Surprisingly Brilliant

The man who changed our understanding of disorders of the brain was a man who couldn't recognize faces himself. He was a man who saw music as a therapeutic tool, who broke all the existing rules for how to talk to and about patients, and who made us all feel a little more human. Maren tells Greg the amazing true story of Oliver Sacks. This episode is made possible thanks to HHMI Tangled Bank Studios. ‘Oliver Sacks: His Own Life’ is available to stream on PBS for a limited time: https://to.pbs.org/3xngwPJ Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One bean has changed the world in unexpected ways, and the man behind it was even more extraordinary. This is the story of a man whose genius shone against all odds, how his discoveries shaped much of our modern world, and the science that he could have done...if society had let him. Maren introduces Greg to Percy Julian. Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vaccines. They're a big topic of conversation right now. But who discovered them? Who gave the first one? And what was the rather effective method around for hundreds of years before them?? Greg tells Maren a (rather gross) story of pus, pox parties, and… cuckoos? It's a tale that travels from China, through Turkey, to a small town in Gloucestershire, and asks if the ‘father of immunology’ - Edward Jenner - really earned that title. Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The universe speaks in a common language...the mathematics of change. Maren wasn't so sure about math, but after this episode she's a truly changed person. Isaac Newton DID stand on the shoulders of giants to translate the universe...but he also had his rivals, like Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Maren tells Greg a story that starts with the beginning of civilization and goes (literally) on to infinity. Show notes, sources, and transcript can be found at https://linktr.ee/surprisinglybrilliant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices