America's worst radioactive accident isn't Three Mile Island, and the Nazi nuclear physicist wasn't assassinated by the famous baseball player.

92. Uranium: Two Untold Tales (Live At Harvard)

Sometimes we need a quiet moment in order to step back and look at the bigger picture.

91. Protactinium: Decolonize Science

Sure, thorium could provide practically limitless clean energy, but then we couldn't build weapons of mass destruction.

90. Thorium: Bright Lights, Big City

We all know that radioactive rocks glow in the dark, except they actually don't, except for when they actually do.

89. Actinium: The Windup… And The Pitchblende

Out of all the characters who encounter radium in this episode, the only one to emerge unscathed is the guy who comes face-to-face with Satan.

88. Radium: Several Sordid Affairs

You don't have to have a degree to do science, but it helps.

87. Francium: Nothing To Do With Cats

You know something's amiss when you set off the radiation alarms while walking in to the nuclear power plant.

86. Radon: It’s Coming From Inside The House

The story of astatine takes us to Alabama, Dacca, Romania, Vienna, and California, but definitely not Switzerland.

85. Astatine: Pathological Science

Sadly, it's no longer possible to purchase this lethally radioactive element for fifteen cents and a cereal boxtop.

84. Polonium: The Distinguished Alumna Of Warsaw’s Flying University

The periodic table shows the natural patterns and trends among the elements. Bismuth does not abide.

83. Bismuth: The Friendly Oddball

A chemistry podcast about the fascinating true stories behind each element on the periodic table.

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The Episodic Table of Elements

As we investigate our first element, we'll meet warring balloonists, witness mass media's first major tragedy, and see how the tiniest mistake can cost a lot of money. Plus, we'll try to pin down where hydrogen belongs on the periodic table.

1. Hydrogen: Close To The Sun

Before we talk about one big gun, let's discuss 1,500 years of military technology.

42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons

Titanium is an element valued as much for its beauty as its strength -- provided you can find a genuine sample of the stuff.

22. Titanium: Dignity Over Dentures

We cautiously approach this explosively reactive element and learn about its surprising ability to stabilize moods, with a brief foray into Bolivian economics along the way.

3. Lithium: The Element Of Surprise

Circle

Learn why carbon is the foundation of all life on Earth as we investigate a chemist's suicide, death by air pollution, and one very, very cold murder case.

6. Carbon: The Circle Of Life

Helium

This week, we try to interact with helium, even though it really doesn't want to. Plus, we explore the occult side of chemistry as described by the theosophists.

2. Helium: Above All That

As we try to dive deep into beryllium, we discover its irritating tendency to send us back to the beginning.

4. Beryllium: The Modern Sisyphus

From freeways to firefights to unfathomable depths, vanadium can often be found quietly doing the hardest work.

23. Vanadium: Beauty In The Background

Collecting elements can be risky business. Tellurium is one of those elements that poses a dire threat -- not to one's health, but to the element collector's reputation in polite society.

52. Tellurium: To Hell You Ride

Silver is more than just a precious metal. It's also a reflection of ourselves.

47. Silver: Our Own Image

Those people who've been involved with palladium's history seem to harbor a dubious predilection for stretching the truth.

46. Palladium: The Old Razzle Dazzle

Cadmium will let you choose among a range of orange-ish hues, but it's some pretty awful news if you contract the "cadmium blues."

48. Cadmium: Don’t You Know That You’re Toxic?

From giant prehistoric sharks to clandestine Cold War projects, manganese is an element that has concealed a lot of secrets.

25. Manganese: Undercover Operations

Rubidium is more explosive than the alkali metals above it on the table, but it's much more interesting when it's standing almost perfectly still.

37. Rubidium: What’s Cooler Than Being Cool?

Today, we look past boron's hard exterior to get to know its softer side. Its confusing, gooey, softer side.

5. Boron: Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?

It's like an Everlasting Gobstopper, but Willy Wonka is a fratricidal German monk.

51. Antimony: Can You Return An Inheritance?

Today's element gets called "lazy," but that's actually a terrible misnomer.

18. Argon: More Than Meets The Eye

There's no avoiding discussing the banana in this episode, even though it really doesn't deserve its strong association with Element 19.

19. Potassium: An Undeserved Reputation

Don't get too excited, because bromine is an element that brings the hammer down on both extreme emotions and extreme actions.

35. Bromine: Come At Me

It might be tempting to speed right on by, but it's worth stopping for a moment to gaze at element 24.

24. Chromium: I’ll Be Your Mirror

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