Podcast Episode

The Mold That Ended Wars

The Breaking Point··5 August 2026·26 min

About this episode

In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed something a less-curious scientist would have thrown in the bin — a contaminated petri dish with a mysterious clear halo around a spot of mold. What followed wasn't a eureka moment but a decade of neglect, a world war, and a scramble by two other scientists to turn a curiosity into the drug that would save an estimated 200 million lives. The discovery of penicillin is the story of how accident, abandonment, and desperation accidentally conspired to change what it means to be mortal. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.