Okay, been listening to the back catalog of the Distillations podcast (subscribe via iTunes) and a couple of interesting ones have caught my attention …

Episode 24: Beer and Brewing has a great explanation of the properties of hops and their uses in brewing. Hops are probably the least understood ingredient in a beer and this episode does a very good in explaining them. In addition, the coverage of historic beverages from Dogfish Head Brewery, like Theobroma, was interesting – especially since I am always game to try a new (or in this case, old) brew!

Episode 52: Wine was not as interesting, to me, as Episode 24 but it was nice to see the chemistry of wine given the treatment. Covering oxygenation and sulfites, it debunked one wine myth and reinforced good wine practice. Pointers that anyone can take away from the episode include the fact that hangovers are caused by a combination of food, water, and wine (not by anything in the wine) and that storing open bottles upright is better than on their side (less surface area for oxidation).

Now, they just need to do one on the chemistry of whiskey production … and their is plenty to talk about with it – flavor compounds, effects of oak, differences in still types, and even in types of distillation.

Little did I realize the number of History of Science podcasts out there on the WWW …

The History of Science Society Newsletter did a Q&A on it last July, which featured the producers of two podcasts - Audra J. Wolfe’s Distillations and Elizabeth Green Musselman’s the Missing Link.  Unfortunately, it appears that both of them have suffered recently – Distillations going bi-weekly and the Missing Link being put on indefinite hold.  So, what is the future of all of these podcasts? Read more »

If science is neither cookery, nor angelic virtuosity, then what is it? Modern societies have tended to take science for granted as a way of knowing, ordering and controlling the world. Everything was subject to science, but science itself largely escaped scrutiny. This situation has changed dramatically in recent years. Historians, sociologists, philosophers and sometimes scientists themselves have begun to ask fundamental questions about how the institution of science is structured and how it knows what it knows. David Cayley talks to some of the leading lights of this new field of study.

Downloaded the full set of episodes (listed below the fold) and have started listening to them.  The first one, by Simon Schaffer, is a great exploration of the great change in the study of science that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s (aka “The Science Wars”).  If the rest are as good as this one, they are definitely worth recommending to students and others who are interested in the history of science!

Read more »

Since January, I have been listening to the President’s Weekly Radio Address as a podcast. It is actually the only podcast that I currently subscribe to. To subscribe, via iTunes, click the button below.  You can also subscribe to the podcast on the ABC News website or via RSS.

It is important for citizens around the world to keep up-to-date with what is happening in Washington and one of the best ways is to listen to the President’s Weekly Address. It is the closest that the USA comes to the British Prime Minister’s Questions … which is actually a lot more entertaining at times because of all of the adversarial posturing … and maybe the USA should think about having the President answer questions from Congress.