Jason and Peter are huge fans of the HBO series The Last of Us, featuring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the adaptation of the award-winning Sony video game. In the show, the world is suffering from a fictional brain infection that hijacks humanity, turning most of the world into ravenous zombies. Scientists have noted that the show’s pathogen is inspired by a very real set of fungi that assumes control of an ant’s motor system making it a “zombie”. Today, with global warming, there is speculation that this fictional infection could be closer to reality than we may realize! Really, no really?
To tackle this infectious situation, we asked The Last of Us co-creator, co-writer, director, and executive producer Craig Mazin to help us understand the science behind the fiction. Craig is best known for HBO’s Chernobyl and a long list of hit comedies including The Hangover Part II and III, Scary Movie 3 and 4 and many more.
In this episode:
Follow us:
X (Twitter)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.