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Victor Frankenstein’s tortured and brooding creation has become an avatar for scientific anxiety and horror. How far will we push and what are the existential ramifications? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and I explore the neurological, magical, alchemical and mechanical roots of Frankenstein’s monster. You’ll learn all about golems, homunculi, automatons and the future of science-gone-wrong.
Another day, another reboot — well, sort of: Deadline Hollywood is reporting that “Frankenstein” will be the next film to get the “modern update” treatment, joining adaptations like ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Clueless.’ Was 1994 — the year the last version of Mary Shelley’s classic premiered — really that long ago? Well, given Hollywood’s recent penchant for remaking movies that have barely passed the quarter-century mark, the answer is clearly “yes.”
Today mad scientists are common in fiction, and they appear in everything from comedies to science fiction. But they’re also relatively recent. What made them so popular? Tune in and learn more about mad scientists in the public consciousness.
On Monday’s podcast, Sarah and I got to wear our English major hats – our favorite chapeaux of all.
In honor of Halloween, we talked about a little ghost story competition that gave us both “Frankenstein” and the vampire.
Wednesday’s podcast brought us Marie Laveau, voodoo queen, a person Sarah and I had a devil of a time researching.
The legend of Marie Laveau speaks of a 20-foot snake named Zombie and powerful magic that could make people crawl on their bellies on the floor, disappear or fall in love.
The idea for the Panama Canal goes back to 1534, when the Spanish surveyed the area. However, the canal wasn’t built for centuries, and it was an arduous task. Learn more about the malaria plaguing canal builders in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.
Dr. Frankenstein, if you’re reading this, you have reason to feel a little vindicated. While the modern scientific community may laugh at your use of harnessed lightning bolts to animate a stitched-up monster, they’re at least admitting that lightning may have played a vital role in the evolution of life on Earth.
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