The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean · Sam Kean, Bleav
The Birds and the Bees and the Frogs
April 15, 2025·19 min·1 clip
Hogben's improbable hypothesis that pregnant women's urine would make frogs lay eggs proved correct, creating a revolutionary non-lethal test.
As heard by us
A frog test becomes a clear, humane history of medicine and the world around it.
A pregnancy test built from frogs sounds like a stunt, but the piece treats it as real medicine. It traces the path from ancient seed-sprouting tests to Lancelot Hogben's African clawed frog and makes the science easy to follow without flattening the oddness.
Why you'd press play
You want the strange history of pregnancy testing, from ancient grain sprouting to frogs and urine.
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