancing drugs—are just the tip of the iceberg for how chemistry can alter athletic competition. In today’s show we look at some of the chemistry going on both inside and outside athletes’ bodies. SHOW CLOCK 00:00 Opening Credits 00:31 Introduction 01:10 Element of the Week: Potassium 02:56 A Conversation with John Hoberman 07:28 Chemistry in Your Cupboard 10:48 Quote: Damon Hill 11:00 Closing Credits CREDITS Special thanks to Erin McLeary for researching this show. Additional credits available at chemheritage.org/distillations.