Is this title deliberately provocative? Maybe. After all, sex sells, hubba-hubba. The origin stories for the name “Red Light District” are wrapped in myth and mystery. From a Dodge City saloon, to old West railroad brakemen who hung the red signal lights outside the home of the women they visited during a stop. And what about oysters and dive bars? Well, that’s probably the most salacious story of all—sort of. And all these stories link to the neon signs today that draw us into places that may be a little dangerous and a lot of fun.

Boron equals boring? Maybe, but it’s ubiquitous and is literally the backbone element of hundreds of other chemicals in use today—from bleach to rocket fuel. You only thought that it was about the 20-mule team out of Death Valley days? Well, take a seat by the cracker barrel and I’ll tell you a tale...

Phosphorus, which means "light bringer” in Greek, is the “morning star” god of the planet Venus. Mass manufacturing of friction matches using phosphorous ramped up after the 1830s, and factory-manufactured matches were literally made by hand—thousands and thousands per day—the tips dipped into a chemical soup of sulfur and antimony, baked to dry, and finally coated in white phosphorus for the quick strike. But conditions in the match factories were horrible. Which led to the matchgirl strike, which led to unions. All bought to you by the Periodic Table of DEATH and Mystery Podcast.