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The Episodic Table of Elements

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

T. R. Appleton

Many episodes have incorporated geology, but this one is more about geography. (And amateur nuclear science.)

95. Americium: Mundus Novus

Element 94 causes a bit of a crisis for our collections.

94. Plutonium: Weapons-Grade

To the person who said, "the episodes are never too long," I'm terribly sorry.

93. Neptunium: Great Expectations

♪ O chemistry, o chemistry, the study of all matter ♫

The Episodic Table Of Elements Holiday Special

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

We just can't seem to stop chasing the sweet, sweet taste of element 82.

82. Lead: Irrational Self-Interest

In which we learn how reading mystery novels might very well save a life.

81. Thallium: It Rides A Pale Horse

Even if you hate tuna, have flawless teeth, and only use digital thermometers, humans have historically not been shy about getting a mouthful of mercury.

80. Mercury: Fatally Toxic And Probably In Your Mouth

All other metals step aside, because today we deal with the king of elements.

79. Gold: Lump Sum

Sometimes, being set in stone isn't permanent enough.

78. Platinum: A Tous Les Temps, A Tous Les Peuples

Alvarez noticed a great disturbance in the rocks, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

77. Iridium: T. Rex And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This entire episode serves as cautionary advice to anyone seeking to add osmium to their element collection.

76. Osmium: It Stinks!

Witness an incredible, unbreakable bond between two who couldn't be more alike. We'll also learn about a married couple.

75. Rhenium: A Love Of Two Brains

All right, everybody settle down. Welcome to the weekly meeting of the National Association Of W Lovers.

74. Tungsten: What Is The Atom We Love?

Once more, the periodic table drags us to hell -- this time by way of ancient Greece.

73. Tantalum: Mystery Meat

The science suggests hafnium can't be used to create a gamma ray bomb, but that won't stop the U.S. government from trying.

72. Hafnium: The Isomer Bomb

Let us ensure we remember the lanthanide series before we leave it behind once and for all.

71. Lutetium: Swampland Centaurs

When Johann Bottger failed to turn lead into gold, porcelain made a pretty good consolation prize.

70. Ytterbium: White Gold

We'll go to the land of the ice and snow... and figure out exactly where that is, too.

69. Thulium: Out Of The Way

Element 68 plays an important role in stitching together the World Wide Web -- for better or for worse.

68. Erbium: Hyperlink

Holmium: Equally beloved by theoretical physicists and Jedi Knights.

67. Holmium: This Magnet Moment

You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a windmill, baby, right round round round.

66. Dysprosium: Hard To Get

For more than one reason, element 65 makes the short list of "most annoying elements."

65. Terbium: The Joy of Tedium

Like Luke Skywalker, today's tale takes a farmboy to greatness.

64. Gadolinium: Three Wise Men

As element collectors, may we all one day be as fortunate as Frank Harold Spedding.

63. Europium: The Age Of Enlightenment

We hear all sorts of incredible stories on this podcast, but today we'll meet the most unbelievable character of all time: A friendly bureaucrat.

62. Samarium: Eponymous Honorarium

We've met mythological light-bearers before, but this one possesses a decidedly nobler spirit.

61. Promethium: What A Friend We Have In Prometheus

Decades of complex geopolitical chaos ultimately result in one afternoon's rather embarrassing hospital visit.

60. Neodymium: Anarchy And Order

Sometimes, the most interesting aspect of an element has nothing to do with chemistry at all.

59. Praseodymium: Grandiloquent Sesquipedalianism

It's the most common flint you'll find, except it's not actually flint at all.

58. Cerium: Light My Fire

Let's uncover element 57, and find out why the "rare earths" are neither rare nor earths nor an empire.

57. Lanthanum: Hidden In Plain Sight

When you really want to suck all the air out of a room, barium will help you out.

56. Barium: Glow-Getter

We'll trace the history of the most important caesium-based technology all the way back to its original roots: a stick.

55. Caesium: A Brief History Of Time

Truly strange things start to happen when you breathe this rarefied air.

54. Xenon: Ignoble Gas

We'll pull in our elemental haul from the sea while Lady Jane Davy spits in the ocean.

53. Iodine: Purple Haze

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

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

51. Antimony: Can You Return An Inheritance?

We've palled around with tin for thousands of years, but you should know that it's a fair-weather friend.

50. Tin: Your Metal Pal Who’s Fun To Be With

The story of indium is pretty straightforward, but its namesake is practically impossible to pin down.

49. Indium: The Spectre Of Isaac

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?

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

For some people, rhodium's most important aspect is its high price. For others, it's absolutely priceless.

45. Rhodium: The Most Precious Metal

Element 44 is technically not named for Russia... but perhaps it should be.

44. Ruthenium: The Glow Cloud

It's only after we gave up searching for this element that we found it out in the universe.

43. Technetium: Naturally Synthetic

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

42. Molybdenum: Conventional Weapons

We delve into elemental etymology today, and get to investigate a chemical phenomenon.

41. Niobium: No More Tears

Today, we reach the last element on the periodic table -- but only alphabetically speaking.

40. Zirconium: Burning Up, Melting Down

Welcome to the sleepy Swedish town of Ytterby. I hope you like it, because we'll be spending an awful lot of time there later in the series.

39. Yttrium: It’s A Quiet Village

Let's look past the bad reputation this element has to learn how it's an essential part of an idyllic childhood.

38. Strontium: Little Town

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?

Like argon, today's noble gas coincidentally features prominently in science fiction -- albeit in name only. But krypton also takes a place in the science factual story of international weights and measures.

36. Krypton: It’s A Metric

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

Throughout history, copying information has been arduous, messy, and even dangerous -- until one bored, depressed man figured out the secrets of selenium.

34. Selenium: A Fit Of Heat And Light

Considering how synonymous this episode's element is with "poison," it's shocking how eager people have historically been to ingest the stuff.

33. Arsenic: It’s Not Easy Being Green

Silicon gets all the press, but germanium was the real trailblazer of the Information Age.

32. Germanium: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Meet one of the periodic table's lesser-known liquid metals -- and beware some dangerous competition from a few felonious element collectors.

31. Gallium: The Wet Bandits

Learn about some of Italy's most renowned chemists and how they inspired a most gruesome quest to conquer death.

30. Zinc: The Lecture Circuit

We get lost in the woods with a couple of little guys in today's episode, and learn about a lesser-known American Civil War.

29. Copper: Wires Crossed

From religion to money to politics, nickel finds itself at the center of all kinds of awkward conversations.

28. Nickel: Face Value

Cobalt is a tricksy little element, which means the scientists who've dealt with it the most are some of the cleverest people to have ever walked the Earth.

27. Cobalt: Mischief Managed

Is iron a metal that's more valuable than gold, or are we forever trapped in its "hated shadow?"

26. Iron: As Above, So Below

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

25. Manganese: Undercover Operations

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

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

23. Vanadium: Beauty In The Background

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

From jet fighters to sporting events to Low Earth Orbit, scandium seems to find itself at the center of conflict.

21. Scandium: Spoiling For A Fight

Stories of turning flesh to stone -- and vice versa -- are common in mythology. With calcium, we see how those same transitions can happen in the real world.

20. Calcium: Stone and Bone

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

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

18. Argon: More Than Meets The Eye

Chlorine is an element that causes some extreme reactions, and occasionally inspires some pretty extreme reactions in humans, too.

17. Chlorine: Too High Or Too Low, There Ain’t No In-Betweens

From Vulcan to vultures, today's element brings stories of unintended consequences.

16. Sulfur: No Mistakes, Only Happy Accidents

The history of phosphorus is largely a tale of people getting their hands dirty. Very, very dirty.

15. Phosphorus: Dealing With The Devil

From prehistoric times right through today, our hand-held tools have been made of silicon.

14. Silicon: Tool Of All Trades

Listen to some of the pointless arguments caused by element 13, and take a look at the argument-filled history of one sharp aluminum point.

13. Aluminium: War Of The Words

Magnesium makes for quite a fireworks display, whether inside your body or out.

12. Magnesium: White Light/White Heat

Turns out ancient sages and seers might've actually known a thing or two. Also, is there a good reason for sodium's chemical symbol? Na.

11. Sodium: What’s In Na?

Neon may no longer be "the new one," but it might have a better claim to the name than any other element on the periodic table.

10. Neon: A Sign Of The Times

Just *try* to tally the body count behind the periodic table's most reactive element, then learn why you should drink it.

9. Fluorine: Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright

Element 8 brings us two different stories about a population that gets a little too swept up in the latest craze, happening to commit mass murder in the process.

8. Oxygen: Take What You Can Get

Today we meet one man who's responsible for the death of millions -- and the survival of billions.

7. Nitrogen: Taking The Good With The Bad

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

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

5. Boron: Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?

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

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

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 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

In our inaugural episode, we'll cover the creation of the periodic table before we start exploring each element one-by-one.

0. Everything The Light Touches

Wondering what sorts of things you might here on The Episodic Table of Elements? I've produced this brief teaser so you can get an idea of what kinds of stories you'll hear.