Ep 67 - The Paris Catacombs 💀
Anna and Paul discuss skeletons, spooky season, lack of hygiene, the French, protesting, and cannibalism! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Oct 27, 2024•1 hr 3 min
The Engineering History Podcast | Inventions, Builders, Hackers, Projects, and Stories from Our Past
Where engineering and history collide! Join us for rousing, thought-provoking discussions about how what we make reflects who we are.
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Episodes
Ep 66 - The Great Steel Bridge
Anna and Paul welcome Jack Brown to the show to discuss his new book, Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge. We discuss the very first steel structure in the world, the madcap guy who came up with it, and the unlikely story of its construction and continued use to this day! For more info, and to see some great pictures, go to greatsteelbridge.com Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Oct 13, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Ep 65 - Howard Hughes, the Spruce Goose, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the Descent into Madness
Anna and Paul discuss Howard Hughes, aviation, filmmaking, the Spruce Goose, pissing in jars, Kleenex, being a shut-in, mental illness, tragedy, Romaine Street, and the dark side of glamorous lives. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Jul 21, 2024•1 hr 57 min
Ep 64 - How Fibonacci Built Our World
Anna and Paul discuss math, finance, geometry, finance bros, Piza, pizza, New Yawk, the Yankees, and making things accessible to the common man. Note: We refer to the author of "Finding Fibonacci" as “Kevin Devlin.” He is actually Keith Devlin. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :) Further reading: The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution By Keith Devlin Finding Fibonacci: The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who ...
Jun 09, 2024•59 min
Ep 63 - Secret CIA Spy Satellites! (Pt. 2/2)
Anna and Paul discuss the Hexagon and Gambit series of satellites, on-orbit reliability, the struggle of keeping work secrets from family, big gold orbs, classification, declassification, and the mystery of modern-day earth observation. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :) Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORONA_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(rocket_family) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RM-81_Agena https://en.wikipe...
May 26, 2024•38 min
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 :)
May 12, 2024•53 min
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 :)
Apr 28, 2024•35 min
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 :)
Apr 14, 2024•54 min
Ep 59 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Anna and Paul discuss leaning architecture, Italian project management timelines, bells, Anna’s angry 13-year-old-self, history of Italian city-states, the “Holy” “Roman” “Empire,” Napoleon, Galileo’s cannonballs, Brother Cadfael, and thuribles. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Mar 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min
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 :)
Mar 17, 2024•47 min
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 :)
Mar 03, 2024•45 min
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 :)
Feb 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min
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 :)
Jan 21, 2024•1 hr 4 min
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 :)
Jan 07, 2024•1 hr 26 min
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 :)
Dec 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Ep 52 - Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Man
Anna and Paul discuss the polymathic, perplexing, and preternaturally prolific painter whose engineering accomplishments were innovative, frightening, and technically sound. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)
Dec 10, 2023•1 hr 42 min
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 :)
Nov 26, 2023•50 min
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 :)
Nov 12, 2023•1 hr 38 min
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 :)
Oct 29, 2023•1 hr 43 min
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 :)
Oct 15, 2023•55 min
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 :)
Oct 01, 2023•59 min
Ep 46 - The Barcode: A Chat With Its Creator
Anna and Paul welcome Paul McEnroe to the show to discuss his new book, The Barcode: How a Team Created One of the World's Most Ubiquitous Technologies. We discuss how he led a team at IBM to create the barcode technology that cemented the barcode’s ubiquitous use worldwide, advice for young engineers, Anna’s history as a grocery store cashier in the first store to ever get barcodes, Paul M’s contribution to the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and how to have a meaningful career- and life. The Ba...
Sep 17, 2023•1 hr 17 min
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://pod...
Sep 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min
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 :)
Aug 20, 2023•1 hr 12 min
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 :)
Aug 06, 2023•1 hr 14 min
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 :)
Jul 23, 2023•2 hr 56 min
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 :)
Jul 09, 2023•57 min
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 :)
Jun 25, 2023•1 hr 7 min
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!
May 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min
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 :)
Apr 23, 2023•1 hr 50 min
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