Nikola Tesla

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Nikola Tesla, the visionary inventor, helped shape the modern world. Hailing from what is now Croatia, he arrived in America with just four cents in his pocket and a head full of inventions. Within a few short years, he revolutionised the burgeoning industry of electricity. As well as induction motors that run our appliances and factories to this day, Telsa also invented robots and remote control, developed foundation technology for radio, and dreamed up plans for cell phones, the Internet, death ray weapons, and electric cars. He was also a charismatic showman who drew crowds but couldn’t bear to touch people. A workaholic who made vast sums and lost them. But what drew this young man from central Europe to physics? What was his path from would-be priest to trailblazing inventor? And as a key figure in the engineering revolution that brought electricity into almost every aspect of modern life, why has he been largely overlooked by history? This is a Short History Of Nikola Tesla. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Richard Munson, author of Tesla: Inventor of the Modern Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact Check: Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Nikola Tesla is an episode from Short History Of... by Noiser.

This episode is 57:38 long.

This episode was published on Jan 19, 2026.

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