The history of the development of intellectual property rights captured in podcast

BackStory is a podcast (and a radio program) that attempts to bring an historical perspective to events happening around us today. What is happening with intellectual property has not escaped the prying eyes of historians Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf and Brian Balogh. Patent Pending: A History of Intellectual Property lasts about an hour, and is described on the BackStory website as:

“Can genes be patented? Are downloaders inhibiting musical creativity – or enhancing it? Questions about “intellectual property” are everywhere today – but what exactly is intellectual property? And what are these kinds of rights supposed to achieve?”

As the U.S. Supreme Court gets ready to rule on Myriad, the podcasters report that living organisms have been patented before and offer “perspective from the first scientist” to do so.