Podcast Summary III: “Crabs All the Way Down” OR “The Mosquitoes are Winning”

Description

For this assignment, you may opt for one of the two podcasts presented below. 

For full credit, please include:

1) Three key points;

2) Something that is a novelty for you;

3) The short, take-home message;

3) Your personal take on this podcast.

Option 1: Crabs All the Way DownThe entire podcast is divided into two stories. Though initially they seem to be unrelated, they are shown to be connected at the end of story #2. Your focus should be mostly on story #2 (which discusses convergent evolution, adaptive radiation) but should bring in the lesson learned from the first story. Please summarize it as such.

Radiolab summary:

This week we examine one of nature’s most humble creations: crabs. Turns out when you look closely at these little scuttlers, things get surprisingly existential — about how to come into being, how to survive chaos, and how to live. We even examine the possibility of evolutionary destiny.

This episode is a two-parter, a double-decker crab cake of sorts. Served up on a bed of lettuce and beautiful weirdness. The first layer comes from producer Rachael Cusick, and is a story she told live on stage at Pop-Up Magazine (http://www.popupmagazine.com) as a part of their Fall of 2022 tour. It chronicles a cross-species love story between artist Mary Akers (http://maryakers.com/) and an overlooked pet store companion, a  creature that even Chris Tudge (https://zpr.io/MyUNwPAaqewg) — the scientist dedicated to this creature, you could say — could not get a ring on. The second layer is cooked up by Lulu, who tries to understand why crabs keep evolving (according to recent work by Jo Wolfe (https://zpr.io/2GftY9RjbLkF), Heather Bracken-Grissom (https://zpr.io/HhvMVfnThp5P) and Javier Luque (https://zpr.io/xBiQHEtNSKZr)).

Option 2: The Mosquitoes are WinningThe Daily summary:

For decades, the world seemed to be winning the war against mosquitoes and tamping down the deadly diseases they carried. But in the past few years, progress has not only stalled, it has reversed. Stephanie Nolen, who covers global health for The Times, explains how the mosquito has once again gained the upper hand in the fight.