What Life Used to Smell Like & How the Telephone Changed Us

You know that uneasy feeling when someone or something gives you the creeps? Is your brain picking up on a hidden danger, or is something else going on? There's some fascinating science behind what makes things creepy and why certain people and situations trigger that feeling. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-creepiness-180957093/

The world doesn't smell the way it used to. Some odors that were once part of everyday life have disappeared, while others have taken their place. But did people in the past actually smell worse than we do today? What did cities and homes smell like centuries ago? And why haven't we figured out how to eliminate unpleasant smells? Will Tullett, a historian and senior lecturer at the University of York, has spent years studying the history of smell. He joins me to reveal how smells have changed over time, how they shape our lives, and why the history of odors is surprisingly fascinating. He is the author of Sniff: A History of Smells (https://link.amazon/B07NVJ7hm).

The telephone used to be attached to a wall, and when it rang, you had no idea who was calling. Now we carry phones everywhere, know who's calling, and often prefer texting to talking. How did we get from there to here? The story is filled with remarkable inventions, colorful characters, and unexpected twists. And along the way, the telephone changed far more than how we communicate. James Gleick, science and technology writer and former writer and editor for The New York Times, joins me to explore how the telephone evolved and transformed our lives. He is the author of The Telephone: A New History (https://link.amazon/B0c7ncuE9).

Why does a paper clip look the way it does? It's such a simple object, yet its familiar design has barely changed in more than a century. Behind that little piece of bent wire is a surprisingly interesting story of clever engineering and competing designs. So why did this particular shape win out? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-paper-clip/

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