The Engineering History Podcast | Inventions, Builders, Hackers, Projects, and Stories from Our Past
By Anna Close and Paul
The Engineering History Podcast | Inventions, Builders, Hackers, Projects, and Stories from Our PastMay 12, 2024
Ep 62 - Secret CIA Spy Satellites! (Pt. 1/2)
Anna and Paul discuss CORONA, Thor, Agena, space doggos, SAMOS, weird clips from The Ingraham Angle, the film bucket, the Dune popcorn bucket, and the Harry Potter Triwizard Tournament egg.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 61 - The Legend of the Pulaski
Anna and Paul discuss firefighting, firebreaks, fire lines, gender reveal parties, ageism, chads vs virgins, and innovating on a classic.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 60 - Forging the Katana
Anna and Paul discuss swords, Miyamoto Mushashi, phase diagrams, Samurai Jack, studying the blade, Ghost Dog, Guinness World Records, steel, and dueling.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 59 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Ep 58 - What Made Apollo a Success?
Anna and Paul discuss the lessons of the Apollo program, Little Joe, how to think about change and the lessons from previous projects, cruel summers, 8 Mile, and how to write the future while learning from the past.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 57 - Three MORE Wacky and Zany Engineering Stories!
Anna and Paul discuss long eggs, being God, gaslighting, “who goes there” style lanterns, Winston Churchill, wackiness, and the true definition of zany!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 56 - Weaving the Dark Web
Anna and Paul discuss the dark web, the deep web, the surface web, Madame Web, TCP/IP, hypertext transfer protocol, wackos, sickos, weirdos, and the nuanced use of dangerous technology.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 55 - PFAS: The Forever Chemical
Anna and Paul discuss microplastics, the EPA, dumping into water supplies, VSauce, when you can say someone did something (legally), The Devil We Know, safe exposure levels, child labor, and how to get rid of contaminants.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 54 - Project Habakkuk: The Iceberg Aircraft Carrier
Anna and Paul discuss icebergs, air superiority, eccentric geniuses, Winston Churchill, the Brits, golf, espionage, ice sleds, escaping prison, and the films of Taika Waititi.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 53 - The Statue of Liberty
Anna and Paul discuss the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Assassin’s Creed, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Banshees of Inisherin, omelet du fromage, repoussé, trusses, and the intersection of art and engineering.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 52 - Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man
Ep 51 - Thomas Crapper and the History of the Toilet
Anna and Paul discuss the history of the toilet, the movie Napoleon, the term "crap," the Cloaca Maxima, mansplaining, clogged plumbing, the next Silicon Valley Unicorn, and much more! Grab your plunger and drain snake and get ready to be flushed away on this fun adventure!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 50 - Henry Ford's Crazy Amazon Adventure
Anna and Paul discuss groundbreaking industrial achievements, intractable environmental challenges, mind-boggling arrogance, disease, riches, pests, soyboys, control, Winston Churchill, freedom, and Hank the Deuce in an episode that will have you swimming through the Amazon’s labyrinthine waters with us.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 49 - Chernobyl
Anna and Paul discuss tragedy, sacrifice, chemistry, nuclear physics, innovative solutions, and bureaucracy.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 48 - The Gregorian Calendar
Anna and Paul discuss the Gregorian calendar, the Roman Empire, time being an illusion, the Pareto Principle, conspiracy theories, date drifting, Romulus, Remus, and Easter.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 47 - Three Spooky and Zany Engineering Stories
Anna and Paul discuss sandstone construction, geotechnical engineering, ghosts, demons, communicating with the spirit world, the first form of waterproof building construction, and some unorthodox building materials. Come on in for a zany mix of concrete and ethereal!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 46 - The Barcode: A Chat With Its Creator
The Barcode is now available for preorder and releases September 19. You can get it wherever you get your books.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 45 - The Great Wall of China (feat. Kelli from APHOUT)
Anna, Paul, and special guest co-host Kelli Beard discuss the Great Wall of China, the Mongols(!!!), the movie 300, agrarian vs nomadic societies, the boy who cried wolf, fun alternate histories, and whether or not the wall really did anything at all.
Kelli's podcast, A Popular History of Unpopular Things (APHOUT), is one of our favorites! It's a podcast that makes history more fun and accessible- featuring all things gory, gross, mysterious, and bloody disgusting! Check it out here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-popular-history-of-unpopular-things/id1645774647
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 44 - Tales of the Telegraph
Anna and Paul discuss the the telegraph, online love, t-posing on the haters, sauerkraut, chat rooms, ciphers, codes, not understanding new technology, and the Wheatstone bridge. Grab your casserole pans and join us on Telegraph Hill!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 43 - Ada Lovelace: The World's First Programmer
Anna and Paul discuss the Matriarch of Computer Science, Ada Lovelace, as well as computers, Gary Vaynerchuk, programming structures, Gran Torino, Lord Byron, and poetry. Listen in for an unexpectedly wide-reaching convo touching literature, STEM, and innovation!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 42 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, The Manhattan Project, and the Atomic Bomb
Anna and Paul discuss the complex, triumphant, and tragic life of the genius atomic physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Grab your plutonium and let's saddle up a horse to New Mexico!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 41 - Three Wacky and Fun Engineering Stories
Anna and Paul discuss petty revenge, cat AIDS, the ASPCA, engineering ethics, living foot warmers, badly done taxidermy, and annoying Roman children in this collection of 3 zany stories from engineering history.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 40 - Alan Turing and the Enigma Machine
Anna and Paul discuss probability theory, secret Nazi codes, Jurassic Park, tuberculosis, the first vegan, and sacrificing everything for your country in a deep podcast. Grab your code-breaking manual and let's head into the trenches of World War II!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 39 - The Saturn V
Anna and Paul discuss the world's greatest rocket, the Saturn V. Grab your fins, cryogenic stage, and command module and let's beat the commies to the moon!
Ep 38 - Rosalind Franklin and the Mystery of DNA
Anna and Paul discuss the tangled web surrounding the discovery of the helical structure of DNA. Grab your x-ray crystallography lab equipment and get ready to publish someone else's research cause we're going on a crazy ride from the UK to Paris!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 37 - The Battle of Alesia (feat. Kelli Beard of A Popular History of Unpopular Things)
Anna, Paul, and special guest Kelli discuss the climactic military engagement of the Gallic Wars, which involved military engineering, battle tactics, death and destruction. Grab your legionary armor and let's ride into battle!
Kelli's podcast, A Popular History of Unpopular Things (APHOUT), is one of our favorites! It's a podcast that makes history more fun and accessible- featuring all things gory, gross, mysterious, and bloody disgusting! Check it out here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-popular-history-of-unpopular-things/id1645774647
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 36 - The Night Witches and the Polikarpov Po-2
Anna and Paul discuss the crack coven of pilots that comprised the Soviet Union’s 588th Night Bomber Regiment. Grab your witch hat and cauldron because we’re bubblin’, toilin’, and troublin’ our way to the Eastern Front! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 35 - Katherine Johnson: Calculating the Trajectory of NASA's Space Program
Anna and Paul discuss NASA, NACA, Hidden Figures, overcoming adversity, and earning respect in a system stacked against you. Grab a notepad and check our math as we explore the insane career of NASA’s most accomplished Computer!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 34 - George Washington Carver: The Black Leonardo
Anna and Paul discuss the misunderstood agricultural genius who, despite being born into slavery, brought the American South back from the edge of ecological ruin.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 33 - Why Your Train Doesn't Crash
Anna and Paul discuss the early days of trains, transportation innovations, struggling against an oppressive system, exploitation, and the future of motion. Grab your conductor hat and hop on this loco-motive!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 32 - Marie van Brittan Brown and Modern Home Security
Anna and Paul discuss home security, amateur engineering turned into innovation, patents, Jamaica, Black History Month, and immigrant kids from Little Italy.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 31 - Flooding the Streets of Sacramento
Anna and Paul discuss levees, dams, the private ownership of water infrastructure, funny names, the gold rush, and the truly massive amount of destruction that water can unleash.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 30 - The SR-71 Blackbird
Anna and Paul discuss the legendary SR-71 Blackbird, a stealth plane with a truly mind-boggling amount of brilliant engineering behind it. Listen in as they discuss spying on the Soviet Union, radar cross-sections, the band U-2, the plane U-2, and the hazards of welding titanium!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 29 - A "Deep Dive" Into NASA's Secret Dolphin Experiments
Anna and Paul discuss communicating with extraterrestrials, dolphin intelligence, LSD, Carl Sagan, the difference between UPenn and Penn State, and the odds of intelligent life existing in our universe.
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 28 - Engineer Tier Rankings 2022
Anna and Paul discuss and rank the engineers, builders, inventors, artists, poets, heroes, and villains who appeared on the Engineering History Podcast in 2022. Favorites like Marie Curie, Jack Parsons, and Queen Hat all make appearances. Come with us to see which of our colorful cast of characters can claim the coveted S Tier ranking!
(Note- due to technical issues we were unable to post the video. We apologize and will get it next time.)
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 27 - The Engineer Who Saved Christmas
Anna and Paul discuss Christmas, the joys of the holiday season🎅, toy manufacturing, world records, magic, the wartime economy and supply chain, fun, wonderment, the Great War, Christmas cookies, and much more in a little-known Christmas story that will leave your heart warmed and your fancy tickled this holiday season!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 26 - How Engineers Solved London's Great Stink
Anna and Paul discuss London’s sewer system, beautiful pump stations, the beauty of egg-shaped pipes, Michael Faraday, A Tale of Two Cities, sanitation, and Charles Dickens in an action-packed episode!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 25 - The Real Jon Snow
Anna and Paul discuss epidemiology, stubborn but incorrect scientific theories, Keanu Reeves in the movie Point Break, the song Something in the Way by Nirvana, and the man who single-handedly figured out London's 19th-century cholera outbreak.
Ep 24 - Wood pt. 2
Anna, Paul, and returning guest Joe discuss ancient shipbuilding, American timber framing, Gobekli Tepe, everybody’s favorite composite, and the future of sustainable wood construction!
Ep 23 - Computers & History w/ Dag Spicer
Anna and Paul travel to Palo Alto to speak with Dag Spicer, senior curator of the Computer History Museum, the world's leading museum of computing. They discuss the early days of Silicon Valley, Alan Turing, the first commercial PC, using AI to unroll fragile scrolls, the digital dark age, the movie Airplane, Better Call Saul, and much more!
Follow @computerhistory on Instagram to keep up with the Computer History Museum, and follow @engineering_history_podcast to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 22 - Who Invented Bitcoin?
Anna and Paul discuss a caper that’s gripped online sleuths for over a decade, involving networking, anarchism, cryptography, reclusive engineers, scam artists, paranoia, and monetary policy!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 21 - Wood
Anna, Paul, and returning guest Joe discuss Alaskan prepper cabins, augurs, Roman furniture, where to go on first dates in Oakland, Egyptian pyramids, trusses, cave paintings, and much more in a comprehensive look at wood's central role in engineering!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 20 - The Curse of the Winchester Rifle
Anna and Paul discuss ruthless businessmen, firearms, ghosts, a trick house, the Irish Republican Army, synchronized firing, the witching hour, and much more in this action-packed episode! Come listen to us celebrate spooky szn 🎃 as we discuss engineering's most haunted family!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 19 - Yale's Doctor of Mind Control
Anna and Paul discuss the man who was using electrical engineering to control the brains of cats, dogs, and even humans in the 1950s! Too wild to be true? Listen in to find out!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 18 - Gone With a Flash
Anna and Paul discuss the life and mysterious disappearance of the inventor of the motion picture camera. Grab your 16-lens camera, abandon your family in NYC, and come with us as we unravel this grim caper!
Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Ep 17 - Tales of AI
Anna and Paul discuss offensive teenagers, the Bongcloud Attack, Tesla, artificially generated poetry, Google Glass, and much more in an action-packed episode on the weird and wacky developments from the world of AI! Tune your audio receptors in to our dissection of deep learning, driving, and DALL-E.
Ep 16 - Un-"Lock" the History of the Panama Canal
Anna and Paul discuss the project that united Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Teddy Roosevelt, and Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame)! Put on your mosquito netting because we're going to be surviving malaria, monsoons, and malnutrition to get this one done.
Ep 15 - Space Nukes
Anna and Paul discuss crazy billionaires, presidential gaffes, dumb test names, McNukes, holes in the ozone layer, and much more in a rousing, thought-provoking discussion of humanity's capability to unleash destruction on a mind-boggling scale.
Ep 14 - Operation Pluto
Anna and Paul discuss WWII Great Britain's plan to supply their troops with hot, fresh oil, piping it directly to them using a pipeline located under the frigid waters of the English Channel. Listen in to hear how they solved a real "conundrum!"
Ep 13 - Trains Rule, Cars Drool!
Anna, Paul, and special guest Joe discuss the Bay Area metro, BART, and how it serves as a case study for reliable, cheap public transportation. Grab your conductor hat and fire up your engine cause we're taking a ride through a submerged underwater tube at 80 miles per hour!