The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean Podcast By Sam Kean Bleav cover art

The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean

The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean

By: Sam Kean Bleav
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About this listen

 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.Copyright 2020 All rights reserved. Art Literary History & Criticism World
Episodes
  • Dinner with King Tut audiobook preview

    Dinner with King Tut audiobook preview
    Jun 24 2025
    preorder hardcover copies of MY NEW BOOK, Dinner with King Tut, for a 20 percent discount at this link only: bit.ly/dinnerwithkingtut. Use offer code “spoon”. This offer will EXPIRE SOON, so take advantage today!
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    28 mins
  • Why Doctors and Scientists Embraced the Nazis

    Why Doctors and Scientists Embraced the Nazis
    May 27 2025
    preorder hardcover copies of MY NEW BOOK, Dinner with King Tut, for a 20 percent discount at this link only: bit.ly/dinnerwithkingtut. Use offer code “spoon”. This offer will EXPIRE SOON, so take advantage today!

    Nazism was a society-wide catastrophe for Germany, but some professions deserve more blame than others. In particular, there was a surprisingly large percentage of doctors and engineers among the Nazis. Sociologists and historians have now worked out why.
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    21 mins
  • Hotter than the Dickens

    Hotter than the Dickens
    May 20 2025

    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.

    preorder hardcover copies of MY NEW BOOK, Dinner with King Tut, for a 20 percent discount at this link only: bit.ly/dinnerwithkingtut. Use offer code “spoon”. This offer will EXPIRE SOON, so take advantage today!
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
All stars
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The content is interesting, entertaining, and makes you eager to learn more. It is a great podcast!

The content is amazing

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Stories are interesting to listen to. short and well read.

Each short episode has an ad in the middle, ad for his other books and his patreon, and an ad at the end for the science and history institute, all of which are said to be necessary in making the podcast happen. I'd rather pay.
There are few weak episodes such as the cancer episode with wild speculation that is outright not how cancer research works.

it's interesting. so many ads

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love the stories.. commercials are extremely annoying. the podcast itself is very well done and much entertaining

great stories.. commercials are annoying

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Interesting topics along with excellent narration/presentation. I am enjoying these stories very much. Definitely recommend.

Things that make you go hmmm 🤔

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