This American Roach
5/29/202637 min
A couple summers ago, Radiolab reporter Alex Neason got out of the shower and almost stepped on her worst nightmare: an American Cockroach. It was flipped onto its back, struggling, and for a split second, Alex swears she felt the spiny tickle of its legs on the underside of her bare foot. And, like every other time she has come into contact with a roach, this sent her into a debilitating spiral of fear, anger, and disgust.
This week, Alex tries to understand what might be behind her fear, in the hopes she can overcome it. And in doing so, Alex learns more about these so-called pests than she could have ever wanted to.
Special thanks to Jessica Ware, Timothy Marzullo, Alexandra Bell, and Changlu Wang
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Alex Neason
Produced by - Jessica Yung and Annie McEwen
with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Sophie Samiee
and Edited by - Pat Walters
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Articles -
- American Cockroaches, Racism, and the Ecology of the Slave Ship (https://zpr.io/UNKsMz7ZaLvb) by Lindsay Garcia, Arcadia
Books -
- Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains (https://zpr.io/6E5wJBM4Kvcv) by Bethany Brookshire
- The Cockroach Papers (https://zpr.io/CvKePYxEMEAW) by Richard Schweid
- Cockroach (https://zpr.io/UuEAjmfqKccQ) by Marion Copeland
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLatif Nasser· Host0:00
[radio static] Hello, friends. We're doing something new and fun, a show not just for your ears, but also for your eyes and your skin and your tongues.
Alex Neason0:10
The [laughs] Latif, that sounds a little weird. [laughs] What we are doing is a live show where we give the full Radiolab treatment to other senses. Not just hearing, but now taste and touch.
Latif Nasser· Host0:23
We're taking the stage as part of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, one night only, June 9th, to explore pleasure.
Alex Neason0:32
You're gonna be literally tasting things and feeling things that hopefully you have never tasted or felt before.
Latif Nasser· Host0:38
And with the help of friends, musicians, science writers, foodies, we're gonna try to blow out your senses, to give you a new understanding of how you taste and feel this world.
Alex Neason0:51
We would love if you'd join us. Make us your Tuesday night date, uh, June 9th at 6:00 PM in Tribeca.
Latif Nasser· Host0:58
[laughs] I love that it's Tuesday night, like we're n- we're not a f- we're not asking for a Friday night.
Alex Neason1:01
We're not a Friday night date.
Latif Nasser· Host1:03
[laughs] Sure. But Tuesday night, you know, you can spare one of those.
Alex Neason1:06
I love a Tuesday night date.
Latif Nasser· Host1:07
You can buy your tickets at tribecafilm.com/audio. That's tribecafilm.com/audio.
Alex Neason1:14
And, uh, we're gonna give you a little discount code, so get your pen or your notes app ready. Uh, that's TF26RADIOLAB.
Latif Nasser· Host1:22
That's it. Join us.
Alex Neason1:24
Hope to see you there.
Latif Nasser· Host1:25
Woo!
Unknown speaker1:25
[gentle music]