The first true lab rat was the Wistar rat, a strain specifically bred for biomedical research. In his “rat universe” experiments, John B. Calhoun placed large numbers of these rats in a controlled environment for more than a year, and found evidence for the same anxieties sparked by their urban cousins: overpopulation and an ensuing ‘behavioural sink’.
Jon ... Show More
Nov 21
Aftershock: The War on Terror – Episode 1: With Us or Against Us
In the days after 9/11, George W. Bush declared a state of emergency and initiated what would become an unprecedented expansion of US power. Public debate narrowed: there were new limits on what was acceptable, and not acceptable, to say. The London Review of Books published a nu ... Show More
44m 54s
Nov 15
Introducing ‘Aftershock: The War on Terror’
After 9/11, George W. Bush launched a global War on Terror. What followed was an unprecedented expansion of American power, from Guantánamo Bay to drone strikes, mass surveillance to the weaponisation of the financial system. Asked when it would end, Vice-President Dick Cheney re ... Show More
3m 57s
Sep 2024
Qu’a fait la ville de Paris pour lutter contre les rats en 1901 ?
<p>En 1901, la ville de Paris a organisé un concours de dératisation pour lutter contre la prolifération des rats. Ce concours, qui peut sembler insolite aujourd'hui, reflétait la lutte constante de la capitale contre les rongeurs à une époque où les rats représentaient un vérita ... Show More
1m 44s
Feb 2025
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
<p>Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy — because, at root, the enemy is us. (Part two of <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/sympathy-for-the-rat/">a three-part series</a>, “Sympathy for the Rat.”)</p><p> ... Show More
50m 23s
Nov 2024
The Rat King - Chapter 14
<p>Susan listened to the rat king tell her his story, but she couldn’t really believe that it was true. When the rat king leaves the room to find the infiltrator, Khai comes to talk to Susan. She can’t believe her eyes. The last time she saw him, he had given up his last life to ... Show More
12m 32s
May 2023
Episode 2751: The Rats Are Gnawing Away On The American's Wallets
Episode 2751: The Rats Are Gnawing Away On The American's Wallets <div><br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></div>
55m 22s