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Why Useless Knowledge Can Be So Useful

Season 12 Episode 17 | 14m 35s

Our lizard friend the Gila monster probably has no idea that a chemical in its spit inspired one of the most important medical advancements of the 21st century. But this story is really about something bigger. Something deeper, beneath the surface. About why we do science in the first place. And about what kind of questions are the best ones for scientists to ask.

Aired: 12/18/24
Extras
Lucy investigates Queen Mary I - was she really as bloody as history suggests?
Eliza faces a conflict of interests when looking into the personal life of Commissioner Fitzroy.
Eliza explores the cut-throat world of Victorian theater.
A hunger strike against solitary confinement at Pelican Bay prison became a massive feat of unity.
Eliza’s life is turned upside down when she finds herself dragged into a missing persons case.
Great Migrations explores how a series of Black migrations have shaped America.
Few Jews had access to weapons in the Warsaw Ghetto, but they resisted nonetheless.
Kovner wrote a Manifesto, the first published call for Jews to fight back.
During the Holocaust Jews did not go to their deaths as sheep to the slaughter; they fought back.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the first armed battle against the Germans.
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