Summary
In 2007, Bruce Robison’s robot submarine stumbled across an octopus settling in to brood her eggs. It seemed like a small moment. But as he went back to visit her, month after month, what began as a simple act of motherhood became a heroic feat that has never been equalled by any known species on Earth.
This episode was reported and produced by Annie McEwen.
Special thanks to Kim Fulton-Bennett and Rob Sherlock at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. And thanks to the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra for the use of their piece, “Concerto for Bassoon & Chamber Orchestra: II. Beautiful.”
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.
If you need more ocean in your life, check out the incredible Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams (especially the jellies!): www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Wait, you're listening. |
| 0:07.0 | Okay. |
| 0:09.0 | Go on listening to Radio Lab. |
| 0:12.0 | Radio Lab. |
| 0:13.0 | From WNYC. |
| 0:14.0 | Hey, I'm Chad Abumarab. |
| 0:21.0 | This is Radio Lab and Danny McEwan. |
| 0:24.0 | Yes. |
| 0:25.0 | Well, what do you got for me? |
| 0:27.0 | Well, first of all, Robert, let me just get the levels on you. |
| 0:29.0 | Okay, I'm here. |
| 0:30.0 | We've got Robert. |
| 0:31.0 | Robert, maybe you can tell, tell, tell, tell. |
| 0:34.0 | I'm sitting in on this one with Andy just. |
| 0:36.0 | As many of you know, he retired from Radio Lab not too long ago, but I brought him out of |
| 0:41.0 | retirement and back into the studio to sit in with me on this interview. |
| 0:44.0 | We just sometimes pile on when it looks like it's going to be a candy fun thing to do. |
| 0:48.0 | And second of all, I have a hero and a story that I don't know why. |
| 0:55.0 | I just feel like it's exactly the kind of story that we all need right now at this moment. |
| 1:02.0 | Okay, let's go. |
| 1:04.0 | Okay, so let's start with our main character. |
| 1:07.0 | Excuse me. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.