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Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky.

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Welcome to this very special episode of Noble Blood.

I am so thrilled to be joined by Matt Kaplan, the science correspondent at The Economist.

He's written about everything from paleontology and parasites to virology.

He's a paleoclimatologist by training I've just heard, written for the National Geographic, New Scientist, Nature, New York Times.

But more relevant to this audience, his new book, I Told You So, Scientists who were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right, is out February 24th.

It has been such a roller coaster working on the book, too. I mean, I set out to look at scientists

who had been screwed by the system, scientists who had had great ideas, and then their ideas

didn't make it even though they were right. And what I stumbled upon as I uncovered the history

of science and looked at the underbelly, a lot of these relationships,

it was unbelievable to me how often monarchs in particular in Europe got involved in all of

this stuff. I mean, and top, top, like the cream of the crop was Empress Maria Teresa of Austria.

I mean, she's just such an incredible personality.

Well, that's really who I'm very excited to talk to you about, because the very first

chapter in your book, you start this story with Maria Teresa, who, as listeners of the show

might know, was the 18th century leader of the only sole female monarch of the Habsburg monarchy in Austria,

an incredibly interesting and powerful woman, the mother of Marie Antoinette, who's sort of a marquee figure.

Yeah, she was also the mother of 16 children, 16 kids.

I mean, like, I understand biologically how that works, but wow, really?

Yeah, I managed one, and I consider that a real pet on the back.

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