The course of World War II, the development of successful cancer treatment, and just being able to go outside without fear all come down to one thing: the humble Penicillium fungus. Maren tells Greg a tale of accidental discoveries, fungal espionage, and the daunting potential future of medicine without this life-saving substance. 

Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant 
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The Fungus that Shaped the World

A science history podcast uncovering the little-known stories and less-talked-about people behind well-known science & tech. Written & Hosted by Maren Hunsberger & Greg Foot for Seeker

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Science

Time travel? Aliens? Seeing the invisible? This special episode’s tale from science history has them all as Maren takes Greg down the long and winding road science took to understand what is perhaps the most perplexing object in the universe: the black hole.
Special thanks to the John Templeton Foundation for their support in making this episode possible. Learn more at Templeton.org.
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The Impossible Picture

Introducing a new podcast from our friends at Atlassian, the makers of teamwork software like Jira, Confluence, and Trello: ‘Work Check’ brings you fun and fiery debates over today's trendiest workplace practices, from dogfooding to agile at scale, asynchronous collaboration to ERGs.

In this episode, host Christine Dela Rosa asks Is there a shortcut to innovative ideas? 

Joined by debaters Shannon Winter and Kelvin Yap, they argue whether hackathons really are good for business. Are they a pressure cooker for out-of-the-box thinking, or just a recipe for half-baked ideas?
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Introducing: Work Check

The man who changed our understanding of disorders of the brain was a man who couldn't recognize faces himself. He was a man who saw music as a therapeutic tool, who broke all the existing rules for how to talk to and about patients, and who made us all feel a little more human. Maren tells Greg the amazing true story of Oliver Sacks.

This episode is made possible thanks to HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. ‘Oliver Sacks: His Own Life’ is available to stream on PBS for a limited time: https://to.pbs.org/3xngwPJ

Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant
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The Helplessly Human Doctor

One bean has changed the world in unexpected ways, and the man behind it was even more extraordinary. This is the story of a man whose genius shone against all odds, how his discoveries shaped much of our modern world, and the science that he could have done...if society had let him. Maren introduces Greg to Percy Julian.

Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant
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The Lifesaving Bean

Vaccines. They're a big topic of conversation right now. But who discovered them? Who gave the first one? And what was the rather effective method around for hundreds of years before them?? Greg tells Maren a (rather gross) story of pus, pox parties, and… cuckoos? It's a tale that travels from China, through Turkey, to a small town in Gloucestershire, and asks if the ‘father of immunology’ - Edward Jenner - really earned that title.

Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant
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The Fungus that Shaped the World

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