The Deadly Search For Immortality
For the Love of History - world history, women’s history, weird history

The Deadly Search For Immortality

B2Upper-intermediateMay 8, 202636 min

What if the pill you believed would save your life was slowly killing you? In the third century, the most powerful ruler in human history, Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, was secretly drinking mercury. His court alchemists called it the Elixir of Immortality. He called it hope. History calls it the thing that killed him. In this episode of For the Love of History, TK takes you on a journey through humanity's oldest obsession: cheating death. From the mercury-laced elixirs of ancient China to the gold tinctures of 16th-century French courts, to...

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 34%A2 33%B1 27%B2 7%C1 0%
  • 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 135 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 201 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time. Suddenly out of the dark it's a bit of a lobbing.

0:39

You'll meet the people who live life undercover. What do they know? What are their skills? And what would you do in their position? Vengeance felt good.

0:49

Seeing these people pay for what they've done felt righteous. True Spies from Spicecape Studios. Wherever you get your podcasts. It's the third century and a man sits alone as he swallows a handful of pills.

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