She was marketed by MGM as the "world's most beautiful woman," but Hedy Lamarr’s greatest legacy wasn't on the silver screen—it was hidden in a patent that helped pave the way for modern wireless communication.

In this episode of pplpod, we dive into the dual life of Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, the Vienna-born actress who fled a controlling marriage to an Austrian arms dealer with ties to Mussolini and Hitler to become a Hollywood legend,,. We trace her journey from the scandalous nudity of the 1933 film Ecstasy to her rise as a box-office sensation in hits like Algiers and the religious epic Samson and Delilah,,.

But while the public obsessed over her glamour, Lamarr was secretly bored by her "seductress" roles and spent her off-hours inventing,,. We discuss:

• The E ...