Animal trials have always been part of society, but we are not talking about the ones with lab mice. In medieval times dozens of animals were tried in human courts for committing human crimes. It sounds silly, but the practice raises an uncomfortable question that we are still grappling with today: if we hold animals accountable in court, doesn’t that mean that they deserve some sort of legal protection? We kill them for food and skin them for leather after all. What about medical and product trials that sacrifice thousands of animals despite the fact that they have had diminishing returns throughout the years?
CreditsHost: Sam Kean
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
Episode 162: A Day in the Life - Noon
Episode 161: A Day in the Life - Morning
Episode 160: Teflon
Episode 159: Kean on Genes
Episode 158: The Alchemical Quest
Episode 157: Smoke and Mirrors
Episode 156: Hard to Stomach
Episode 155: Shipwrecks
Episode 154: Fast and Slow
Episode 153: Best Of Distillations #10
Episode 152: Best of Distillations #9
Episode 151: Tears
Episode 150: Sweat
Episode 149: Blood
Episode 148: Across the Pond
Episode 147: Babies
Episode 146: Something in the Air
Episode 145: Asbestos
Episode 144: Mystery of Mass (Spec)
Episode 143: Fairyland of Chemistry
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