Stereo Chemistry

The first issue of C&EN was published in 1923 with the stated purpose of “the promotion of research, the development of the chemical industry, and the welfare of the chemist.” 

The world of chemistry has grown a lot since then, and the magazine has been there to report on it all.

To celebrate our 100th anniversary, C&EN reporter and informal historian Alex Tullo has sifted through thousands of issues of the magazine, and in this episode, he guides our host Craig Bettenhausen on a tour through the magazine’s history from the industrialization of plastics, to the environmental movement, to the modern era of digital publication. 

When this episode was recorded, Tullo was preparing the From the Archives feature for the 1980s, which is now published.

C&EN Uncovered, a project from C&EN’s podcast, Stereo Chemistry, offers a deeper look at subjects from recent stories. Read Alex’s entire series about the C&EN archives at cenm.ag/fromthearchives.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

Credits

Executive producer: Gina Vitale

C&EN Uncovered host: Craig Bettenhausen

Reporter: Alex Tullo

Audio editor: Brian Gutierrez

Copyeditor: Bran Vickers

Story editor: Manny I. Fox Morone

Episode artwork: Shutterstock/Kay Youn/Will Ludwig/C&EN

Music: “Hot Chocolate” by Aves

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Contact us on social media @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.

Early-career scientists are increasingly gravitating toward science policy, but the transition from the research bench to the policy office can be a tricky one. What can that path look like, and how can chemistry knowledge translate into a successful science policy career? In this bonus episode of C&EN’s Bonding Time, Mark Feuer DiTusa sits down with recent science PhD graduates and science policy professionals Jennifer DiStefano and Jared Mondschein to hear about their intertwined journeys, what science policy looks like for them, and how they think policy is shaping the direction of chemistry in the US.

You can find the episode where we spoke with six chemists about their yearlong science policy fellowships in Washington, DC, at http://cenm.ag/lessons.

You can connect with Jennifer DiStefano and Jared Mondschein at their LinkedIn pages.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

Credits

Executive producer: Gina Vitale

Writer: Mark Feuer DiTusa

Audio editor: Mark Feuer DiTusa, Brian Gutierrez

Story editor: Ariana Remmel

Copyeditor: Sabrina Ashwell, Michael McCoy

Show logo design: William A. Ludwig

Episode artwork: William A. Ludwig

Music (in order of appearance): “The Beat Detector” by Novembers, "Sugar Cubes" by Avner Kelmer

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Tweet at us at @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.

Hydrogen might be the key to a clean energy future, but only if it can be made without fossil fuels. Most hydrogen today is made from methane.

With generous government tax credits and enthusiasm for sustainable technology, the race is on for green hydrogen.

Craig Bettenhausen, our usual host, guides C&EN associate editor Gina Vitale through the hydrogen rainbow and how the periodic table’s number 1 element could become the number 1 fuel.

C&EN Uncovered, a new project from C&EN’s podcast, Stereo Chemistry, offers a deeper look at subjects from recent cover stories. Read Bettenhausen’s July 3, 2023, cover story about hydrogen electrolyzers at cenm.ag/hydrolyzers.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

Credits

Executive producer: Gina Vitale

Host: Gina Vitale

Cover story reporter: Craig Bettenhausen

Audio editor: Brian Gutierrez

Story editor: Michael McCoy

Copyeditor: Sabrina Ashwell

Show logo design: William A. Ludwig

Episode artwork: Nel

Music: “Hot Chocolate” by Aves

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Tweet at us @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.

The modern world runs on electronic devices and energy systems that are powered by valuable elements such as lithium and uranium. There are a limited number of terrestrial mines that produce energy-critical elements, which makes the supply of these materials prone to disruption. So researchers are looking to an unconventional source: seawater. Almost every element on the periodic table can be found in global oceans–but most are dissolved in ultralow concentrations. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we’ll hear from scientists in the United States and European Union about why they’re interested in extracting metals and minerals from seawater and how they’re using chemistry to do it.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon at cen.acs.org.

Download the Chemistry News by C&EN mobile app for iOS and Android. 

Learn more about lithium mining from our September 2022 episode.

Credits

Producers: Ariana Remmel, Kerri Jansen
Writer: Mitch Jacoby
Audio editor: Mark Feuer DiTusa
Story editors: Gina Vitale, Craig Bettenhausen
Copyeditor: Sabrina Ashwell
Show logo design: William A. Ludwig
Episode artwork: Shutterstock/C&EN Staff
Music (in order of appearance): “Daydream” by Ikoliks, “Distance” by Daniel Brown
Sound effects (in order of appearance): “Small waves, rocks and beach” from BigSoundBank.com

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Tweet at us @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.

Be they powered by fossil fuels, batteries, or hydrogen, cars are here to stay. So what can be done to make tires greener? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporters Alex Scott and Craig Bettenhausen look at where the rubber meets the road, literally. Scott examined efforts to make tires more sustainable in a recent cover story for C&EN. He found people working on the movement and fate of tiny specks of tire-and-asphalt dust in the environment as well as large-scale efforts to shift to biobased and recycled raw materials when making new tires.

C&EN Uncovered, a project from C&EN’s podcast, Stereo Chemistry, offers another look at subjects from recent cover stories. Read Scott’s May 29th, 2023, cover story about how the tire industry is pushing to become more sustainable at https://bit.ly/42MMseA.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3Kw5gID.

Credits

Executive producer: Gina Vitale

C&EN Uncovered host: Craig Bettenhausen

Cover story reporter: Alex Scott

Audio editor: Mark Feuer DiTusa

Story editor: Michael McCoy, Ariana Remmel, Laura Howes

Copyeditor: Sabrina Ashwell

Show logo design: William A. Ludwig

Episode artwork: Pyrum Innovations

Music: “Hot Chocolate” by Aves

Contact Stereo Chemistry: Tweet at us @cenmag or email cenfeedback@acs.org.