From the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, oysters have influenced our history, our culture and, of course, our eating habits. When Captain John Smith sailed into the Chesapeake Bay, he said oysters were as big as dinner plates. Chefs, oystermen, conservationists, oyster-lovers, and poets Nikki Giovanni and Tim Seibles all weigh in about the legend and allure of Crassotrea virginica.

Later in the show: They’re baaaaack! Liberal use of DDT and other pesticides virtually eliminated bedbugs in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, but international travel has brought these unwanted passengers back into our hotel rooms. Entomologist Dini Miller is growing them in her lab, and volunteer graduate students are offering up their arms to study just how the bedbugs bite. Also: Wildlife photographer Lynda Richardson has risked life and limb traveling the world to photograph animals in the wild.