Marie Curie discovered two elements, won two Nobel Prizes in different sciences, and pioneered the use of mobile X-ray units on World War I battlefields. She also carried radioactive isotopes in her pockets, stored them in her desk drawer, and described the beautiful glow of radium in her darkened laboratory. The radiation that made her famous also killed her — her personal effects remain too contaminated to handle without protective gear.

This episode traces Curie from her clandestine education in occupied Poland through her groundbreaking Paris research, the public scandal that nearly ended her career, and the radiation exposure that slowly destroyed her body while she advanced the science she loved.

• Curie’s underground education in Russian-occupied Poland and her journey to Paris
• The discovery of polonium and radium and the physical toll of working with radioactive materials
• The sexism and xenophobia she faced, including the scandal that nearly cost her a second Nobel
• How decades of radiation exposure led to her death and why her belongings are still radioactive