logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
35m 54s

How to Fight a Shark

Wbur
About this episode

When Endless Thread producer Grace Tatter heard a friend confidently assert that she could ward off a shark because of TikTok, Grace was both concerned for her friend's safety, and curious. Why are there so many videos about "redirecting" sharks on TikTok, and how accurate are they?

Hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson dive into the controversial world of SharkTok, where influencers are trying to show a different side of sharks by getting up close and personal with them.

*****

Credits: This episode was produced by Grace Tatter with Cici Yu. Mix and sound design by Emily Jankowski. It was hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson.

Correction: An earlier version of this episode incorrectly stated Alexandra McInturf's university affiliation. She is a research associate at Oregon State University.

Up next
Aug 22
AI and Relationships, Part 2: AI Therapists and Bot Boyfriends
What happens when we outsource aspects of our most personal moments to machines? In the second installment of our two-part series on AI and relationships, we hear from Rhiannon Williams, a reporter for MIT Technology Review who spoke to people all over the world about how they're ... Show More
30m 12s
Aug 15
AI and Relationships, Part 1: Into the Woods
Amir Mizroch spent years deconstructing fairy tales for his children — and thinking that maybe, he could create something out of his analysis and storytelling for a wider audience. In the first episode of our two-part series on AI and relationships, we hear what Amir finally crea ... Show More
28m 12s
Aug 8
Bootcamp for Men: from betas to alphas
In the past few years, videos from a new kind of camp have begun circulating the internet. They feature men participating in a variety of bizarre activities: from aggressively digging holes under floodlights, to collectively wailing in a pool of water. These are man camps, where ... Show More
27m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 20
Baby Shark
This is episode five of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks.Today, the strange, squirmy magic behind how sharks make more sharks. Drills. Drama. Death. Even a coliseum of baby sharks duking it out inside mom’s womb. And a man on a small island in the Mediterranean tr ... Show More
28m 12s
Jun 17
The Cage
This is episode two of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks.Jaws spawned a thousand imitators: sharks in tornados, sharks in avalanches, sharks that battle giant octopuses. Hollywood has officially turned sharks into monsters of every shape and size. And yet, somehow, ... Show More
18m 22s
Jul 2024
What's Going On With Sharks?
We’re getting in on all the Shark Week fun here on Getting Curious with Dr. Gavin Naylor! Jonathan and Gavin dive deep into all things sharks: Are attacks really becoming more common, or is that just our perception? Why are there only 530 species of sharks, and what makes them so ... Show More
54m 59s
Aug 2024
208 - Tattoos
On today’s episode: How do sharks swim so fast? Denticles! How do tattoos work? And how safe are they? Hybrid swarms are causing extinctions… and we’re one of them! Why do we play? All that and more today on All Around Science...RESOURCESStudying the skin of the great white shark ... Show More
50m 59s
Nov 2024
Hollywood lied to us: Jaws
Jaws (1975) was a massive hit that also created a whole lot of fear, but does anything in the film really stand up to shark science? Do sharks stalk humans? Do they roar? What can they sense? There are so many misconceptions when it comes to sharks that even now, 50 years later, ... Show More
24m 59s
Jul 9
Shark Week Gets Toxic: Forrest Galante Tracks Alien Sharks
Shark Week returns July 20 on Discovery! This episode is the Shark Week audio companion Part 1! Dr. Samantha Yammine dives into the most surprising shark science of 2025, from sharks that make noise to the nano-scale ‘sharkitecture’ inside their skeletons. Sam also interviews For ... Show More
31m 27s
Jan 2023
Tiger Shark Attack - A Mother's Worst Nightmare
Wes covers the tragic story of Jordan Lindsey, the young woman who had a tragic encounter with a tiger shark while snorkeling in the Bahamas. Jeff takes an interesting stance on the name Jeffrey, and Mike makes a compelling connection between sharks and Shrek.~~To advertise on th ... Show More
1h 12m
Jul 2024
Episode 62: Sharks
What's the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word shark? Is it a sea predator with rows and rows of sharp teeth? Maybe it's a simple alternating E and F or F and F sharp played on a solo tuba? Or maybe it's a misunderstood fish whose representation in film ha ... Show More
26m 41s
Jun 16
Making a Monster
Episode one of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks.Rodney Fox went into the ocean one summer day in 1963. He came out barely alive, his body torn apart by a great white shark. At the time, it was one of the worst shark attacks ever survived.After he recovered, he was ... Show More
26m 38s
Jun 18
The Shark Inside You
This is episode three of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks.Today, we take a trip across the world, from the south coast of Australia to … Wisconsin. Here, scientists are scouring shark blood to find one of nature’s hidden keys, a molecular superhero that might unlo ... Show More
28m 53s