When you really think about it, sex to make babies is WEIRD! You take an outie that has to get stuck inside an innie that links into a production line of eggs to assemble a perfect tiny being. It's so damn complicated!

So why does it work like that?

Join us at What the Duck for the first episode of a new series where we figure out how living things went from splitting ourselves in half to double the population, to periodically feeling compelled to copulate in such a vigorous, sometimes highly embarrassing, manner.

Earth — this is your sexual history!

Please note that this program contains adult themes and explicit language. Parental guidance is recommended.

Featuring:

• Emeritus Professor David Siveter, University of Leicester, UK
• Assistant Professor Emily Mitchell, University of Cambridge, UK and curator of non-insect invertebrates, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK
• Dr Marissa Betts, geologist and palaeontologist at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia
• Dr Emily Willingham, biologist, journalist and author
• Associate Professor Patty Brennan, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, US

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer
• Additional mastering: Isabella Tropiano and Russell Stapleton
• Thanks also to Will Ockenden, Belinda Smith, Corey Hague and Joel Werner.

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2024 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.