Before Bo Burnham and Randy Rainbow, there was Tom Lehrer—a math professor with a piano, a poison pen, and the guts to turn Cold War panic and social taboos into showtunes.
In this episode, we trace Lehrer's meteoric rise from Harvard lecture halls to nationwide infamy, explore the reasons behind his abrupt retirement from public performance, and unpack the legacy he left behind—one of blistering wit, moral clarity, and songs that still sting decades later.
From “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” to donating his entire catalog to the public domain, Lehrer's life invites us to ask: what happens when satire becomes timeless?
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