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Episode 5: The Calling

The Calling

Season 4 Episode 5
53:05
When Whales Could Walk

When Whales Could Walk

Season 51 Episode 1
53:31
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Fascinating Fails

How Moldy Bread Can Change Your Brain

Season 1 Episode 8

A grisly medieval plague of holy fire. An experiment gone wrong. And…the CIA? All of these unlikely elements weave together in the story of the accidental discovery that brought us LSD. Plus, why scientists today are studying how psychedelics could be used to treat mental illnesses like depression, addiction, OCD, and more.

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How a Kitchen Mishap Changed Science Forever
16:16
How an accidental seaweed cooking tip went from the kitchen to the laboratory…and then everywhere.
Allergies: Why Does Your Body Hate You?
18:07
Did you know that a completely failed experiment helped us to understand our allergies?
Invasion of the Toxic Toads: Nature's Most Successful Failure
17:20
How do these toads keep failing upward, and what can we do about it?
How To Accidentally Save the World (with Fungus)
19:51
How did a famous lab accident end up saving more than half a billion lives…and is it true?
How Pigeon Poop Helped Unlock the Universe’s Secrets
16:09
Is it bird poop? Is it a bomb? Nope. It’s the Big Bang! A hiss heard only by accident.
How 1800s Parties Discovered Anesthesia
18:51
The only reason we have general anesthesia today is because of a Victorian party drug.
How To Accidentally Invent A Color
18:52
The substance that colors most of our modern world was invented…by accident.
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