This week we are talking about Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman born in the 1920’s and her cells that would change the face of modern medicine. Scientists would call Henrietta's cells HeLa cells.

The First HeLa cells were removed from her cervix in 1951 at Johns Hopkins hospital only a few months before her death caused by cervical cancer. Henrietta was 31 when she died. These cells however would live on long after their owners death.

The HeLa cells would become one of the most medically significant breakthroughs in science over the next half a century. They were used to help cure polio, Sent into space to test what happened to human cells in zero gravity, testing chemo therapy, Made Genetic Screening possible, Advanced In vitro fertilization research Advancing cloning research(yuck).

Basically anything that needs to be tested for human use has spent some time working with HeLa. it has become the defacto research workhorse. Demand for HeLa cells grew so large that factories had to be built just to propagate her cells.

Today there are trillions of descendants of those original cells taken from Henrietta in labs all over the world. However Henrietta died just months after the first sample was taken. That sample was taken without her explicit consent and the family didn't even learn that scientists were using her cells until 20 years later and even after a multi million dollar industry was created around the Hela Cells, the family didn't receive a dime until 2023.

We also talk about a woman named Mary Papanicolaou who voluntarily received a Pap Smear every day for 21 years! Wild.

Hope you enjoy!

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This week we are wrapping up the Jay Gould story! After tanking the Gold exchange, Jay got right back to work messing up the train industry.

He had a dream of connecting a transcontinental rail path, and he got to work purchasing any train companies he could get his rascally little hands on. By WHATEVER means necessary.

All the while, perpetrating some stunning examples of price fixing, insider trading, and pump and dump schemes leaving most of his business partners in his wake. All activities that are highly illegal today but were just part of doing business back in Gilded Age America!

By 1881, Gould personally owned over 15,000 miles of rail line or about 15% of the countries total railways.

We follow the ups and downs of this last chapter of his life before he eventually contracting tuberculosis and passing away at 56 leaving behind a huge legacy and a massive fortune but since he liked to stay mysterious and not put his name on anything most people don't think of him as the shady titan of business that he actually was.

We hope you enjoy!

Sources: American Rascal How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune by Greg Steimetz

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We are back with another installment of the Jay Gould story. This week we have moved on from leather and firmly landed in the world of trains.

Gould thought he saw a prime opportunity in the Erie Railroad. however he wasn't the only one. In order to gain control of these tracks and trains, Gould would have to pick a fight with the already infamous Cornelius Vanderbilt. Both men were willing to stop at no cost to get control including but not limited to tanking the entire economy to do it.

Eventually Gould and his partner James Fisk were able to narrowly gain control of the railroad. This fight between Gould, Fisk, and Vanderbilt would later be called the Eerie War.

The success against Vanderbilt really put Gould on the map giving him enough power and money to make some even riskier bets and perpetrate some even more brazen rule breaking. This time with much wider reaching consequences. But that will be next week.

We hope you enjoy!

Sources: American Rascal How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune by Greg Steimetz

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