This just might be our itchiest episode yet, and for that we sincerely apologize. But it might also be one of our most fascinating and fun episodes yet, and for that we are proud. Whether or not you have personal experience with bedbugs, the mere mention of these vampiric critters is often enough to inspire skin-crawling horror in us all. But in this episode, we also make a case for their appreciation. How can you not admire (from a distance, of course), their incredible ability to go for months or even a year without feeding? Or that their saliva contains all kinds of proteins that slow blood clotting or dilate our blood vessels? Or that the ubiquity of these bugs during the Industrial Revolution drove massive changes in furniture design? From the biology of a bedbug bite to the impressively long history of these blood-feeding arthropods, we present the story of bedbugs in more detail than you ever knew you wanted (and trust us, you do).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Special Episode: Sarah Everts & The Joy of Sweat
Ep 113 Vitamin D: The D stands for drama
Special Episode: David Quammen & Breathless
Ep 112 Epilepsy: It’s always the phlegm
Ep 111 RSV: What’s syncytial anyway?
Ep 110 Influenza, Take 2: Fowl Play
Ep 109 Chikungunya: Not dengue (or is it?)
Ep 108 Gout: Toetally fascinating
Ep 107 Sepsis: It's a mess
Ep 106 Turner Syndrome: Let's talk about X
Ep 105 Down in the Mumps
Ep 104 The Bends: Industrial Revolution, baby
Ep 103 Leptospirosis: Don't blame the rats
Ep 102 Arsenic: Paris Green with Envy
Ep 101 Immortality: This Podcast Won't Kill You
Ep 100 Monkeypox: Here we go again?
Ep 99 Salmonella: A hard egg to crack
Ep 98 Folate: Marmite, anyone?
Special Episode: Snake Venom Evolution
Ep 97 Snake Venom: Collateral Damage
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Tenfold More Wicked