The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean
The Publicity Stunt that Sparked the Scopes Monkey Trial
December 16, 202518 min · 3,278 words
Show notes
Exactly a century ago, teacher John Scopes was charged with the “crime” of teaching evolution. But Scopes was hardly a defiant Galileo, nobly standing up for truth. In fact, he never even taught evolution. (Really.) But despite the unseemly origins of the Monkey Trial, Scopes proved himself a genuine hero. Advertising Inquiries: Privacy & Opt-Out:
Highlighted moments
They chose him because, as a young bachelor from out of state, he didn't have any family members nearby that would suffer from any threats or abuse.
“on the day that evolution came up in his lesson plans, Scopes was out sick. So the class skipped the topic, which meant that Scopes never actually taught a lesson on evolution.”
“The defense team therefore coached the students on what to say. Then the students parroted the lawyer's words back.”
Transcript
Transcript not available for this episode yet.