Engines of Our Ingenuity
The story of technological progress is one of drama and intrigue, sudden insight and plain hard work. Let’s explore technology’s spectacular failures and many magnificent success stories.
This content is in service of Houston Public Media’s education mission and is sponsored by the University of Houston. It is not a product of our news team.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 3 minutes
- Episodes
- 170
- Years Active
- 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3318: Vera C. Rubin
Episode: 3318 Vera C. Rubin: The astronomer who brought dark matter to light. Today, meet Vera Rubin.
00:03:50 |
Mon 07 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1402: Franklin and De Chaumont
Episode: 1402 Ben Franklin and Le Ray de Chaumont's house in Paris. Today, Ben Franklin, revolution, and a house in Paris.
00:03:41 |
Sun 06 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1401: Roosevelt, Remington, and the West
Episode: 1401 Theodore Roosevelt and Frederic Remington defining the West. Today, Roosevelt and Remington go West.
00:03:45 |
Sat 05 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1400: Inured to Change
Episode: 1400 Trying to catch the flavor of the past. Today, a look back.
00:03:48 |
Fri 04 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2483: Metro
Episode: 2483 Public Transportation and Technology: The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority. Today, we leave the car at home.
00:03:48 |
Thu 03 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3235: Verna Fields, “Mother Cutter”
Episode: 3235 Gender, labor history, and the devaluation of film editing. Today, the mother of all film editors.
00:03:51 |
Wed 02 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3317: Railcars
Episode: 3317 Specialized Railcars for Heavy Cargo. Today, how railroads move the unmovable.
00:03:48 |
Tue 01 Jul 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3316: Research
Episode: 3316 A look at what the word Research really means. Today, let’s think about research.
00:03:52 |
Mon 30 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1399: The Circus
Episode: 1399 The passing of the classical circus. Today, we go to a circus.
00:03:49 |
Sun 29 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1398: Back to the Beginning
Episode: 1398 Back to the Beginning: First we commit. Then we see. Today, a process within a process
00:03:44 |
Sat 28 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1397: John Fitch
Episode: 1397 John Fitch and America's first successful steamboat. Today, America's first steamboat.
00:03:42 |
Fri 27 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2480: Stephanie Kwolek and Kevlar
Episode: 2480 Stephanie Kwolek: Inventor of Kevlar. Today, not-so-shining armor.
00:03:48 |
Thu 26 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3065: Victor and Eva Saxl
Episode: 3065 Victor and Eva Saxl: Love, War and Homemade Insulin. Today, love, war and insulin.
00:03:29 |
Wed 25 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2448: Rachmaninoff Unblocked
Episode: 2448 Sergei Rachmaninoff visits a hypnotist to remove his writer's block. Today, a composer unblocked.
00:04:02 |
Tue 24 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3315: History Deep-Sixed
Episode: 3315 In which an engineering failure vanishes from the historical record. Today, a fragment of history quietly disappears.
00:03:50 |
Mon 23 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1396: An Engineer Named Calder
Episode: 1396 An engineer named Calder. Today, an engineer takes up sculpture.
00:03:39 |
Sun 22 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1395: Worst Airplanes
Episode: 1395 The World's Worst Aircraft: learning what constitutes bad. Today, the worst airplanes ever built!
00:03:42 |
Sat 21 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 1393: Inventing the Telegraph
Episode: 1393 Early inventions of the electric telegraph. Today, we look at ninety years of electric telegraphy before Morse.
00:03:39 |
Fri 20 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2478: Metal Wood
Episode: 2478 Metal Wood: the Evolution of Wooden Golf Clubs. Today, metal wood.
00:03:49 |
Thu 19 Jun 2025
The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2798: Behold the Mighty Transistor
Episode: 2798 Behold the Mighty Transistor. Today, a small item creates a large impact.
00:03:50 |
Wed 18 Jun 2025
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