Soap is a pretty basic formula: fat + alkali. While we tend to think of clean, fresh smelling bars, early soap was not so clean cut… hear how soap likely got its start and why it works to get us clean. 

Click above to listen to part 1 of Soap, Skin, Sleep, featuring Cody Cassidy, Author of “Who Ate the First Oyster: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History.”

Soap, Skin, Sleep:
Part 1: Cody Cassidy / Soap’s Origin
Part 2: Nina Jablonski / Skin Shield
Part 3: Eti Ben Simon / Healing Sleep

Podcast also available on PocketCasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and RSS.

2026 Webby Award Nominee
for our three part series on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Big Picture Science is an immersive radio show and podcast that reveals the unexpected connections in science.

Our Skeptic Check episodes take a critical look at extraordinary science claims and pseudoscience.

Don’t settle for a science snapshot. Get the big picture. 

Hosted By

Molly Bentley Executive Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science  

Seth Shostak Producer and Co-Host, Big Picture Science
Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute

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