🎧 The Ear Trumpet
🎧 Patented: History of Inventions • 30m
Ear Trumpets are seen as old fashioned and clumsy, mostly deployed in pop culture for comic effect as a snarky shorthand for how old and out-of-touch a person is.
But during the Enlightenment there was a wider embrace of this new technology as a means of increased participation.
This episode we are joined by medical historian Dr Ruben Verwaal to explore how the popularity and stigma of the ear trumpet tracks with attitudes towards deafness, and where our cynicism towards the ear trumpet came from.
Up Next in 🎧 Patented: History of Inventions
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🎧 Monks: Medieval Masters of Invention
In medieval times it was monks who were the masters of invention. They were the most educated members of society who saw scientific and philosophical investigation as a way to get closer to god. However, any experimentation had to be carefully balanced with religion, the threat of being labelled ...
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🎧 Spacesuits
It required borrowing skills from some surprising places to pull it off...namely, women's underwear.
With the help of Ryan Nagata, artist and replica spacesuit maker, we chart the evolution of the spacesuit from the Wiley Posts, to the iconic Apollo suits and beyond.
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🎧 Breakfast Cereal
Kelloggs Cornflakes are arguably the most iconic breakfast cereal, and for good reason. It was this product that launched breakfast cereal as we know and love it today.
But as with all good invention stories, it isn’t quite as simple as a good idea at the right time.
The invention of Cornflakes...
