What the Shell? Cracking the Lobster's Mysteries
6/9/202644 min
Consider the lobster roll: tender chunks of lobster bathed in butter or mayo, sandwiched between two slices of a squishy bread roll… Have we caught your attention yet? Lobster is a summertime staple in New England, a fixture on casino and cruise ship buffets, and a steady partner for steak in the classic surf 'n' turf. Today, the American lobster industry is the single most valuable fishery in the country—but it wasn’t always so. This episode, we're cracking the lobster's many mysteries, including how it went from prison fare to fancy food. There's also the question of what lobster eyes have to do with both the International Space Station and the belief in Intelligent Design, plus the rollicking tale of why it took scientists so long to locate the lobster penis—and what makes lobster sex so, well, steamy? Listen in now for the lobster lore you never knew you needed to know! (encore) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:01
You know, I, I still get emails about this episode of the show Friends where Ross and Rachel, the characters, finally hook up after this long, a- ambivalent romance. And Phoebe, who's kind of the tree hugger in the group, she's like, "Oh, look, I knew it. He's her lobster," because she has this kind of pop culture idea going that lobsters mate for life.
Lisa Kudrow· Soundbite0:23
Hang in there, it's gonna happen. Well, okay, now how do you know that? Because she's your lobster. Come on you guys, it's a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life. And you know what? You can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank, you know, holding claws like... See? He's her lobster.
Cynthia Graber· Host0:45
All these years later, I can still hear Phoebe in my head saying that. She convinced millions of people that lobsters are super romantic. Honestly, all I care is that lobsters are super delicious. But I guess it's good that they have some happiness before ending up inside a buttered roll. A delicious, delicious lobster roll. I live in New England, and lobster rolls are pretty much the pinnacle of summer here. Perfect for the latest episode of Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history. I'm Cynthia Graber. And I'm Nicola Twilley, and this episode we're considering the lobster. Like, first things first, do lobsters really have lifelong love affairs as Phoebe claims, or are their relationships a little more complicated than that? Heads up for