Ben Franklin’s Glass Armonica

Episode 401

8th February 2022

Benjamin Franklin: Prolific writer. Founding Father. Inventor. Creator of a killer instrument? The Glass Armonica, more or less a series of singing water bowls with haunting melody, became a popular instrument for a very short amount of time. But by 1830, it ceased being played entirely. Was it because its strange harmonics were making people ill? Or maybe it was just very fragile and hard to carry around? 

Episode notes

Benjamin Franklin: Prolific writer. Founding Father. Inventor. Creator of a killer instrument? The Glass Armonica, more or less a series of singing water bowls with haunting melody, became a popular instrument for a very short amount of time. But by 1830, it ceased being played entirely. Was it because its strange harmonics were making people ill? Or maybe it was just very fragile and hard to carry around?

Music: “Medicines” by The Taxpayers https://taxpayers.bandcamp.com/

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About the show

Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin welcome you to Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine. Every Friday, they dig through the annals of medical history to uncover all the odd, weird, wrong, dumb and just gross ways we’ve tried to fix people over the years. Educational? You bet! Fun? We hope!

Send topic suggestions to sawbones@maximumfun.org and follow @Sawbones on Twitter.

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