If I took a shot of water for every time I said the word "cockroach" or "wasp", I would be so hydrated I wouldn't need a daily reminder to drink more water.

This was such a fun episode to make! I never thought I'd feel sympathy for a cockroach or fond of a wasp, but here we are. I also may have had too much fun with GarageBand.

Here's some really cool articles I came across while researching:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-a-wasp-turns-cockroaches-into-zombies1/

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1213384110

https://karger.com/bbe/article/92/1-2/32/47275/How-Not-to-Be-Turned-into-a-Zombie

You may have heard about cordyceps fungi - the fungus that basically zombifies ants. But what about the mind controlling horsehair worm? Me neither. Let's talk about it!

Sources:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982223013015

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/09-1565.1

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065308X05590043

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7471.html

https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/news/article/2021_06_29_01/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10228-024-00955-3

The very first episode!

I ramble about a species of cattle eyeworm called Thelazia gulosa. Specifically, what is it? Where is it? And if it's called a cattle eyeworm, how did it end up in a human eyeball?

This was definitely a learning curve! I learned a lot through the process of making this, and I have a lot of ideas on how to improve for the next episode. But of course, I'm also open to outside feedback and advice :)

I plan to start working on the next episode after publishing this, so if this kinda stuff interests you, stick around! I promise I'll actually have a cohesive script to mitigate the rambling haha