Origin Stories and How We Become Who We Are

Origin stories connect us to the past and speak to what shaped us. On this episode, we’ll listen back to some of our favorite origin stories.

Air Date: January 3, 2025

In the U.S., baby incubators and neonatal intensive care units have their roots in a surprising place — sideshow carnivals. In this photo, taken by Jessie Tarbox Beals, nurses attend to babies at the 1904 World's Fair baby incubator exhibit. (Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum via Wikimedia Commons)

Great origin stories aren’t only for superheroes or villains in movies — lots of fascinating tales shed light on how places or people got their start. Origin stories connect us to the past, and the journey that brought us to where we are now. On a personal level, these narratives speak to what makes us unique, what challenged us, and what shaped us. On this special episode of The Pulse, we’ll listen back to some of our favorite origin stories; everything from the beginnings of the ICU and Facebook to a famous conman.

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Writer Dawn Ruffle explains why incubators were first used at carnival sideshows, where tiny babies were put on display for gawking audiences. But one entrepreneur took the survival of these babies very seriously, and his innovations paved the way for neonatal care and NICUs.
When investigative reporter Matt Katz took a DNA test on a whim, he learned some shocking new information. He was not 100% Ashkenazi Jewish as he had believed his whole life, and the man he thought was his father turned out not to be related to him. Katz documented his complicated search for his roots in the podcast “Inconceivable Truth.”
ICUs take care of very sick patients who are in crisis — and these units themselves were born during a time of crisis more than 70 years ago, when one doctor’s brilliant idea changed how care was approached. We listen back to Daniel Semo’s story on the origins of the ICU.
You’ve probably heard the origin story of Facebook — how a few Harvard students revolutionized how we communicate and share our lives. But there is another origin story tied to Facebook, once that is connected to U.S. intelligence agencies.
Sometimes, an origin story sounds too far-fetched, or maybe just too good to be true. Among those, is the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a self-proclaimed master conman and check forger whose life was dramatized in the 2002 Steven Spielberg film “Catch Me if You Can” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. But when science writer Alan Logan dug into Abagnale’s tale, none of the facts added up. He joined us to talk about his book “The Greatest Hoax on Earth — Catching Truth While We Can.”

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