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Inflection Point

Inflection Point: A time-traveling science history podcast

5/4/20262 min

Take a trip through chemical space and time with C&EN's award-winning podcast: Inflection Point. Our show leans on C&EN's 100-year archive to trace today's headline topics back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, David and Gina explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With help from expert C&EN reporters, this show examines how discoveries from our past have shaped our present and will change our future.

Subscribe to Inflection Point now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Clips

From Frog Legs To Batteries
What The Show Delivers
Time Travel? Why Not

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. David· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] Gina, don't you find it odd how frog legs led to the first ever battery?

  2. Gina· Host0:06

    David, that can't possibly be true.

  3. David· Host0:08

    Or how, like, a spooky deep sea fish gave us Ozempic?

  4. Gina· Host0:11

    Uh, sure. Hey, I would love if the next thing you say isn't totally ridiculous.

  5. David· Host0:16

    All right, Gina, I, I promise. Not only are all these things true- Uh-huh ... but this is just the tip of the Inflection Point iceberg.

  6. Gina· Host0:23

    All right. I trust you, I guess, and I can vouch for the topics at least. In our show, we explain the science behind all sorts of cutting-edge subjects, from- Hmm ... PFAS to lithium ion batteries.

  7. David· Host0:35

    Antibiotic resistance, green hydrogen, quantum computing.

  8. Gina· Host0:39

    GLP-1s, microplastics.

  9. David· Host0:41

    And Gina, you handle all the explaining of how this stuff works- Mm-hmm ... why it's important, and what it could mean for our future.

  10. Gina· Host0:48

    Right. And you explain something to do with frog legs and fish. Is that right?

  11. David· Host0:53

    Well, sure, yeah, kinda.

  12. Gina· Host0:55

    Right. So David, tell me again about this frog legs thing.

  13. David· Host0:59

    I'll do you one better, GV. Let's fire up the time machine and watch ourselves record that episode firsthand.

  14. Gina· Host1:05

    Hmm.

  15. David· Host1:06

    Season two, episode four, I believe.

  16. Gina· Host1:09

    Okay, but m- meeting ourselves in the past, won't that, like, collapse the space-time continuum?

  17. David· Host1:15

    Space-time cont- probably not.

  18. Gina· Host1:17

    Sure.

  19. David· Host1:17

    And even if it does, at least, hey, we had a good time doing it.

  20. Gina· Host1:20

    [laughs] All right. Worth a shot. Let's go back in time.

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