Secretly Incredibly Fascinating - BONUS SHOW 146: "The Truth (And The Strangest Myths) About Castoreum"
This is the bonus show for Episode 146! (Beavers)
Alex Schmidt, Katie Goldin, and John Hodgman explore the obviously incredibly fascinating topic of castoreum: the real, almost magical substance excreted by beaver butts that captivated a couple continents.
RESEARCH SOURCES:
Beaver Butts Emit Goo Used for Vanilla Flavoring (National Geographic)
Species Profile: Beaver -- Castor canadensis (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
Loeb Classical Library upload of 'Natural History' by Pliny the Elder
Sawbones podcast: "Pliny The Elder" (Maximum Fun)
The Beaver as Chemist: Total Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Nupharamine Alkaloids from Castoreum (Phys.org)
Does Vanilla Flavoring Come from Beaver Anal Secretions? (Snopes.com)
The Treasured Testicles of the Medieval Beaver (The Getty)
Castor sacs and anal glands of the north american beaver (Castor canadensis): their histology, development, and relationship to scent communication (study in the Journal of Chemical Ecology)
Kubrick's Shining Secret (The Washington Post)
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