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Wonder Cupboard asks what science is, how it works, and how it came to be. Elena Falco and Ian Bridgeman present a new topic on the history and philosophy of science every episode.
A fridge sends you to Mesopotamian beer, then into an argument about what makes inventions revolutionary.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A wry history of sunlight, from pith helmets and pandemic claims to coronavirus research.
Sunbathing treats a familiar summer habit as a way into shifting beliefs about sunlight, moving from pandemic-era claims about sunshine and COVID-19 to older anxieties about sunstroke and the pith helmet.
A 42-degree French lunch opens onto the campaign to make indoor temperature measurable.
Wonder Cupboard treats air conditioning as both bodily relief and public argument, beginning with a 42-degree lunch in a car in southern France before widening into the question of how shared spaces, including cinemas, came to trust engineered cooling over natural ventilation.
A playful history of cold, beer, and the commercial pressures that made refrigeration matter.
Artificial refrigeration is framed as a story about food, brewing, and the industries prepared to turn cold storage into practical power. Ian and Eleanor keep food refrigeration distinct from air conditioning and cryogenics, then trace machines linked to von Linde and James…
A lockdown-era virus question becomes a wry test of how science decides what counts as alive.
Wonder Cupboard takes up the question of whether viruses are alive with a useful bit of restraint. Recorded during lockdown, Ian and Eleanor say they will not talk about COVID-19, then use that boundary to ask how science decides where life begins and ends.
Simon Watt explores cute faces, unloved animals, and why humans find some creatures beautiful.
Wonder Cupboard gives beauty a second pass, shifting from equations and theories to the more immediate pull of animals. Ian and Eleanor bring in Simon Watt, a biologist and stand-up comedian, to explore why some creatures read as beautiful while others trigger disgust, and the…
A vaccine-history episode with sharp context, loose jokes, and one imaginary neon gang.
Wonder Cupboard's vaccine episode frames vaccine controversy through arguments over vaccination, mandates, and the media moments that shaped public attention. The hosts start from a clear position that vaccines are useful and children should be vaccinated, then move through U.S.
Fast histories of familiar things.
Human origins, told from the field.
The deep past, argued into the present.
Ian and Eleanor of Wonder Cupboard examine sunbathing through the viral practice of perineum tanning, including the claim that 30 seconds of exposure matched a day in sunlight.
Wonder Cupboard’s “Air Conditioning” traces cooling from 3,000-year-old Chinese feather fans and Indian punkahs to Willis Carrier’s 1902 humidity-control system.
Wonder Cupboard’s “Ice” traces food refrigeration from a Mesopotamian ice house ordered by Zimri-Lim around 1700 BC to General Electric’s 1927 domestic refrigerator.
Wonder Cupboard's Ian and Eleanor examine whether viruses are alive by comparing reproduction, metabolism, autonomy, evolution, and mortality.
Wonder Cupboard hosts Ian and Eleanor examine beauty through Immanuel Kant's distinction between pure and impure beauty, then apply it to landscapes, animals, and conservation.
Ian and Elena discuss beauty as a tool for scientific discovery, featuring an interview with physicist Sabine Hossenfelder.
Ian and Elena discuss Christmas traditions and eggnog while recording from Italy on Christmas Eve.
Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet paper linked MMR with autism, then collapsed under retraction.
Wonder Covered frames "Are We Living in a Simulation?" around Nick Bostrom’s 2003 paper, "Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?", and contrasts it with The Matrix, brain-in-a-vat arguments, and Westworld.
The British Medical Journal blog quote says, "Retake the initiative and elegantly and proudly redrape the white coat around your shoulders."
Ian and Elena humorously introduce peer review week and discuss the concept of double-blind peer reviewing.