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About This Podcast
DNA science. Artificial intelligence. Smartphones and 3D printers. Science and technology have transformed the world we live in. But how did we get here? It wasn’t by accident. Well, sometimes it was. It was also the result of hard work, teamwork, and competition. And incredibly surprising moments.
Hosted by bestselling author Steven Johnson (“How We Got To Now”), American Innovations uses immersive scenes to tell the stories of the scientists, engineers, and ordinary people behind the greatest discoveries of the past century.
Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of American Innovations ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
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Recent Episodes
New Season - Dr. Death: The Cowboy
Dr. John Schneider rode into town like a character out of a Western: an outsider on a Harley-Davidson, in trademark cowboy boots. He promised relief to patients suffering in Wyoming and Montana. He…
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Is what’s happening on OnlyFans real? Or is it only a fantasy?In this provocative investigation into OnlyFans—the adult platform where subscribers around the world spent more than $7 billion in…
Listen Now: American Scandal | The West Memphis Three
On May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys were brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The tiny local police department launches an investigation but finds little physical evidence to lead them to a…
Listen Now: Business Wars | The Race to Ozempic
Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet or your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shapes what we buy and how we live. Business…
S57E1 The Mystery of Stuxnet | Cracking the Code | S57-E1
In the summer of 2010, a mysterious computer virus called Stuxnet lands on the desk of Symantec cybersecurity analyst Liam O’Murchu. Stuxnet is unlike anything O’Murchu has ever seen: a highly…
S55E1 Man with No Memory | The Accident | S55-E1
Even as recently as the early 1950s, we didn’t understand that there were different types of memory, or how the brain processed and stored memories. Then, in 1953, a radical surgery by a reckless…
S54E1 Predator Drone | From Albatross to Amber | S54-E1
What if you could design a spy plane that could be flown remotely and hover in the sky for hours, providing reconnaissance for troops on the ground? In the early 1980s, the visionary inventor Abe…
S53E1 Pushing Painkillers | An Untapped Market | S53-E1
Doctors once shied away from using opioids to treat chronic pain, citing the risk of addiction. But in the 1970s, a new generation of doctors started to argue that opioids should be reconsidered, and…
S51E1 Social Media | Find Your Friends | S51-E1
Today social media is such a dominant part of our daily lives, it's hard to believe that only 20 years ago, it didn’t exist. Then a newly single tech entrepreneur named Jonathan Abrams wondered: What…
S50E1 Fracking | The Source Rock | S50-E1
In the late 1970s, oil and natural gas fields across the U.S. were drying up, making the country increasingly dependent on foreign oil. Then, a Texas energy magnate named George Mitchell decided to…
S48E1 Cryonics | Immortality On Ice | S48-E1
Not everyone chooses burial or cremation after death. Some believe in cryonics, freezing their bodies in the hopes of being reanimated sometime in the future. Bob Nelson, a TV repairman with no…
S47E1 Storm Chasers | Tornado Alley | S47-E1
No extreme weather phenomenon fascinates us more than tornadoes. For most of human history, very little was known about how these graceful yet violent columns of swirling air formed or behaved. Then,…
S46E1 Hacking | What’s in the Blue Box? | S46-E1
Hackers: the criminals who prey on our digital lives. Today they steal credit cards and personal information, or even commit acts of cyber-terrorism. But in the early days, hackers were largely seen…
S45E1 Breaking The Sound Barrier | A Bullet With Wings | S45-E1
In the 1940s, as planes got faster, it seemed like they were hitting a wall -- literally. Many pilots tried to travel faster than the speed of sound, often with fatal results. Could American test…
S43E1 Lie Detector | The Heart of a Liar | S43-E1
Humans are shockingly bad at telling whether or not someone is lying. That’s why, a century ago, psychologists and criminologists developed machines to detect lies for us, by measuring blood…
S42E1 Mission To Mars | Seeing Red | S42-E1
Even after the Apollo program put astronauts on the moon, Mars remained out of reach. Then, in 1990, an ambitious engineer hatched an ingenious plan to send the first humans to the red planet. But…
S40E1 Year In Review | When Will I Get the Vaccine? | S40-E1
2020 has been a year of struggle, uncertainty and loss. It has also forced us to adapt and innovate in nearly every aspect of our lives. But no innovation this year has been more important and more…
S39E1 Telephone | Call Waiting | S39-E1
In the 19th Century, the telegraph is the cutting edge of communication. No one can imagine anything better—except Alexander Graham Bell.You can binge all episodes of American Innovations exclusively…
S38E1 Auto-Tune: From Cher to Kanye | S38-E1
All Andy Hildebrand wanted to do was make a computer program to help singers sound better. He never expected it to kick off a battle for the soul of modern music.You can binge all episodes of…
S37E1 The Fight Against AIDS | The Epidemic Begins | S37-E1
In the early 1980s, a mysterious new disease spread like wildfire through the gay communities of major U.S. cities. Before it even had a name, AIDS had already killed over half its victims. Public…
Frequently Asked Questions
American Innovations has published 50 episodes since April 2018, covering topics in History, Kids & Family.
American Innovations is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 40m.
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