Podcast
Poisoned History
Hosted by Suzanne · EN
Poisoned History is about poisons and how they have been used for nefarious purposes throughout history. Listen to true crime with commentary from a chemist's perspective. Don't worry, we don't nerd out *all* the time...
Cover art was generated using the Imagine.ai app
13episodes
Episodes
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Jane Toppan, Very Jolly
Jul 1, 202501:07:48Tap to summarizeJane Toppan, aka Jolly Jane, was a nurse in the late 19th century who cared for the elderly and also murdered at least 31 of them. She admitted to taking pleasure in watching them die and her deeds were drooled over by the public. William Randolph Hearst’s sensationalist newspapers had a field day with her.Sources andresources:WikipediaThe Clinton Morning Age, July 27, 1902,Page 3, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6ncmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CgEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4194%2C996821Jane Toppan “Jolly Jane,” serial killerresearched by E. Allen, A. Averil, E. Cook; 2005, Dept of Psychology, RadfordUniversity, Radford, VA. Accessed June 11, 2025. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Toppan,%20Jane%20-%202005.pdf“Jane Toppan is Dead,” Old Colony HistoryMuseum, accessed June 15, 2025. https://ochm.medium.com/jane-toppan-is-dead-be9888540c15Fontes, K., “Women of Taunton: SerialKiller Jane Toppan spent her final years at Taunton State Hospital” TauntonDaily Gazette, Oct 18, 2022. Accessed June 15, 2025. https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/history/2022/10/18/women-taunton-jane-toppan-serial-killer-and-poison-nurse/8209014001/In Their Footsteps: Cape Cod History -Jane Toppan's Poisoning Murders, https://christophersetterlund.blogspot.com/2019/10/in-their-footsteps-cape-cod-history_31.html,accessed June 15, 2025.Lombardo, P., Image archiveon the American eugenics movement, Dolan DNA Learning Center, Cold SpringHarbor Laboratory, http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay8text.html Accessed June 21, 2025Lowell’s ties to“Jolly” Jane, Massachusetts’ female serial killer, October 29, 2022, https://www.lowellhistoricalsociety.org/lowells-ties-to-jolly-jane-massachusetts-female-serial-killer/ Accessed June 15, 2025. This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensedunder CCBYNC 4.0All statements in this podcast represent the opinionsof the host and her guests.Cover art photos: photo, public domain.
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Georgi Markov and the Umbrella (Pen?) Killing
Jun 1, 202500:38:03Tap to summarizeGeorgi Markov was a Bulgarian writer (and chemist!) in the 1960s and 70s whose writings against the Soviet Union and Bulgaria got the attention of that government and led to his targeting for assassination. Sources and resources:Umbrella Assassin. PBS, Secrets of the Dead, Season 5, Episode 5, https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/umbrella-assassin-background/1546/Georgi Markov refused to be silent about communism and paid with his life. Foundation for Economic Education, https://fee.org/articles/georgi-markov-refused-to-be-silent-about-communism-and-paid-with-his-life/35 years since murder of dissident Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov. Noinvite.com, Sofia News Agency, https://www.novinite.com/articles/153445/35+Years+since+Murder+of+Dissident+Bulgarian+Writer+Georgi+MarkovThe poison-tipped umbrella: the death of Georgi Markov in 1978 – archive, compiled by Richard Nelsson, The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2020/sep/09/georgi-markov-killed-poisoned-umbrella-london-1978Ricin properties: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441948/#:~:text=Ricin%20is%20a%20naturally%20occurring,per%20kilogram%20can%20be%20lethal.This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.Cover art photos: photo, public domain.
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Graham Young, the Teacup Poisoner
Apr 1, 202500:55:48Tap to summarizeGraham Young was a psychopath chemist who killed or injured many people who he came in contact with. He was fascinated with chemistry, poisons, and the Nazis, and had a habit of poisoning co-workers who annoyed him...as well as co-workers and friends he liked. Sources and resources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_YoungBowden, Paul, Graham Young (1947-1990); the St Albans poisoner: his life and times, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 17-24 1996 Supplement. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.132https://www.biography.com/crime/graham-youngGraham Young, the Bovingdon Poisoner, https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/nostalgia/crimelibrary/grahamyoung/thebovingdonpoisoner/Belladonna: https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB13913https://imss.org/2020/05/a-note-from-the-collections-from-assassinations-to-witches-brews-the-troubled-history-of-the-belladonna-plant/?srsltid=AfmBOoqSoJwNffXblU8NtxtSeGhuj-sNvK9AaMJgSbdeS45lGvf7Nq1PAntimony:Martin, R.; Lee, VR., Antimony Toxicity, NIH National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK608003/Thallium: Vearrier, D., Thallium Toxicity Clinical Presentation, Medscape https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/821465-clinical?form=fpfKemnic, TR; Coleman, M., Thallium Toxicity, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513240/This podcast uses sound from Freesound.org:minor-key-music-box by user darkwaryurmc (http://freesound.org/s/318908/) licensed under CCBYNC 4.0All statements in this podcast represent the opinions of the host and her guests.Cover art photos: public domain.
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