In sixth-century BC Sicily, an Athenian bronze worker named Perillos traveled to the wealthy colony of Akragas to pitch a new device to its tyrant, Phalaris: a life-size hollow bronze bull with a door in its side and a system of pipes in its throat that converted a victim's screams into the bellowing of an animal. This episode examines the engineering, the psychology and the legend of the brazen bull.

It explains how Phalaris seized power by diverting temple funds to hire mercenaries, why a ruler holding a city by force needed spectacle rather than mere execution, and how the acoustic design stripped the human frequencies from a scream to sever the audience's empathy. It follows the sales pitch that promised incense-scented smoke and bones polished like jewels, the tyrant's decision to lock the inventor inside for a demonstration, Phalaris' ...