Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks - podcast episode cover

Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks

Jun 13, 20252 min
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Summary

Radiolab announces a special week-long series, "Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks," challenging the monstrous image created by Jaws. The series aims to transform the public's perception by exploring diverse, surprising stories about sharks, from flying and glowing species to those potentially curing cancer, presenting them as complex animals rather than just scary predators.

Episode description

In the summer of 1975, Jaws scared an entire generation out of the water. The film burned an idea into our cultural memory: they are mindless, man-eating monsters. We set out to tell a different story about sharks. Five stories over five days. We tear down deep-seated myths about sharks, plunge into the water with them, and find sharks that explode our sense of what they are – flying sharks, glowing sharks, baby sharks, sharks under attack, and sharks that may save millions of human lives.

Look out for brand-new episodes in your podcast feed starting June 16th through June 20th. 

Visit our YouTube channel to check out the video trailer for the series and make sure to subscribe for more behind the scenes content throughout the week.  

For more details about the series, visit radiolab.org/sharks

Follow us on Instagram @radiolab

Transcript

Babe where are the bookie boards? This summer, as you stuff your car full of more crap than you could possibly use on a weekend trip to the beach, Radio Lab wants you to remember who you're sharing the water with. I looked down through pink water, which I realised was my blood. There was this great big head, these big white teeth.

50 years after Jaws struck fear into the heart of the entire nation. Never saw the shark coming. At the time, it was one of the worst shark attacks that was ever survived. It was the biggest shadow that I have ever seen under the water. Don't. just look at their teeth because everybody's frightened of their teeth. We want to show you sharks. Look at the rest of the body. The beauty of them is far greater than not. In a way you've never seen them before. But, you know, in a radiolabby way.

These are like swimming fossils. But are they cloning themselves? I think so, yeah. Yeah, sharks are crazy. Yeah. Jaws turned sharks into monsters, so we're going to turn them back into animals. And we found so many wild stories that... We're going to need a bigger show. Yeah, we are going to need five days of sharks. A whole shark!

We're not allowed legally to say a week of sharks. Let's just call it a week of shark. A week of shark. Okay, yeah, we have got stories about big sharks and small sharks. Baby sharks. Ancestral sharks. Sharks that fly. Sharks that glow. Sharks that might... even cure cancer. And lots of people. People who fear sharks, love sharks, study sharks, raise sharks. Yeah, it is going to be a whole sharknado of big ideas, stories, surprises that make us completely rethink this amazing animal.

and our relationship to it. You don't want to miss it. It starts Monday, June 16th. We'll have a new episode on the feed every morning, all week. It's called Swimming with Shadows. A Radiolab Week of Sharks. The water's sharky Where's my swimsuit?

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