On todays episode of the Modern Notion Daily podcast, were talking with Ardis Cameron, author of Unbuttoning America: A Biography of Peyton Place (Cornell University Press, May 2015). Cameron knew the book as a symbol of illicit love affairs and drama, but didnt actually read the novel until she was in her fifties. When she did, she realized it was a window into New England small town life and a precursor to revolutions in womens rights and attitudes toward sexuality that came in the 1960s and 70s. It also says a lot that 1 in 29 Americans bought the book when it came out in 1956. Later in the hour, Emma Bryce tells us about the bikinis atomic origins.

Music this hour:

Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin, performed live by Dorothy Collins

TweedleDee performed live by Dorothy Collins

Peyton Place by Squeeze

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

On todays Modern Notion Daily podcast, were talking with Michael Hiltzik, author of Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex (Simon andamp; Schuster, July 2015). Hiltzik chronicles the life of Lawrence and his machine, the cyclotron (also known as the proton accelerator). This invention, Hiltzik argues, was the beginning of the military-industrial complex and big science. Later in the hour, we replay a story by reporter Daniel A. Gross about the post-World War II life of the cyclotron.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Theme E” by Steve Combs andamp; Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)

The Professors Lab by Christian Bjoerklund, from the album Skapmat

Electron by Podington Bear, from the album Reflective

“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

This hour were talking to Fred Minnick, author of two books about whiskey: Whiskey Women (Potomac Books, October 2013) and Bourbon Curious (Zenith Press, August 2015). After covering a womens military unit in Iraq as a journalist, Minnick was inspired to report on more stories about womens history. In Whiskey Women, he recounts womens roles in the whiskey industry, from the first Sumerian women to brew beer to Marge Samuels, the woman who revolutionized Makers Mark bourbon.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

Railroads Whiskey Co by Jahzzar, from the album Home (Excerpt)

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

On todays show, our guest is Anthony J. Martin, author of Dinosaurs Without Bones: Dinosaur Lives Revealed by Their Trace Fossils (Pegasus, paperback March 2015). Martin is an ichnologist, which means he studies the traces of animals in conjunction with fossils of the animals themselves. This could mean tracks or it could mean puke—and ichnology is a very powerful tool for learning more about ancient creatures. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay casts his doubts about the possibility of a human head transplant in 2017, despite whatever one determined doctor might think.

Music this hour:

Dinosaurs by Simon Panrucker, from the album Smells Like Rap

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

Today on Modern Notion Daily, our guests are Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden, authors of Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology (Crown, July 2015). Al-Khalili, a quantum physicist, and McFadden, a molecular biologist, have teamed up to write the first book on the burgeoning field of quantum biology. The quantum world operates on physical laws totally different from Newtonian physics, which might make you think that it exists completely independently of us. But in reality, quantum biology explains many unexplained phenomena in living beings, from our own sense of smell to the European robins ability to navigate based on the Earths magnetic field. Later in the hour, contributing editor Mark Hay tells us about a truly ghastly phenomenon: mosquito asphyxiation.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“get out” by Jahzzar, from the album Sketches

This hour of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Thomas Trautmann, author of Elephants and Kings: An Environmental History (University of Chicago Press, 2015). Trautmann looks at the fascinating history behind how and why elephants were first tamed for use in battle, from more than two thousand years ago until the Vietnam War. Later in the hour, Mark Hay joins us to give us his top five list of foods to stock up on for the apocalypse.

Music this hour:

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

On todays show, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel joins us to talk about his book, A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, the Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age (William Morrow, June 2015 paperback). Richtel followed the case of Reggie Shaw, who was texting while driving, when he swerved and hit an oncoming car. That crash killed two rocket scientists and brought into focus larger issues about how we interact with technology. Later in the hour, Mark Hay joins us to talk about the video game that is supposed to help with writers block.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“AcidJazz” by Kevin MacLeod, from the album Jazz Sampler

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

On todays show, award-winning journalist Pamela Newkirk talks about her new book, Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga (Amistad/HarperCollins, June 2015). Ota Benga was a young man from the Congo, kidnapped and put on display at the St. Louis Worlds Fair and the Bronx Zoo at the dawn of the 20th century. Newkirk explores how Ota Benga came to be exhibited there and the publics reaction, as well as Bengas long-term legacy. Later in the hour, Mark Hay brings us the story of what may be the earliest form of identity theft.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Private Hurricane (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward, from the album Breadcrumbs

Chance, Luck, Errors in Nature, Destruction As a Finale by Chris Zabriskie, from the album Reappear

On todays episode of Modern Notion Daily, our guest is Peter Moore, author of The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers Who Sought to See the Future (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2015). Before any concerted study of the weather, people didnt understand that it was a global system; it seemed more like random, individual events controlled by the divine. Many people contributed to the modern science of meteorology, but Moore focuses on Robert FitzRoy, who really believed in being able to predict the weather.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar, from the album Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man’s Wishes

On todays show we have two guests. The first is Janet Stephens, a hairdresser turned Roman hairstyle archaeologist. Stephens was inspired when she walked into a museum in Baltimore—it was the first time shed really examined the backs of Roman statues heads. That set her on a quest to figure out how to recreate those styles and set the historical record straight.

And just in time for the big finale of that famous French bicycle race, our second guest is Max Leonard, author of Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France (Pegasus, May 2015). The lanterne rouge is the person who finishes the Tour de France in last place, and that dubious distinction, Leonard argues, is actually quite an honor. The book explores several lanterne rouges throughout history and what each last finishers story says about the Tour de France at that time.

Music this hour:

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Elle va au Japon” by Nic Bommarito, from the album A Quiet Age

“Persian Lamb Rag” by Heftone Banjo Orchestra, from the album Music Box Rag