For a long time, humans have been struck by the drama of lightning.

We've told all kinds of stories about what it is, where it comes from and who controls

it.

I mean, we've got Thor, the Norse Thunder god who channels electricity through this hammer,

and Indra, the ancient Hindu king of the gods, with the spirit of lightning.

There's Zeus, Greek lightning icon from Mount Olympus, and then in Boston, Massachusetts,

there's Janine Madrid.

I get recognized occasionally on the street, not often, but yes, I've been like Logan

Airport one time going through security, the TSA agent was like, I know you.

Why do I know you?

In her own words, Janine is an educator at the Boston Museum of Science.

To that TSA agent, and probably anyone who's witnessed her in action, she's kind of a

real-life lightning god.

But her Thunderbolt is this massive machine called the Vandegraph Generator.

Actually, it's the largest of its kind in the whole world.

And for decades, she and her team have been using it to bring lightning to the people,

electrifying museum goers in a very much figurative way.

I'm Abby Peralt, and this is Atlas of Skira, a daily celebration of the world's

strange, incredible, and wondrous places.

Today, we're stepping inside of the theater of electricity.

We're going to talk to Janine about what this contraption even is, and what it's like to be

the Zeus of Massachusetts, but like a way more responsible Zeus.

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