It’s almost the end of the summer, so the Distillations crew is taking a look back at some of our favorite episodes this week. First we return to our show about space science, as Jen Dionisio explains panspermia in the Chemical Agent. Next we explore taste with the Mystery Solved! segment from our episode on eating and producer Aries Keck tells us about umami. Finally we revisit our cause and effect show by learning about pheromone perfumes. Gigi Naglak tells us all about it. Chemical Agent: Panspermia.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:40 Introduction
00:59 Chemical Agent: Panspermia
03:04 Mystery Solved! Umami
07:14 Chemistry in your Cupboard: Pheromone Perfumes
9:59 Closing Credits

Credits

Thank you to Audra Wolfe and Jen Dionisio who researched the shows we featured this week.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network.

This week’s image was uploaded by to stock.xchng by mab_design.

Birth, once nature’s miracle, is increasingly manipulated by humans and regulated by society. In this week’s episode, we look at a range of reproductive technologies and the implications of their use. First we look at the herbal fertility treatments women used hundreds of years ago. Then, our host Meir Rinde speaks with University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate Joanna Radin about a trend catching on with new moms: cord-blood banking. Finally, CHF’s Erica Stefanovich explores the dark side of these technologies as described in classic dystopian literature. Chemical Agent: Luteinizing Hormone.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:30 Introduction
01:16 Chemical Agent: Luteinizing Hormone
03:54 Conversation with Joanna Radin
09:01 Review: Reproduction in Dystopian Novels
11:39 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Erica Stefanovich and Hilary Domush.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Brave Heart,” by Sonic Mystery, “Before Beauty,” by Secret Archives of the Vatican, and “love hides in familiar places,” by lacunae.

This week’s image was uploaded to Flickr by Kshort1.

We’re very pleased to announce that Distillations has received two awards from New York Festivals for Radio Programming & Promotion. For 52 years the New York Festivals Radio Programming and Promotions Awards has recognized the world’s best work in radio broadcasting. In a competition against entries submitted by radio stations, networks, and producers from over 30 countries, the following Distillations episodes were honored:

Bronze World Medal

• Episode 41: Self-Experimentation
• Episode 50: Children’s Health
• Episode 51: Global Health

Finalist Certificate

• Episode 44: Sweet Dreams

Congratulations to the programming team and production staff of Distillations! We also give many, many thanks to all the listeners out there in podcast land who tune in to Distillations. Your enthusiastic support is integral to our success.

Location, location, location! In this week’s episode we talk about why and how certain spaces are chosen and used. First we go back in time to the late 1800s and find out why Herbert Dow chose Midland, Michigan, as the site of his company. Next, learn about brownfields and how they are being remediated to become habitable again. Finally, CHF’s Jody Roberts speaks to Professor Jim Hutchison, from the University of Oregon, about changing laboratory facilities in order to make them a better space and place for students, faculty, and others to work. Chemical Agent: Bromine.

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Download (10.9 MB MP3 file)

Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:07 Chemical Agent: Bromine
03:13 Mystery Solved! Brownfields
06:31 Conversation with Jim Hutchison
11:16 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Hilary Domush, Jennifer Dionisio, and Jody Roberts.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Pumpkin,” by Jack Erdie and “In A Different Place,” by PAT ZELENKA.

This week’s image is of the Evans Flour Mill in Midland, Michigan. The tower in the photo housed the brine well — which provided the raw material for Dow to produce bromine. From the Dow Historical Collection, CHF Archives.