Ep 93 Lightning & Other Stories: Power Hour (and a Half)

This Podcast Will Kill You

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Science

4.8 • 17.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2022

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lightning strikes have an aura of myth and legend around them, and their mystical reputation is inflated by stories that tell of people who, after having been hit by lightning, are suddenly able to speak a new language or play the piano expertly. However, such embellished stories often fail to distinguish truth from fiction and rarely acknowledge the devastating toll that getting struck by lightning can have on your body and mind. Which is where TPWKY hopes to set the record straight. In this episode, we explore what lightning is, how it can cause injuries or death, and what distinguishes it from other electrical shocks. Then, rather than focusing solely on the history of lightning, we take a tour through four vignettes in the broad history of electricity that tell of ways humanity has harnessed it for both bad and good. By the end of the episode, you’ll be shocked by the story of a dentist from Buffalo, electrified with the knowledge of how lightning forms, energized with the current status of lightning around the globe, and left with no resistance to terrible electricity-themed puns. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's hard to imagine losing a loved one, a wife, a husband, a child.
0:04.4	For many, it's their biggest fear.
0:06.4	Amarissa Jones, host of The Vanished.
0:09.0	A podcast that tells the stories of often overlooked and unsolved missing persons' cases,
0:13.6	in an effort to uncover the truth.
0:15.8	Follow The Vanished on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:20.2	Hi, I'm Bridger Weinerger, and I host I said no gifts, on exactly right.
0:24.0	Each week I invite my favorite people in comedy over for conversation, and I tell them no gifts.
0:28.8	But every time they bring me a gift, and then we have to talk about the gift.
0:32.4	It's infuriating. You'll love it.
0:35.0	Listen to I said no gifts on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:42.8	I have lately made an experiment in electricity that I desire never to repeat.
0:47.8	Two nights ago, being about to kill a turkey by the shock from two large glass jars,
0:52.8	containing as much electrical fire as 40 common files,
0:56.6	I inadvertently took the hole through my own arms and body.
1:00.5	The company present, say the flash was very great, and the crack as loud as a pistol.
1:05.4	Yet, my sense is being instantly gone, I neither saw the one nor heard the other.
1:10.6	Nor did I feel the stroke on my hand.
1:13.0	Though afterward I found that it raised a round swelling where the fire entered as big as half a pistol bullet,
1:19.3	by which you may judge the quickness of the electrical fire,
1:22.6	which by this instance seems to be greater than the sound, light, or animal sensation.
1:28.3	What I can remember of the matter is that I was about to try whether the bottles were fully charged
	...

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