Zombified: Your Source for Fresh Brains

In this episode, Cristine Legare explains how imitation is at the heart of what makes us human. Cristine studies how kids learn through imitation, and how this helps kids learn what they need to know in order to survive and thrive in whatever environment they find themselves in. She also explains how our ability to imitate is both a great power and a serious vulnerability. Cristine offers a serious brain share in this inimitable episode.

Emily Zarka has her go bag in the trunk of her car, just in case. And you’d be lucky to have her on your Z-team. Not only is she prepped with her Zombie Apocalypse supplies, she’s also got a PhD. in Monsters. In this episode, Emily talks with us about all things zombie - from how we can use the ZA as a way to prepare for disasters, to how zombies can help us reflect on being human. She explains how in movies zombies are often a red herring for the real monsters, us humans. She also shares her Zombie Apocalypse tips, from writing your critical survival notes in pencil (so they don’t run if they get wet) to all the things you can (and should) do with duct tape.

Behold the twisted paths of the mind, where laughter and shrooms dance a cosmic Macarena. Delve with us into the mind-bending musings of comic and psychonaut Shane Mauss, to awaken our inner selves from the slumber of the undead, and to discuss how psychedelic tourism may create it's own zombie society. Prepare for a mind-expanding mix of science and comedy!

Do you like the idea that bugs could crawl right out of your eyes, and that fungus could control your brain? That's weird, but this episode is for you! Join us for a rollicking fun conversation with parasitologist and science communicator extraordinaire, Kelly Weinersmith, about the weird and wonderful world of parasites!

Are we ready for the apocalypse? In this episode, evolutionary anthropologist Mike Gurven explains how humans have encountered apocalyptic conditions - whether disease, disasters or war - throughout our evolutionary history. We talk with Mike about what the likely scale of destruction was in ancestral apocalypses, how sex helped us bounce back from population decimation, and why we need math to understand how much a part of life death was for our ancestors. This one is definitely dark, but also morbidly inspiring. If we evolved to deal with apocalypses, we might be a hell of a lot more resilient to hellish conditions than we think.