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Stereo Chemistry

Chemical & Engineering News

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Stereo Chemistry shares voices and stories from the world of chemistry. The show is created by the reporters and editors at Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), an independent news outlet published by the American Chemical Society.
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Top 10 Stereo Chemistry Episodes

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Researchers want to invent the technologies of the future, but there are plenty of chemical questions lurking in the past. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN assistant editor Gina Vitale joins host Kerri Jansen to explore the centuries-old secrets and nagging mysteries that keep science historians up at night—and how these researchers go about solving them. A script and additional resources are available at bit.ly/3qGGHg5.

Sign up for C&EN’s Grad Student Survival Guide at cenm.ag/gradsurvivalguide. Image credit: Marjolijn Bol/Lawrence Principe/John Haldon

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01/19/21 • 24 min

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Where do you take your career after you’ve won all of science’s biggest prizes? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN executive editor Lisa Jarvis sits down with Nobel laureates Frances Arnold and Jennifer Doudna to hear about whether their career goals changed after they got that early-morning phone call in October and how the pandemic has shifted the way they approach their work. A script of this episode is available at bit.ly/3u7jCW7. Sign up for C&EN's newsletter at cenm.ag/chemnewsletter. Catch up on last year's package of trailblazing women chemists, edited by Jennifer Doudna, at cenm.ag/2020trailblazers. Image credit: Caltech (Arnold)/Laura Morton Photography (Doudna)

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02/16/21 • 30 min

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Late last year, C&EN contributing editor Mark Peplow toured a new battery company’s R&D facility in Sweden. That company, called Northvolt, aims to produce the world’s greenest lithium-ion batteries, to help meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. Ride along with Mark to learn more about the company, its work, and its goals in the first bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry.

Check out Mark's full story for C&EN here: https://cen.acs.org/energy/energy-storage-/Northvolt-building-future-greener-batteries/97/i48

Image credit: Northvolt

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01/22/20 • 11 min

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For its latest episode, Stereo Chemistry handed its recorders over to kid journalists interviewing grown-up chemists about cutting-edge research. Listen in as the children get answers to questions about DNA, environmental clean-up, and even C-H activation. The kids’ reporting was part of an outreach event called Science Storytellers that took place during the American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego in August. Science Storytellers empowers kids to ask questions as they interact, one-on-one, with real scientists. In this episode, you’ll hear from the creator of the Science Storytellers program, Jenny Cutraro, to learn how this outreach activity is designed to break down barriers between scientists and the public.

For a full transcript and additional resources, visit our website.

And here's our Facebook Live event from the ACS Kid Zone.

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11/26/19 • 23 min

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Rocket propellant research had its heyday in the mid-20th century, when the space race and the Cold War meant chemists had plenty of money and long leashes. Few of their most interesting ideas ended up in working rockets, but they charted new areas of chemical space, some of which, like boron chemistry, have proved useful in other fields. Geopolitical shifts, along with a growing emphasis on health, safety, and the environment, dampened propellant chemistry in the last decades of the 1900s. But the need for high-performance propellants hasn’t gone away, and neither has chemists’ interest in pushing the envelope. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we hear from chemists who lived through the heady days of the ’50s and ’60s and the ones carrying rocket chemistry’s torch today.

A script of this episode is available here.

Music credits:

“Leaving Earth” by Stanley Gurvich

“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod

Rocket launch sound illustration adapted from NASA audio

Image credit: NASA

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10/18/19 • 35 min

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Without fail, the name John Goodenough crops up during Nobel Prize season. Many scientists believe he’s deserving of chemistry’s top honor. The University of Texas at Austin materials scientist is credited with developing a material that led to mass commercialization of lithium-ion batteries, the technology that powers our smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other gadgets big and small. Though Goodenough, aged 97, hasn’t yet won a Nobel Prize, he’s not mired down by what could have been. He is renowned for his scientific accomplishments, warm personality, and infectious laugh. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporter Mitch Jacoby joins cohost Kerri Jansen to tell the story of how a former meteorologist with a background in physics came up with a key material that enabled an electronics revolution and how he continues to pursue big questions in electrochemistry today.

Register for C&EN’s Nobel Prize predictions webinar at bit.ly/nobelwebinar19.

UPDATE: We're happy to announce that Goodenough, along with fellow battery pioneers M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read our coverage of the award and these scientists' contributions to lithium-ion batteries at C&EN.

CORRECTION 10/23/19: The material Akira Yoshino used for his seminal battery anode was petroleum coke, a graphite-like material derived from petroleum. Researchers, including Samar Basu, had previously worked with graphite but found that it broke down in the battery’s electrolyte. Also, estimates for the voltage of Stan Whittingham’s TiS2 battery vary. This podcast episode refers to a 2.4-volt battery; some sources estimate the voltage at 2.5 V.

A script of this podcast is available here.

"Shir Hama’alos” is by Even Sh’siyah, provided courtesy of Mitch Jacoby.

“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Image credit: Mitch Jacoby/C&EN

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08/29/19 • 34 min

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07/24/19 • 38 min

Research science is full of hazards. Chemists and safety professionals do their best to minimize the danger, but accidents do happen and the stakes can be extremely high. So how can chemists ensure that when things do go wrong—or when they nearly go wrong—that we learn from those experiences to work toward a safer future? Communication is key. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we talk with four chemists who have survived accidents and shared their stories so others can learn from them.

Read the full transcript of this episode here.

Nominate a Start-Up to Watch by August 1!

Music credits:

"Pure Water" and "Interplanetary Forest" by Meydän are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

"Let That Sink In" and "We Don't Know How it Ends" by Lee Rosevere are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

"Blue Lobster" by Daniel Birch is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Image credit: Shutterstock/C&EN

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07/24/19 • 38 min

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In our last episode of Stereo Chemistry, we talked to chemists who had survived accidents at the bench to learn what went wrong and what lessons we could share to improve lab safety. In this episode, we’re looking at what it takes to build a culture of safety. That is, what can organizations do to let researchers know that their safety is not only valued, but expected? Hosts Jyllian Kemsley and Matt Davenport talk to experts about the importance of leadership, commitment, and education to transform lab safety from an exercise in compliance to a core element of the central science.

Find the transcript for this episode on our webiste.

Visit ACS Webinars to learn more about their excellent programming.

Music credits:

Played by Ear” by Unheard Music Concepts is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Compassion (keys version),” “Let That Sink In,” and “Thought Bubbles” by Lee Rosevere are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Image credit: Shutterstock/C&EN

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08/09/19 • 43 min

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In the aftermath of a building fire, investigators study the scene for clues to the fire’s cause. They look for burn patterns and suspicious materials while chemists search charred debris for traces of flammable liquids. But investigating fires is not as straightforward as it once was, because investigators now know more about the complexity of how fires burn. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen explores how scientists are working to better pinpoint specific chemicals amid the chaos a fire leaves behind and how a new understanding of the chemistry and physics of fire has revolutionized the way fire scenes are interpreted.

Nominate innovative young companies for C&EN’s 10 Start-Ups to Watch feature at cenm.ag/startupnom.

A script of this episode is available on our website.

Blonde” by Nctrnm is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Image credit: UL FSRI

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06/22/19 • 40 min

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The discovery of the ozone hole in the mid-1980s sent shock waves through the scientific community and society at large. As scientists scrambled to make sense of the unprecedented phenomenon, a clear culprit emerged. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—once thought of as near-miraculous compounds that revolutionized refrigeration—were suddenly revealed to be one of the biggest environmental dangers known to humankind. What followed was an international push by scientists, media, and policy makers to ban CFCs. In October 2019, NASA announced the ozone hole is the smallest recorded since 1982. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we hear from some of the scientists who were instrumental in discovering—and helping heal—the ozone hole and who think lessons learned could help us fight climate change.

A script of this episode is available here.

To read more from C&EN on hot trends in chemistry, check out our 2019 Year in Chemistry issue at cenm.ag/yic2019.

Image credit: D. Murphy/NOAA

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12/20/19 • 25 min

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FAQ

How many episodes does Stereo Chemistry have?

Stereo Chemistry currently has 82 episodes available.

What topics does Stereo Chemistry cover?

The podcast is about News, Chemistry, Podcasts and Science.

What is the most popular episode on Stereo Chemistry?

The episode title 'Ep. 37: Historians pursue centuries-old chemical secrets—Green reading glass, Bologna stones, and Greek fire' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Stereo Chemistry?

The average episode length on Stereo Chemistry is 26 minutes.

How often are episodes of Stereo Chemistry released?

Episodes of Stereo Chemistry are typically released every 27 days, 20 hours.

When was the first episode of Stereo Chemistry?

The first episode of Stereo Chemistry was released on Jan 28, 2018.

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2 Ratings