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.