Rats!

Episode notes

Alex Schmidt is joined by comedian/writer Josh Gondelman (new stand-up special ‘People Pleaser’) for a look at why rats are secretly incredibly fascinating.

Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.

(Alex’s podcast hosting service requires a minimum of 5 characters per episode title, so that’s why this episode’s title has 1 exclamation point)

Get VOD access to the latest LIVE episode of the podcast (about raccoons!) at this link: https://caveat.stellartickets.com/events/secretly-incredibly-fascinating/occurrences/ec686bd3-34da-4f78-a483-45b62cc71ee0 And if you’re a SIF patron, check the newest patron posts for a special discount code.

LINKS FOR THE GUESTS:

• Josh Gondelman’s new stand-up special “People Pleaser” — watch/stream it now!
• Josh Gondelman on Twitter
• “Restaurant Recommendations From Your College Friend” (The New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs)

RESOURCES USED TO INFORM THE EPISODE’S LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• native-land.ca
• U.S. Department Of Arts And Culture
• The True Native New Yorkers Can Never Truly Reclaim Their Homeland (Smithsonian)
• Mapping Manahatta: 10 Lenape sites in New York City (6sqft)

RESEARCH SOURCES:

• Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan
• Along With Humans, Who Else Is In The 7 Billion Club? (NPR’s The Two Way, article from 2011)
• NPR’s Throughline: “Of Rats and Men”
• Norway rat (Smithsonian National Zoo)
• Disney backs out of wine promotion (Los Angeles Times)
• Cast unveiled for ‘Broadway’ debut of TikTok musical Ratatouille (The Guardian)
• Smithsonian Spotlight: Year of the Rat
• How the creatures in the Chinese Zodiac found their place (BBC Bitesize)
• The Year of the Metal Rat Brings Calamity to China Every 60 Years (Esquire Philippines)
• Welcome to the Year of the Metal Rat (Houston Chronicle)
• YouTube upload of the rats scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• What happened to the rats in Indiana Jones? (Advertising Row)
• Reddit upload of GIF of Harrison Ford cuddling with a rat on the set of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• AFRMA Fancy Rat Varieties guide (American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association)
• The Last Word: Why have rats got long tails? (New Scientist)
• Admit It, Squirrels Are Just Tree Rats (The Atlantic)
• Maybe Rats Aren’t to Blame for the Black Death (National Geographic)
• Gerbils Likely Pushed Plague To Europe in Middle Ages (NPR Shots)