New Normal | Radiolab Podcast

From the Radiolab podcast: Maybe “normal” exists. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the only “normal” thing is change.

This episode —first released in 2009 and then again in 2015, with an update — asks, what is “normal”? Maybe it exists, maybe not. We examine peace-loving baboons with Stanford neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky, talk to Stu Rasmussen, whose preferred pronouns were he/him (https://zpr.io/nUdsZawNmhwt), and his neighbors in Silverton, Oregon about how a town chooses its community over outsider opinions. And lastly, we speak with an evolutionary anthropologist, Duke University’s own Brian Hare, and an evolutionary biologist Tecumseh Fitch, then at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, now at the University of Vienna, Austria, about foxes who love to snuggle.

And what we find is that normal — maybe the only normal — is change.

Episode Segments:
00:00 Peaceful baboons?
24:48 New Stu — Silverton's two-times mayor was a trans woman.
49:27 The evolution of foxes

🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab wherever you listen to podcasts: https://bit.ly/3trXDLe
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3I9KI53
🖋 Subscribe to Radiolab’s Newsletter: https://radiolab.org/newsletter
🌱 Check out Radiolab's Starter Kit Playlist: https://bit.ly/3sX8f4P
👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment!

Follow Radiolab:
Instagram —   / radiolab  
Twitter —   / radiolab  
Facebook —   / radiolab  

Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: https://radiolab.org/the-lab

Guests in this episode include: John Horgan, Robert Sapolsky, Richard Wrangham, Stu Rasmussen, Dennis Bean, Megan DiSalvo, Cal Palmer, Aaron Scott, Ken Hector, John Buck, Linda Webb, Victoria Sage, Susie Simaaron, Tom Smith, Jesse Davidson, Brian Hare, Tecumseh Fitch.

Photo illustration Jared Bartman.