The Engineering History Podcast | Inventions, Builders, Hackers, Projects, and Stories from Our Past

Anna and Paul discuss skeletons, spooky season, lack of hygiene, the French, protesting, and cannibalism! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul welcome Jack Brown to the show to discuss his new book, Spanning the Gilded Age: James Eads and the Great Steel Bridge. We discuss the very first steel structure in the world, the madcap guy who came up with it, and the unlikely story of its construction and continued use to this day! For more info, and to see some great pictures, go to greatsteelbridge.com Follow @engineering_histor...

Anna and Paul discuss Howard Hughes, aviation, filmmaking, the Spruce Goose, pissing in jars, Kleenex, being a shut-in, mental illness, tragedy, Romaine Street, and the dark side of glamorous lives. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss math, finance, geometry, finance bros, Piza, pizza, New Yawk, the Yankees, and making things accessible to the common man. Note: We refer to the author of "Finding Fibonacci" as “Kevin Devlin.” He is actually Keith Devlin. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :) Further reading: The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmeti...

Anna and Paul discuss the Hexagon and Gambit series of satellites, on-orbit reliability, the struggle of keeping work secrets from family, big gold orbs, classification, declassification, and the mystery of modern-day earth observation. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :) Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORONA_(satellite) https://en...

Anna and Paul discuss CORONA, Thor, Agena, space doggos, SAMOS, weird clips from The Ingraham Angle, the film bucket, the Dune popcorn bucket, and the Harry Potter Triwizard Tournament egg. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss firefighting, firebreaks, fire lines, gender reveal parties, ageism, chads vs virgins, and innovating on a classic. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss swords, Miyamoto Mushashi, phase diagrams, Samurai Jack, studying the blade, Ghost Dog, Guinness World Records, steel, and dueling. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss leaning architecture, Italian project management timelines, bells, Anna’s angry 13-year-old-self, history of Italian city-states, the “Holy” “Roman” “Empire,” Napoleon, Galileo’s cannonballs, Brother Cadfael, and thuribles. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the lessons of the Apollo program, Little Joe, how to think about change and the lessons from previous projects, cruel summers, 8 Mile, and how to write the future while learning from the past. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss long eggs, being God, gaslighting, “who goes there” style lanterns, Winston Churchill, wackiness, and the true definition of zany! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the dark web, the deep web, the surface web, Madame Web, TCP/IP, hypertext transfer protocol, wackos, sickos, weirdos, and the nuanced use of dangerous technology. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss microplastics, the EPA, dumping into water supplies, VSauce, when you can say someone did something (legally), The Devil We Know, safe exposure levels, child labor, and how to get rid of contaminants. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss icebergs, air superiority, eccentric geniuses, Winston Churchill, the Brits, golf, espionage, ice sleds, escaping prison, and the films of Taika Waititi.  Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Assassin’s Creed, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Banshees of Inisherin, omelet du fromage, repoussé, trusses, and the intersection of art and engineering.  Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the polymathic, perplexing, and preternaturally prolific painter whose engineering accomplishments were innovative, frightening, and technically sound. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the history of the toilet, the movie Napoleon, the term "crap," the Cloaca Maxima, mansplaining, clogged plumbing, the next Silicon Valley Unicorn, and much more! Grab your plunger and drain snake and get ready to be flushed away on this fun adventure! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss groundbreaking industrial achievements, intractable environmental challenges, mind-boggling arrogance, disease, riches, pests, soyboys, control, Winston Churchill, freedom, and Hank the Deuce in an episode that will have you swimming through the Amazon’s labyrinthine waters with us.  Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss tragedy, sacrifice, chemistry, nuclear physics, innovative solutions, and bureaucracy. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the Gregorian calendar, the Roman Empire, time being an illusion, the Pareto Principle, conspiracy theories, date drifting, Romulus, Remus, and Easter. Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss sandstone construction, geotechnical engineering, ghosts, demons, communicating with the spirit world, the first form of waterproof building construction, and some unorthodox building materials. Come on in for a zany mix of concrete and ethereal! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul welcome Paul McEnroe to the show to discuss his new book, The Barcode: How a Team Created One of the World's Most Ubiquitous Technologies. We discuss how he led a team at IBM to create the barcode technology that cemented the barcode’s ubiquitous use worldwide, advice for young engineers, Anna’s history as a grocery store cashier in the first store to ever get barcodes, Paul M’s cont...

Anna, Paul, and special guest co-host Kelli Beard discuss the Great Wall of China, the Mongols(!!!), the movie 300, agrarian vs nomadic societies, the boy who cried wolf, fun alternate histories, and whether or not the wall really did anything at all. Kelli's podcast, A Popular History of Unpopular Things (APHOUT), is one of our favorites! It's a podcast that makes history more fun and acc...

Anna and Paul discuss the the telegraph, online love, t-posing on the haters, sauerkraut, chat rooms, ciphers, codes, not understanding new technology, and the Wheatstone bridge. Grab your casserole pans and join us on Telegraph Hill! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)

Anna and Paul discuss the Matriarch of Computer Science, Ada Lovelace, as well as computers, Gary Vaynerchuk, programming structures, Gran Torino, Lord Byron, and poetry. Listen in for an unexpectedly wide-reaching convo touching literature, STEM, and innovation! Follow @engineering_history_podcast on Instagram to keep up with our latest updates :)