Oh Rats! WNYC’s New Podcast Season Is All About Terrestrials
The family-friendly podcast explores science and the natural world around us.
A new family-friendly podcast is coming to the Big Apple!
A New Exploration
Radio Lab’s Lulu Miller, a Peabody Award-winning science journalist, along with Alan Goffinski, an arts administrator, songwriter and producer, have paired together to introduce a new podcast to WNYC listeners: Terrestrials. The on-air audio magazine takes a look at the wild and wonderful creatures and phenomena on planet Earth. Past episodes have covered things like bees and eagles, as well as recursive islands and tree stumps. Miller and Goffinski take listeners deep into the bowels of New York City to see what’s going on with the rats under our feet and across the world to Tanzania to talk about the heroic rats that are taught how to save communities from land mines.
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According to Miller, it was two things that inspired this podcast. One was the COVID-19 pandemic; as we all quarantined, she found herself longing for nature. She also found that when she became a mom, watching their minds develop made her want to work for young minds. “I wanted to spend my waking hours thinking about, learning from, and being in nature. It was simply the place I wanted to be, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. It called like a green beacon,” she told New York Family.
“Watching my children wake into the world, seeing their minds develop, made me want to make work for young minds. They are so open, malleable, hungry for knowledge and humor! Also, they have a surprisingly high bar for a good story. They get bored if something isn’t riveting or hilarious or fascinating or deeply calming. As someone obsessed with making stories that draw people in, I wanted to see if I could captivate the toughest of judges: kids!”
Rats, Rats & More Rats!
For decades, one rodent has been the star of our five boroughs: rats. According to ABC News, there are an estimated three million rats running around the city. Check any social media platform and you can find videos of the tiny furry friends interacting with all the city has to offer, including its delectable slices of pizzas and terrorizing New York City Mayor Eric Adams. For the first episode of Terrestrials, Goffinski heads to the rat masters themselves, traveling 20 stories underground to explore the dark, drippy lair of NYC sewer rats, with an exterminator.
It is in the dark dungeons of the city that he learns expert advice about the city’s rodents and how they are surviving in the Big Apple.
“The most important thing I’ve learned from Kathy the NYC Rat Czar, and Cedric, the Rodent Control Specialist, is that rats really aren’t the problem. The real problem is us. People have some bad habits that are just enabling rats to do what they do best—survive,” says Goffinski about the four-legged creatures. “The three main things rats need to survive are food, water, and shelter, so anything we people can do to reduce those three things will help humanely reduce their population. So, make sure you properly dispose of those pizza crusts and keep in mind rats can squeeze through openings smaller than a quarter to get into pipes, sewers, and even homes!”
Because podcasts are all audio, many wonder how they will capture the attention of the audience without any visuals. According to Goffinski, using interactive elements such as singing and soundbites from real animals help keep the podcast family-friendly and keeps the kids engaged. According to DW Akademie, podcasts allow kids to enjoy rich, immersive content while their eyes and brains take a break. The site also states that podcasts can be a vehicle for stealth learning, becoming mini-classrooms on demand.
Past episodes can be viewed here past episodes can be found here and families can turn in to listen to new episodes each week.
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