Chemists may know James Harris as the first Black scientist to be credited with codiscovering an element. In fact, we referenced this in a previous episode of Stereo Chemistry about making superheavy elements. But beyond this memorable factoid, details about the accomplished nuclear chemist are scarce, and most sources repeat the same superficial information. Kristen Frederick-Frost, curator of modern science at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, wants to change that. After discovering that the museum's database lacked material on Harris, she scoured archival records and sought out former colleagues, friends, and family members to fill in details of his life and career. In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen and special guest Dr. Darryl Boyd join Frederick-Frost to explore James Harris's story beyond the discoveries that made him famous. And we even get an unexpected peek into his lab, courtesy of the US National Archives. Boyd, a polymer chemist, previously researched James Harris while writing a short article for C&EN's "Black Chemists You Should Know About." A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/37P0qpY.

Image credit: Steve Gerber/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory © 2010 The Regents of the University of California, through the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Music credit: "Just Enough for a Heartbeat" by Roy Young Contact Stereo Chemistry by emailing [email protected].

Helium shortages can derail research and threaten expensive instruments that depend on the gas to operate safely. In late 2020, analysts predicted—and we reported—that pressures on the global helium market were likely to ease as new production capacity came online. Today, helium users are again facing price spikes and limited supplies, driven by a variety of factors including political instability in Europe and technical malfunctions at key suppliers. In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN industrial gas reporter Craig Bettenhausen explains how we ended up here again and how the outlook for the global helium market has evolved. A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/3tBSGzF.

For more background about where helium comes from, why it's so important to science, and what happens when you can't get enough of it, check out our October 2020 podcast episode, How helium shortages have changed science. Image credit: Boris Steinberg, Johns Hopkins Chemistry Music credit: "How Did I Get Here" by Sean Solo Contact Stereo Chemistry by emailing [email protected].

Being a chemistry professor is a juggling act. But sometimes professors have too many balls in the air. How do they know which ones to grab and which to let drop? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN's Leigh Krietsch Boerner sits down with organic chemists Sarah Reisman and Melanie Sanford to hear how they decide what projects to work on, what sparks joy for them in the lab, and what being an organic chemist really means to them.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

Sign up for C&EN's Selling Your Science: The Art of Science Communication at cenm.ag/sciencecommunication. Contact Stereo Chemistry by emailing [email protected]. Image credit: Will Ludwig/C&EN/Lance Hayashida/University of Michigan

Imagine you're an atmospheric chemist. There's a pandemic. And public health officials release information about how the virus spreads from one person to another—information that directly contradicts your knowledge of how tiny particles move in the air. What do you do? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, Jose-Luis Jimenez and Kimberly Prather talk to C&EN editor Jyllian Kemsley about how they've handled that situation over the past 2 years. They share their frustrations with public health officials along with the heartbreak and rewards of communicating science with the general public, and what they plan to take from their experiences as they think about their research going forward.

A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/3rzzCzI.

Sign up for C&EN's Selling Your Science: The Art of Science Communication at cenm.ag/sciencecommunication. Contact Stereo Chemistry: [email protected]

Image credit: Will Ludwig/C&EN/Mariana Pereira (Jimenez)/Erik Jepsen/University of California San Diego (Prather)

How do we build water systems that are sustainable and also equitable? On this episode of Stereo Chemistry, Jessica Ray and William Tarpeh talk with C&EN reporter Katherine Bourzac about how they use their chemical engineering know-how to develop simple systems for filtering toxic chemicals from our water and harvesting useful chemicals from urine. They also discuss finding ways to thrive as assistant professors and building support networks as Black junior faculty.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3pggyGU.

Sign up for C&EN's weekly newsletter at bit.ly/chemnewsletter. Contact us: [email protected]

Image credit: Will Ludwig/C&EN/University of Washington/Courtesy of William Tarpeh

What motivates a creative scientific mind? How does an accomplished scientist pinpoint new subjects to explore? How is the field of chemical biology evolving? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we probe those questions with scientists and serial entrepreneurs David Liu and Stuart Schreiber, both pioneers in developing tools that use chemistry to explore biology.

A transcript of this episode and links to past C&EN coverage of David Liu and Stuart Schreiber are available at bit.ly/3D4L4HB.

Read Stuart Schreiber's Harvard Magazine article about discovering his family's secrets at https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2019/07/dna-testing-schreiber

Sign up for C&EN's weekly newsletter at bit.ly/chemnewsletter. Image credit: Will Ludwig/C&EN/Beam Therapeutics/Stuart Schreiber

Stereo Chemistry's new season will launch on Nov. 23, featuring eight chemistry greats in conversation with . . . each other. In each episode, two sensational chemists will pair up for in-depth conversations moderated by a C&EN reporter. Listen now as show host Kerri Jansen reveals the lineup with new Stereo Chemistry team member Attabey Rodríguez Benítez.

Image credit: C&EN/Shutterstock Want to contact Stereo Chemistry? Email [email protected]

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Benjamin List and David W. C. MacMillan for their development of asymmetric organocatalysis, which has proved to be a powerful tool for building molecules. In this special episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen, C&EN reporter Leigh Krietsch Boerner, and C&EN editorial fellow Emily Harwitz delve into the science behind the prize. Merck's Rebecca Ruck also joins the Stereo Chemistry crew to weigh in on how organocatalysis has impacted drug development.

An edited transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/2WOGCNR.

Read more about the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry in Leigh Krietsch Boerner's article on the prize at bit.ly/3iD0hs2.

Image credit: © Frank Vinken (List); Princeton University, Department of Chemistry, © Todd Reichart (MacMillan)

This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing an episode of Third Pod from the Sun, a podcast from the American Geophysical Union, featuring an interview with retired astronaut and former professional athlete Leland Melvin. In the episode, Melvin describes how an early⁠—and explosive⁠—interest in chemistry grew into a scientific career at NASA and two missions to the International Space Station.

Find more stories from Third Pod from the Sun at thirdpodfromthesun.com, Apple podcasts, and wherever you get podcasts.

Image credit: Courtesy of Third Pod from the Sun/C&EN

This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing an episode of Orbitals that features an interview with forensic chemist Shari Forbes, an expert in human decomposition who studies the odors of decomposition at a body farm in chilly Quebec. Research at body farms—research facilities dedicated to studying what happens to human bodies after death—supplies law enforcement with valuable information about the process of decomposition in various scenarios. A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/3jdvLFN.

Find more stories from Orbitals on the American Chemical Society's website, acs.org, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Image credit: Courtesy of Orbitals/C&EN