Murder in the Ivory Tower

Science Vs

Spotify Studios

Science, Education, Health & Fitness

4.4 • 11.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s 1849, and a gruesome murder has just happened at Harvard. As body parts turn up, the science of the day is put to the ultimate test to find out: who committed this brutal killing? Prof. Paul Collins tells us how this morbid mystery unfolds. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsMurderInTheIvoryTower In this episode, we cover: (00:00) The murder that shocked Harvard (02:35) A very rich man disappears (06:08) The tea chest of horrors (07:34) The professor (09:33) The janitor (12:00) The case against the professor (14:25) The trial (17:48) 1800s forensics enter the picture (25:29) The verdict This episode was produced by Kaitlyn Sawrey with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Odelia Rubin. Editing by Blythe Terrell, with help from Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. A huge thanks to Jessica Murphy and the team at the Harvard University Archives, plus Lars Trembly and Matthew Nelson, Frank Lopez, Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman Family. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman, and you're listening to science verses.
0:03.2	Today on the show, the story of a weird and gruesome murder.
0:10.0	It's one that shocked America and put science to the ultimate test.
0:14.0	If you've got little kids around, maybe tuck them in at night before you listen to this one.
0:23.2	All right, let's jump in.
0:25.2	The abdomen had been opened and the intestines taken out.
0:28.6	That's senior producer Rose Rimmler.
0:31.6	She just said, the abdomen had been opened and intestine taken out.
0:37.0	She's whispering because we're in a library right now.
0:40.0	We're pouring over the details of the murder.
0:43.0	First, the thorax and left thigh of the corpse had been subjected to the action of fire,
0:49.0	as shown by the singed hair and the partially roasted state of the skin.
0:55.0	Ew, I feel like we have better words than roasted.
0:59.0	That's upsetting.
1:00.0	This crime went down in 1849 and we first made this episode a couple of years ago but wanted to share it again because oh boy is it a goodie?
1:12.8	And this murder, it had the perfect setting.
1:16.0	The very prestigious Harvard University,
1:18.4	and there's everything that you would want
1:20.0	in a sordid crime story.
1:22.1	There's a cast of characters that included one of the richest men in Boston,
1:26.6	a suspicious janitor, a noted professor,
1:29.9	and then at the center of it all,
	...

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