Episodes
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Behind the Mask, pt2: The Evolution of a Genre
Last week, we defined the superhero. However, superheroes have evolved greatly over the last seventy years. The Adam West Batman of the 1960s now only vaguely resembles Christian Bale's Batman of The Dark Knight, to say nothing of the rise of the anti-hero in Alan Moore's classic, Watchmen. How…
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Behind the Mask, pt1: Superheroes and Supervillains
It's hard to recall a movie season in recent memory that hasn't been marked with at least one superhero blockbuster, so we're taking a closer look at these stories and heroes. In the first episode of this two part series, we consider what makes someone a superhero. Is it simply a question of...
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Venus, Deconstructed
Today, we're going back to 18th century Florence, Italy to tell the story of one museum, La Specola, and its infamous exhibit of gruesome wax anatomical models. At the time of its founding in 1771, the new Archduke Peter Leopold found himself confronting the deep-rooted legacy of his famous...
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Into the Heart of Mathematics
As a society, we are pretty conflicted about mathematics. On one hand, we recognize that math has allowed us to achieve some amazing things, including space travel and much of our technology. Yet, math gets a bad rap in popular culture. In movies and tv shows, we're more likely to see kids...
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Uncovering Numismatics
William Bubelis, assistant professor of classics at Washington University in St. Louis, introduces us to the exciting field of numismatics. What is numismatics? Well, we had the same question. Essentially, numismatics focuses on coins and currency. Professor Bubelis explains how coins can reveal...
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Musical Mathematics
As both a mathematician and a musician, professor David Wright believes in approaching the world both analytically and artistically. Back in 2002, he designed and began teaching "Mathematics & Music," an undergraduate course focused on the connections between these two abstract and beautiful…
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Pearl Curran: "Ghost"-writer
In 1913, Pearl Curran, a St. Louis housewife, sat at a Ouija board with her friends when suddenly the planchette went wild under her hands. It said, "Many moons ago I lived. Again I come. Patience Worth my name." And so began the literary career of the long-dead Patience Worth. Pearl transcribed...
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Girlhood in Hollywood
Miley Cyrus' recent twerking incident aside, young actresses have been struggling with how to grow up in Hollywood since the silent film star Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart," first arrived on the silver screen. As they transition from childhood to adulthood, how can young actresses prove...
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Classical Theater
In theaters and classrooms around the world, audiences and students experience the stories and emotions behind plays penned thousands of years ago by writers like Euripidies, Plautus, and Terence. But how do these modern encounters compare with original performances, and how are scholars even…
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Circadian Rhythms
We've all been there: staring at the ceiling at 2:43 a.m., unable to fall asleep while the world slumbers around us. How do our internal clocks stay synced to our environment? What exactly do they control? Might future research provide relief for late-night workers or the jet-lagged when the...
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The Genetics of Bee-havior
In the late 1980s, Marla Sokolowski noticed that if she placed fly larvae on a pile of yeast in a petri dish, some would sit and eat the yeast which they sat upon, while others would move, creating wild trails through the yeast as they ate. What makes some larvae rove around, while others simply...
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The Many Lives of Apollonius
Following his death some 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana was known as a charlatan and magician. A century later, he was considered the embodiment of Greek culture and religion, particularly for those who opposed Christianity. Why do some people become immortalized while…
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Antarctica
Join Doug Wiens, professor and chairman of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, as he describes his explorations of Antarctica. Dr. Wiens has been using seismographs to study Antarctica for some fifteen years. He and his colleagues study the physics behind ice...
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Creating a Federal Government
In the tumultuous early years of the United States, how did the federal government operate on a day-to-day basis? Who worked for the government, and what responsibilities did these people take on? What types of crises did the country face, and how do those crises relate to the challenges we face...
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A Man of Faith and Science: Pope Benedict XIV
Learn about this compelling and startlingly modern Pope of the Italian Enlightenment. Created by Tim Lloyd for Hold That Thought, a production of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
About this show
Enter a world of ideas. What people, places, and ideas lie behind the research occurring at Washington University in St. Louis and around the world? This series aims to inform, surprise, and inspire.
Hosted by
Hold That Thought