Hamilton, Lafayette, and a Long-Lost Letter

Guest: Joanne B. Freeman, Professor of History and American Studies, Yale University, and leading expert on Alexander Hamilton

If you’ve heard the soundtrack from the smash hit musical “Hamilton,” you know that the character of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington’s “right-hand man” as the song goes, is unhappy being stuck with a desk job. His character wants to “fight, not write.” But Washington’s character insists, and the other characters, Marquis de Lafayette, John Laurens, and Hercules Mulligan have to agree that Hamilton’s “skill with the quill is undeniable.” Well, there’s been another drama of sorts lately, as one of Hamilton’s letters, written on behalf of General Washington--a letter which had been stolen from the Massachusetts Archive way back in the ‘30s or ‘40s, turned up recently. 

Man’s Best Friend Takes on Man’s Worst Enemy

Guest: Thomas Quinn, Clinical Professor, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

Dogs might be more than man’s best friend.  According to researchers, they can be trained to identify cancer-ridden blood to a 97%-degree of accuracy, using their noses. With their help, we may even be able to translate this incredible olfactory ability into an over-the-counter cancer test.

The Apple Seed: Deals With the Devil

Guest: Sam Payne

Sam stops by with warning stories about selling your soul. 

What to Do With a North Atlantic Seal Who Turns Up in Bermuda

Guest:  Janelle Schuh, Animal Rescue Program Manager, Mystic Aquarium

Bermuda residents were shocked when a gray seal, 1000 miles from home, washed up on their subtropical shorelines. Janelle Shuh of Mystic Aquarium oversaw Lou-Seal's lengthy rehabilitation and sent her swimming home to the north Atlantic. 

Learn more about Mystic's rehab work here.

You've Got the Wrong Guy. It’s Acetaminophen, Not Vaccines

Guest: William Parker, Professor of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine

Acetaminophen seems harmless enough. We’ve used it for ages. If someone told you that it caused autism in children, you might laugh them off as a strange stem of the anti-vaccine movement. You’d laugh until you saw the data....

The Loudest Creature In the Ocean Is . . . An Iceberg?

Guest: Robert Dziak, Director, Acoustic Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Robert Dziak has been studying ocean soundscapes for nearly 20 years. Dziak was there when a mysterious, unexplained ocean sound louder than any previously recorded was caught by NOAA researchers, and he was there when the inevitable sea monster theories were debunked 10 years later.