The clear lemon-lime soda many people reach for as an innocent option launched in 1928 containing lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. This episode unpacks how Charles Leiper Grigg’s St. Louis creation, sold by the Howdy Corporation, grew from a patent-medicine style tonic into a global brand.

We examine theories behind the name, the removal of lithium by 1937, and the 2006 all-natural reformulation that drew legal threats over high fructose corn syrup. Then we cover flops like 7 Up Gold and dnL, international hits like 7Up Revive and salted lemon 7Up, the Uncola campaigns, mascots, and sponsorship highs and lows.

• Why the bib label name is a myth and the seven ingredients versus atomic mass theories
• How the Center for Science in the Public Interest pushed the brand to say natural flavors
• Why caffeinated, spiced 7 Up Gold captured just 0.1 percent of the market
• Geoffrey Holder’s Uncola ads, Fresh Up Freddy, Cool Spot, and Fido Dido
• Schumacher’s debut in the Jordan 191 and the recalled 1992 to 1993 Fiorentina away shirt