Kleptotherms

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

History, Science, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Society & Culture

4.6 • 44.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we break the thermometer and watch the mercury spill out as we discover that temperature is far stranger than it seems. We first ran this episode in 2021: Five stories that run the gamut from snakes to stars. We start out underwater, with a species of snake that has evolved a devious trick for keeping warm. Then we hear the tale of a young man whose seemingly simple method of warming up might be the very thing making him cold. And Senior Correspondent Molly Webster blows the lid off the idea that 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is a sound marker of health. Reported by - Lulu Miller and Molly WebsterProduced by - Becca Bressler, Lulu Miller and Molly Websterwith help from - Carin LeongFact-checking by - Emily Krieger Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Radio Lab. I'm Lettiv Nasser. So at this point of the year, at least here in the
0:08.2	Northern Hemisphere, it can start to feel like enough with the cold already. The newness of the
0:15.3	season has worn off. The winter holidays are over. And most of us are just ready for it to be warm again.
0:22.0	So today, we are defrosting an episode about people and creatures seeking warmth.
0:31.8	Sometimes they do it in obvious ways. Sometimes they do it in devious ways.
0:36.6	We first aired this episode back in 2021, and you'll hear there's certain things about it that do feel very 2021.
0:43.9	But there's also so much in here that feels timeless.
0:47.7	Stories that I feel confident will stay relevant until the thermal death of the universe.
0:54.5	Wait, you're listening.
0:56.0	Okay.
0:57.3	All right.
0:58.5	Okay.
0:59.8	All right.
1:01.2	You're listening to Radio Lab.
1:04.2	Radio Lab.
1:04.8	From W-N-Y-C.
1:07.2	See?
1:08.0	Yeah.
1:09.1	Rewind.
1:10.2	Rewind.
1:14.6	Lou. Hey.
1:15.6	How are you feeling?
	...

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