Terrestrials: The Snow Beast
Radiolab
05/02/25
•31m
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Today we bring you a story stranger than fiction. In 2006, paleobiologist Natalia Rybczynski took a helicopter to a remote Arctic island near the North Pole, spending her afternoons scavenging for ancient treasures on the ground. One day, she found something the size of a potato chip. Turns out, it was a three and half million year old chunk of bone.
Keep reading if you’re okay with us spoiling the surprise.
It’s a camel! Yes, the one we thought only hung out in deserts. Originally from North America, the camel trotted around the globe and went from snow monster to desert superstar. We go on an evolutionary tour of the camel’s body and learn how the same adaptations that help a camel in a desert also helped it in the snow. Plus, Lulu even meets one in the flesh.
Special thanks to Latif Nasser for telling us this story. It was originally a TED Talk where he brought out a live camel on stage. Thank you also to Carly Mensch, Juliet Blake, Anna Bechtol, Stone Dow, Natalia Rybczynski and our camel man, Shayne Rigden. If you are in Wisconsin, you can go meet his camels at Rigden Ranch. And follow his delightful TikTok @rigdenranch to see camels in the snow!
Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC Studios. This episode was produced by Ana González, Alan Goffinski, Mira Burt-Wintonick, Joe Plourde, Lulu Miller, and Sarah Sandbach, with help from Tanya Chawla and Natalia Ramirez. Fact checking by Anna Pujol-Mazzini.
Our advisors this season are Ana Luz Porzecanski, Anil Lewis, Dominique Shabazz, and Liza Demby.
Support for Terrestrials also comes from the Simons Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and the John Templeton Foundation.
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Previous Episode
The Age of Aquaticus
April 25, 2025
•43m
For years, scientists thought nothing could live above 73°C/163°F. At that temperature, everything boiled to death. But scientists Tom Brock and Hudson Freeze weren’t convinced. What began as their simple quest to trawl for life in some of the hottest natural springs on Earth would, decades later, change the trajectory of biological science forever, saving millions of lives—possibly even yours.
This seismic, totally unpredictable discovery, was funded by the U.S. government. This week, as the Trump administration slashes scientific research budgets en masse, we tell one story, a parable about the unforeseeable miracles that basic research can yield. After that, a familiar voice raises some essential questions: what are we risking with these cuts? And can we recover?
Special thanks to Joanne Padrón Carney, Erin Heath, Valeria Sabate, Gwendolyn Bogard, Meredith Asbury and Megan Cantwell at AAAS. Thank you as well to Gregor Čavlović and Derek Muller and the rest of the Veritasium team.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Latif Nasser
with help from - Maria Paz Gutiérrez
Produced by - Sarah Qari and Maria Paz Gutiérrez
Original music and sound design and mixing from - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Emily Kreiger
and Edited by - Alex Neason with help from Sarah Qari
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Videos -
Latif also helped make a version of this story with the YouTube channel Veritasium.
Articles -
Hudson Freeze NYT OPED: Undercutting the Progress of American Science
Books -
Thomas Brock, A Scientist in Yellowstone National Park
Paul Rabinow’s Making PCR: A Story of Biotechnology
Podcasts Episodes:
If you haven’t heard, listen to our first episode about the Golden Goose awards.
Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (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 radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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Next Episode
The First Known Earthly Voice
May 9, 2025
•38m
What happens when a voice emerges? What happens when one is lost? Is something gained? A couple months ago, Lulu guest edited an issue of the nature magazine Orion. She called the issue “Queer Planet: A Celebration of Biodiversity,” and it was a wide-ranging celebration of queerness in nature. It featured work by amazing writers like Ocean Vuong, Kristen Arnett, Carmen Maria Machado and adrienne maree brown, among many others. But one piece in particular struck Lulu as something that was really meant to be made into audio, an essay called “Key Changes,” by the writer Sabrina Imbler. If their name sounds familiar, it might be because they’ve been on the show before. In this episode, we bring you Sabrina’s essay – which takes us from the beginning of time, to a field of crickets, to a karaoke bar – read by the phenomenal actor Becca Blackwell, and scored by our director of sound design Dylan Keefe. Stay to the end for a special surprise ... from Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls!
Special thanks to Jay Gallagher from UC Davis.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Sabrina Imbler
Produced by - Annie McEwen and Pat Walters
with help from - Maria Paz Gutiérrez
Original music from - Dylan Keefe
Fact-checking by - Kim Schmidt
and Edited by - Tajja Isen and Pat Walters
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Articles -
Check out Queer Planet: A Celebration of Biodiversity, Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)
Read Sabrina Imbler’s original essay, “Key Changes,” Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)
Read Lulu Miller’s mini-essay, “Astonishing Immobility,” Orion Magazine (Spring 2025)
Check out Sabrina Imbler’s Defector column Creaturefector all about animals
Audio -
Listen to Amy Ray’s song “Chuck Will’s Widow” from her solo album If It All Goes South
Books -
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures, by Sabrina Imbler
Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (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 radiolab@wnyc.org.
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.
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