The Gondolier

The Gondolier

Back in 2017, reporters Kristen Clark and David Conrad came to us with a story that dug into the difficult and often dark places discrimination creates. We start in Venice, Italy, where they meet gondolier Alex Hai. On the winding canals in the hidden parts of Venice, we learn about the nearly 1000-year old tradition of the Venetian Gondolier, and how the global media created a 20-year battle between that tradition and a supposed feminist icon.  We circled back to Alex in 2026, to find out where the canal of life ended up leading after our initial reporting, and we’ve included some heartbreaking and heartwarming updates on Alex’s life at the end of this episode.  Special thanks to Alexis Ungerer, Summer, Alex Hai, Kevin Gotkin, Silvia Del Fabbro, Sandro Mariot, Aldo Rosso and Marta Vannucci, The Longest Shortest Time (Hillary Frank, Peter Clowney and Abigail Keel), Tim Howard, Nick Adams/GLAAD, Valentina Powers, Florence Ursino, Ann Marie Somma, Alex Overington, Jeremy Bloom and the people of Little Italy.  EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by - David Conrad and Kristen Clark. Produced by - Annie McEwen and Molly Webster. with help from - Anisa Vietze Fact-checking for the update by - Angely Mercado OTHER COOL THINGS: Books - * The Gondolier [https://pegasuspublishers.com/book/the-gondolier], by Alex Hai 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [radiolab@wnyc.org]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is Your Brain on Hormones

After reading something that said her menstrual cycle changes her brain each month, Senior Correspondent Molly Webster goes on a reporting mission to see if that’s true, and, if so, how. This journey into sex hormones and the brain involves females and males, and exacting self-experimentation. It gets into PTSD, and ends with a new twist on self-care (hint: it’s biological). And, it starts to reveal a sneaky truth: that each one of us is at the mercy of a crashing sea of chemicals inside of us – those things we call hormones. Special thanks to Emily Jacobs, Laura Pritschet [https://www.pennlinc.io/team/laura-pritschet], Pavel Shapturenka, and Dr. Catherine Woolley. EPISODE CREDITS: Hosted by - Molly Webster Reported by - Molly Webster Produced by - Mona Madgavkar with help from - Molly Webster Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly EPISODE CITATIONS: Articles -  **The experiments we feature in this episode are called: 28andMe, 28andOC, and 28andHe, all of which took place at Emily Jacobs lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara.**  * The 28 Project [https://jacobs.psych.ucsb.edu/research/28-and-me] (https://zpr.io/CSx6MnwZjRvp), background from the Jacobs lab For more on how much variability there is between female and male animals, check out this “groundbreaking” study, referenced by Emily Jacobs in our episode * Sex Bias in Neuroscience and Biomedical Research [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3008499/](https://zpr.io/ZRgKZzdNejUA [https://zpr.io/ZRgKZzdNejUA]),  by Beery AK, Zucker I., Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011 Dr. Catherine Woolley has revolutionized the field of neuroscience and sex hormones, here’s more about her work … * Sex Differences in the Brain Get Down to the Molecular Level Sex [https://www.the-scientist.com/sex-differences-in-the-brain-get-down-to-the-molecular-level-73768] (https://zpr.io/UNCLE9J782N5 [https://zpr.io/UNCLE9J782N5]), by Stephanie DeMarco, PhD, The Scientist.com [http://scientist.com] * Hormonal Effects on the Brain [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1998.tb02601.x] (https://zpr.io/DvNM9EkXdtGG [https://zpr.io/DvNM9EkXdtGG]), by Woolley, C.S. and Schwartzkroin, P.A. Epilepsia Data sets - * 28andMe and 28andOC [http://openneuro.org/datasets/ds002674/versions/1.0.6] (https://zpr.io/hbXVNTVp2Q7j [https://zpr.io/hbXVNTVp2Q7j]): * 28andHe [https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds005115/versions/1.2.0] (https://zpr.io/sZXhfMbMwKb7 [https://zpr.io/sZXhfMbMwKb7]) Audio -  In the episode, we mention Dr. Russ Poldrack and the Midnight Scan Club, as inspo for self-experimentation * The Midnight Scan Club [https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-midnight-scan-club/] (https://zpr.io/CLBhNQSxK844 [https://zpr.io/CLBhNQSxK844]), by Science Friday.   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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bonus: Wild Animal Dads from Terrestrials

In honor of Father's Day, here is a family friendly bonus episode from our kids' podcast Terrestrials [https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab-kids].  What does it really mean to be a dad? In the animal world, fathers have long been painted as aggressive or absent. At best providers and protectors, but certainly not caregivers. And yet for every tale of a lion or chimp dad eating its own young (yikes!), there’s another creature who tells a sweeter story.  Two HUMAN dads bring us on this DADventure: Dr. Eduardo Fernandez-Duque [https://anthropology.yale.edu/profile/eduardo-fernandez-duque], who has spent decades studying owl monkey dads in the forests of Argentina, and Michael Feigelson [https://vanleerfoundation.org/team/michael-feigelson/], who once worried he wasn't cut out for the softer side of parenting.  They introduce us to seahorse dads who get pregnant, poison dart frog dads who give piggyback rides to their tadpoles, Darwin frogs who swallow their eggs to keep them safe, burying beetles who build "corpse cribs," jacana birds who do all the egg-sitting, and stickleback fish who construct intricate underwater nests for their young. Along the way, we learn that nature doesn’t offer just one model of fatherhood. Alongside Mother Nature... there just might be a Father Nature, too. Special thanks to the Van Leer Foundation [https://vanleerfoundation.org/] for the support of this episode.  Resources on Animal fatherhood * Eduardo Duque's Owl Monkey Project: https://www.owlmonkeyproject.com/ [https://www.owlmonkeyproject.com/] * An interview with Eduardo in Yale News [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/YJfQCPN9OMSAqM7Xs6t1cxpHrs?domain=news.yale.edu] * Lauren O’Connell lab – frog behaviour [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/eYuMCQW2PNc4mr5PhAuocG7r7W?domain=laurenoconnelllab.com] * Short explainer: frog parenting research [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/y0xcCR60QMiP8BAWcQCnc1git6?domain=youtube.com] * Stickleback fish parenting study (Alison Bell) [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/zHCECVOkX5Ij19DyCEF1cEVgL8?domain=royalsocietypublishing.org] * Alison Bell lab video [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ULFGCW6lYwiwvGAqhOHLcotRmz?domain=youtube.com] Human fatherhood  * Fathertime by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/jrrACXD0Z7U730xKFQIncWZeqc?domain=citrona.com] * ECM interview: evolution of “man the nurturer” [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/QSCxCYEn1QhoPOzlFQS5cxScI0?domain=earlychildhoodmatters.online/] * Lee Gettler – biology of fatherhood (video) [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/OWiPCZ6o2winy23gFRTwcBOyix?domain=youtube.com] * Lee Gettler article in Early Childhood Matters [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/GyPYC1wnXYiwK57Gh4UKcV8K1G?domain=earlychildhoodmatters.online/] * Darby Saxbe book: Dad Brain [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/mnMGC2koYghoAON3FxcJc5oeWb?domain=darbysaxbe.com] * Darby Saxbe Article in Early Childhood Matters [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/QmkAC31pZjiYV05Ks5fRcQG3JG?domain=earlychildhoodmatters.online/] Talks, films & convenings * Yale Conference on Fatherhood [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/enhVC4xq1kCAG3p5sqhjc4Vgdr?domain=alumniacademy.yale.edu] * Live Recording of Yale Conference:  [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/QpshC5yr2lFYO4V9sPi5ckwJZT?domain=youtube.com] * Fathers and Fatherhood: From Molecules to Modern Families [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/QpshC5yr2lFYO4V9sPi5ckwJZT?domain=youtube.com] * Fathertime documentary [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/SxTOC68v3milx8nmSws3c5yFVT?domain=vimeo.com] Campaigns & global perspectives * Equimundo's State of World's fathers report [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ftJEC73wgnhj9oONCGt5cojQKf?domain=equimundo.org/] * Men Care Changemakers Journey [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Z0LdC82xjoU8xL7qtYujcyB2ek?domain=changemakers.equimundo.org/] * Parenting Out Loud (Elliot Rae) [https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/v2DNC9rykpUVP95qfRCJcq47uY?domain=parentingoutloud.com/] Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC studios. This episode was produced by Tanya Chawla, with sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick. Sarah Sandbach is our Executive Producer. Our team also includes Ana González, Alan Goffinski, Natalia Ramirez, and Joe Plourde. Fact checking by Angely Mercado.  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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the Media: American Emergency

A little while back, our friends over at On the Media released a gripping and immersive reporting series about FEMA, the agency that is supposed to be there for all of us in the wake of disaster. In American Emergency [https://link.podtrac.com/2ogq6g7y] (https://zpr.io/MtrUmJU3yEMW), OTM investigates how the agency tasked with saving America became distrusted, despised… and defunded. Today we talk to On the Media co-host Micah Loewinger about how this project came out, what reporting went into making it happen, and play a couple of fun and truly surprising bits of the story that the OTM team uncovered. And it’s a story that highlights the ideal and promise of good government, right alongside the frustration with bureaucracy and mismanagement, and of course the undercurrent of profound mistrust in governmental power.  As natural disasters are getting more extreme and less predictable, this series makes sense of that tangle, and provides a prescient peek into FEMA’s future. Special thanks to On the Media [https://link.podtrac.com/2ogq6g7y] (https://zpr.io/MtrUmJU3yEMW).  To hear Micah in person, talking more about the complex history of FEMA, join him on June 24th at WNYC's The Greene Space [https://wnyc.org/events/otm-fema] (https://wnyc.org/events/otm-fema). 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oliver Sipple

One morning, Oliver Sipple went out for a walk. A couple hours later, to his own surprise, he saved the life of the President of the United States. In a story we reported back in 2017, we explain how in the days that followed, Sipple’s split-second act of heroism turned into a rationale for making his personal life into political opportunity. What happens next makes us wonder what a moment, or a movement, or a whole society can demand of one person. And how much is too much?  Through newly unearthed archival tape, we hear Sipple himself grapple with some of the most vexing topics of his day and ours - privacy, identity, the freedom of the press - not to mention the bonds of family and friendship.  Special thanks to Jerry Pritikin, Michael Yamashita, Stan Smith, Duffy Jennings; Ann Dolan, Megan Filly and Ginale Harris at the Superior Court of San Francisco; Leah Gracik, Karyn Hunt, Jesse Hamlin, The San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive, Mike Amico, Jennifer Vanasco and Joey Plaster. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Reported by Latif Nasser and Tracie Hunte Produced by - Produced by Matt Kielty, Annie McEwen, Latif Nasser and Tracie Hunte. 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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 [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.