Radiolab

This American Roach


Listen Later

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
    • Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

      Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

      Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

      Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


      Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      RadiolabBy WNYC Studios

      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6
      • 4.6

      4.6

      42,322 ratings


      More shows like Radiolab

      View all
      This American Life by This American Life

      This American Life

      91,297 Listeners

      TED Radio Hour by NPR

      TED Radio Hour

      21,954 Listeners

      Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

      Freakonomics Radio

      32,246 Listeners

      Fresh Air by NPR

      Fresh Air

      38,430 Listeners

      Planet Money by NPR

      Planet Money

      30,609 Listeners

      Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

      Hidden Brain

      43,687 Listeners

      Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

      Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

      38,950 Listeners

      The Moth by The Moth

      The Moth

      27,011 Listeners

      Invisibilia by NPR

      Invisibilia

      21,619 Listeners

      99% Invisible by Roman Mars

      99% Invisible

      26,242 Listeners

      Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and PRX

      Snap Judgment

      11,644 Listeners

      More Perfect by WNYC Studios

      More Perfect

      14,450 Listeners

      Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

      Science Friday

      6,467 Listeners

      Heavyweight by Pushkin Industries

      Heavyweight

      17,649 Listeners

      Throughline by NPR

      Throughline

      16,512 Listeners

      Dolly Parton's America by WNYC Studios & OSM Audio

      Dolly Parton's America

      16,405 Listeners

      The Other Latif by WNYC Studios

      The Other Latif

      474 Listeners

      Terrestrials by WNYC

      Terrestrials

      1,183 Listeners