A singing entomologist, Dr. Sammy Ramsey, and a biologist with a knack for inventing things, Dr. Paul Mireji, tell us about one of the most fearsome animals on our planet. If you want a SPOILER of what it is, read on: It sucks our blood, spreads diseases; it's the tsetse fly. Both Sammy and Paul were afraid of this creature, but share the story of what can be gained by looking close at what scares you. In the case of the tsetse fly, we learn that these creatures give live birth, produce milk, protect entire ecosystems, and just might hold the solutions to some of our planet’s biggest problems

Learn about the storytellers, listen to music, and dig deeper into the stories you hear on Terrestrials with activities you can do at home or in the classroom on our website, Terrestrialspodcast.org.

Watch Lulu and Dr. Sammy drink roach milk (!!!!!) and find even MORE original Terrestrials fun on our Youtube.

Badger us on Social Media: @radiolab and #TerrestrialsPodcast 

Support for Terrestrials is provided by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

More from Terrestrials 

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The Shovels: Dig Deeper

For each episode of Terrestrials, we provide a selection of activity sheets, drawing prompts, musical lessons, and more. We call them “shovels” because we hope they will help you (and your friends, family, students, neighbors, etc) dig more deeply into the world! You can do them at home, in the classroom, outside, or in the privacy of your own mind. We hope you enjoy!
If you want to share what you’ve made, ask an adult share it on social media using #TerrestrialsPodcast and make sure to tag @Radiolab

Draw -  Listen to a very special drawing prompt created by artist Wendy Mac and the DrawTogether team to explore just that! 
Play 🎶 - Learn how to play the chords to the song “Yum Your Yuck”
Do - Get crafty with a fun activity sheet!  

This week’s storytellers are Dr. Sammy Ramsey and Dr. Paul Mireji.

Want to keep learning? Check out these resources to learn about the gnarly guardian that is the tsetse fly:

In The Fight Against Tsetse Flies, Blue Is The New Black
A Tsetse Fly Births One Enormous Milk-Fed Baby | KQED
New Tool to Fight Deadly Tsetse Fly - The New York Times
Cockroach Milk: Yes. You Read That Right : The Salt : NPR
Kenyan 'junk artist' recycles rubbish into artworks - CGTN

Terrestrials is a production of WNYC Studios, created by Lulu Miller. This episode is produced by Ana González, Alan Goffinski and Lulu Miller. Original Music by Alan Goffinski. Help from Suzie Lechtenberg, Sarah Sandbach, Natalia Ramirez, and Sarita Bhatt. Fact-check by Diane Kelley. Sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick with additional engineering by Joe Plourde. Our storytellers this week are Dr. Sammy Ramsey and Dr. Paul Mireji. Transcription by Caleb Codding. Special Thanks to Phoebe Wang for the filming and production of "Lulu Tries Roach Milk."

Our advisors are Theanne Griffith, Aliyah Elijah, Dominique Shabazz, John Green, Liza Steinberg-Demby, and Tara Welty.

Terrestrials is supported in part by Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation.

Have questions for us, badgers? Badger us away! Your parent/guardian should write to us along with you, so we know you have their permission, and for maybe even having your ideas mentioned on the show. Email terrestrials@wnyc.org