Victorian Drug Party

The Box of Oddities

John Elliott and Kat Walls

Society & Culture, True Crime, Comedy

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode of The Box of Oddities careens from Victorian “laughing gas” parties to a prehistoric rainstorm that may have changed the course of life on Earth forever. Jethro uncovers the bizarre true story of how modern anesthesia was born from public nitrous oxide demonstrations where people inhaled mystery gases for entertainment, smashed into furniture, and laughed through injuries that should have been agonizing. It’s the strange, accidental chain of events that transformed surgery from a nightmare into modern medicine. Then Kat takes us back 233 million years to the Carnian Pluvial Episode — a catastrophic climate event where it may have rained almost nonstop for up to two million years. Massive volcanic eruptions, collapsing ecosystems, extinction events, and the unexpected rise of dinosaurs all collide in a story that feels disturbingly relevant today. Could humanity itself owe its existence to Earth’s worst rainstorm? Also inside the Box: • The horrifying reality of surgery before anesthesia • Humphry Davy and the recreational origins of nitrous oxide • Horace Wells’ tragic dental breakthrough • Ancient volcanic eruptions that reshaped life on Earth • Why adaptability may matter more than dominance • The strange origins of phrases like “toe the line,” “basket case,” and “pipe down” If you love bizarre history, weird science, overlooked medical breakthroughs, ancient disasters, and the wonderfully strange intersections where chaos accidentally changes civilization forever, this episode is for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Chris Stewart, and I invite you to come and join us here at the History of China podcast.
0:05.0	We've got it all. Wars with millions on each side to help drive home exactly why you should never get involved in a land war in Asia.
0:11.0	Come along on the Silk Road to partake in its riches. Join the great cons of the steps on campaign.
0:16.0	Ply the seas on treasure ships, or strike out with pirate crews to take their riches for your own.
0:25.3	Experience the sumptuousness of the imperial court behind the guarded gates of the forbidden city.
0:29.1	All this and so much more here at the History of China podcast.
0:35.3	The Box of Oddities.
0:38.1	Pump up the jam. Pump it up. I've had that stuck in my head for a couple of oddities. Pump up the jam. Pump it up.
0:41.6	I've had that stuck in my head for a couple of days now.
0:47.4	I just had to get it out of my system because if I don't, then I feel like my molecular structure will dissolve.
0:48.8	But now it's in everyone else's system.
0:50.9	Pump up the jam.
0:53.5	That's really nice, sweetie. Thanks. You know what else is really nice? I got a message
0:57.5	yesterday and I was in one of those situations where I did not want to cry but I was like
1:05.4	borderline crying and I had to scold myself and be like no you don't cry right now. This is not the time.
1:12.2	Because your molecules will dissolve. Yes. Sometimes I feel like if there are certain times where I cry, my molecules might dissolve.
1:20.8	But I got a message from one of the lovely ladies that I dog sit for. And she's been listening to the podcast, which is so
1:29.7	nice. And she said that how she loves that I'm doing this to raise money for Strying North.
1:35.4	You didn't tell her that. She discovered that by just listening to the podcast. And so she
1:40.3	offered to pay me more to help with the project. And I'm just like, I can't. Watch out.
1:49.5	It's just the sweetest thing. Mind your molecules. I know. My molecules are at risk. That's really sweet.
1:57.0	I know. You guys have really hit it off, haven't you? Yeah, I like her a lot. That's cool.
	...

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