Fungus Amungus

A couple summers ago, Radiolab reporter Alex Neason got out of the shower and almost stepped on her worst nightmare: an American Cockroach. It was flipped onto its back, struggling, and for a split second, Alex swears she felt the spiny tickle of its legs on the underside of her ...  Show more

This episode makes three earnest, possibly foolhardy, attempts to put a price on the priceless. We figure out the dollar value for an accidental death, another day of life, and the work of bats and bees as we try to keep our careful calculations from falling apart in the face of ...  Show more

Brian Cox and Robin Ince find out about the secret world of fungi, hidden beneath our feet. They are joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake and mycologist Katie Field. They hear about the hidden life of fungi, including their hundreds of mating types, predatory behaviour and crucia ...  Show more

Fungal infections don’t often make an appearance on this podcast, but when they do, you know you’re in for a wild ride. In this episode, we explore the rare but potentially deadly fungal infection blastomycosis. We trace the journey of Blastomyces spores as they depar ...

Do fungi breathe? That’s what listener Alice wants to know - and we’ll find out in our punniest episode yet! We visit the Fungarium - the largest and oldest collection of fungi in the world with curator Lee Davies, who describes himself as a “librarian” of mushrooms. We’ll explor ...  Show more

We are familiar with fungal infections like Thrush and Athlete’s Foot, but fungal diseases that can kill are on the increase. The World Health Organisation is so concerned that it has published its first ever list of life threatening fungi. James Gallagher hears stories of hospit ...  Show more