There’s now an easy way to download as many of the archived episodes as you like of this podcast. Just click here and download the mp3 files you’ll see listed there.
Enjoy!
Posted in podcasts on April 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
There’s now an easy way to download as many of the archived episodes as you like of this podcast. Just click here and download the mp3 files you’ll see listed there.
Enjoy!
Posted in podcasts on October 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
From this date (15 Oct.) forward, if you want to download episodes of the Missing Link, please e-mail me, and I will be happy to send them to you. I am no longer maintaining the account where the audio files were housed.
Posted in podcasts, tagged fibromyalgia, history, history of medicine, medicine, pain, podcast on August 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »

This month, guest Daniel Goldberg gives a provocative look into the world of pain without lesion. How do – and should – doctors handle patients’ pain when there’s no visible cause?
Guest essay – Daniel S. Goldberg, “Where Does It Hurt?”
for further reading:
On the Shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged asylums, britain, children, China, devon, england, gosse, health, history, history of medicine, history of technology, insanity, madness, medicine, on location, technology on July 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Today we alight in Devonshire, England. The beaches in this gorgeous, southwestern coastal county have long been a major summer tourist destination. In this episode, we’ll learn about how Devon’s seaside resorts transformed from health spas into centers of epidemic disease. We’ll also discover just what kinds of behaviors could land you in the insane asylums of Victorian Devonshire.
This episode is the second in our periodic “On Location” series. (Click here for the first episode in this series, on Berlin.)
For further reading:
On the shelf:
Other links:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged ambroise pare, China, curiosity, early modern, Greece, history of science, marvels, monsters, science, wonder on June 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Warning: This episode contains frank discussions of human anatomy and some violence.
Ever wondered why wonder is so important in science? We’re taught from an early edge that science is a world of wonder, and encouraged to indulge our natural curiosity as a first step to achieving scientific rationality. Today, we’ll investigate the fascinating history of wonder, including times when wonder was not in fashion and times when it led grown men to kick old women in the stomach. (Yes, you will need to listen to find what that refers to.)
Guest voice: Many thanks to Tim Ralphs of the Room Behind the Bookcase podcast for playing Ambroise Paré.
For further reading:
On the shelf:
Other links:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged children, education, gender, history, literature, popular science, popularization, science, Somerville, Victorian, women on May 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Most of us encounter science through the the world of popular science: the books, TV shows, museum exhibits, kits, and toys that are packaged for general consumption. Today, we explore the early days of mass-produced popular science, particularly the books written for women and children.
Guest essay – Michal Meyer, “No Place for a Lady”
Host essay – “Fun for the Whole Family”
For further reading:
On the shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged astronomy, astrophysics, catholicism, catholics, coyne, creationism, evolution, intelligent design, islam, jews, judaism, muslims, religion, vatican on April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Creationism and intelligent design are widely understood as the province of American Protestants. Today’s episode explores how people in some of the world’s other religious traditions – particularly Jews, Catholics, and Muslims – have positioned themselves in the evolution-intelligent design debate.
First guest essay – Emily Jenkins, “Why Genesis Doesn’t Mean Creationism for (Most) Jews”
Second guest essay – David Squires, “The Jesuits: Between Science and Faith”
For further reading
On the shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged biology, cold war, creationism, education, evolution, history of biology, history of science, intelligent design, religion, second world war, ussr on March 31, 2008 | 2 Comments »
How did the Civil War and the Cold War affect the acceptance of evolution in the United States? Tune in to today’s program to find out. This is the second episode in a three-part series on the history behind the evolution-intelligent design controversy.
First guest essay – Caitlin McShea, “Atomic Bombs and Evolutionary Mushroom Clouds“
Second guest essay – Kate Peteet, “Evolution Is Not a Dirty Word”
For further reading:
On the Shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged creationism, evolution, intelligent design, mclean v. arkansas, philosophy of science, popper, scientific method on February 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This episode inaugurates our series on the history behind the evolution-intelligent design controversy. Today, we examine the deep history of scientific method, and how the rules evolved to the point where intelligent design cannot follow them.
Guest essay – John Burchfield and Shalane Giles, “The Evolution of Scientific Method”
On the Shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.
Posted in podcasts, tagged ancient, astronomy, cosmology, greeks, history of science, inca, inuit, maya, physics, prehistory, south america, time on January 31, 2008 | 3 Comments »
This month, guest essayist Scott Lough concludes his exploration of time’s strange behavior, this time focusing on how early human societies understood and measured it.
Guest essay – Scott Lough, “The Weirdness of Time” (part 2)
On the Shelf:
Audio credits:
All music on this program courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network, except where noted.