Of Rats and Men (2022)

From impoverishment to global superpower, China’s supremacy happened at a breakneck speed thanks to the visionary strategy of the man who took power in 1978. Over the next decade, under leader Deng Xiaoping’s firm leadership, China flirted with capitalism and transformed its soci ...  Show more

We think of Walmart as ultra-American, but its business relationship with China has fundamentally changed how American retail operates. In this episode, how one retailer helped turn China into the world’s factory, eventually becoming the single largest U.S. importer of Chinese co ...  Show more

Bringers of plague, schleppers of pizza slices, garbage gobblers. Rats have adapted over the millennia to survive and thrive in human company, much to our amazement and (often) disgust. But love them or hate them, our past and our future is bound up with these little hustlers. Fo ...  Show more

New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evidence disputes that claim. So is the rat a scapegoat? And what does our rat hatred say about us? (Part one of a <a href="https://freakonomi ...

The nightmare vision of black rats tangled by the tail continues to intrigue and revolt us, but what is its origin? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe venture into the sewers of history to seek answers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy — because, at root, the enemy is us. (Part two of a three-part series, “Sympathy for the Rat.”)

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