The Menopause Mystery

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

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

4.6 • 43.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

Until recently, scientists assumed humans were the only species in which females went through menopause, and lived a substantial part of their lives after they were no longer able to reproduce. And they had no idea why that happens, and why evolution wouldn’t push females to keep reproducing right up to the end of their lives. But after a close look at some whale poop, and a deep dive into chimp life, we find several new ways of thinking about menopause and the real purpose of this all too often overlooked second act of life. Special thanks to Danielle Friedman, Rachel Gross, and Kate Radke. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Heather Radke and Becca BresslerProduced by - Sarah Qari and Becca BresslerFact-checking by - Emily Kriegerand Edited by - Becca Bressler EPISODE CITATIONS:Books - Check out everything Heather Radke writes, including Butts: A Backstory, cause it’s all that good, here: Heather Radke (www.heatherradke.com). Find any one of Lucy Cooke’s book, including Bitch:On the Female of the Species, here: Lucy Cooke (http://www.lucycooke.tv/)And check out everything Caroline Paul has on offer, including Tough Broad, here: Caroline Paul (https://www.carolinepaul.com/) Socials - Heather Radke: https://www.instagram.com/radhradkeLucy Cooke: https://www.instagram.com/luckycooke/ Audio:Becca Bressler’s Greatest Hits - Everybody's Got OneThe Shark Inside You Growth Lateral cuts - Butt Stuff Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (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 [email protected]. 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	Wait, you're listening.
0:03.1	Okay.
0:04.4	All right.
0:05.6	Okay.
0:07.0	All right.
0:08.5	You're listening to Radio Lab.
0:11.4	Radio Lab.
0:11.9	From W. N. Y.
0:13.9	C.
0:14.8	See?
0:15.1	Yeah.
0:19.3	Hey, this is Radio Lab. I'm Molly Webster. Hi. I feel like I haven't seen you since like last summer. I'm sitting in for Lulu and Latif today. My God, since we were in Michigan. With our contributing editor, Heather Radke. I think that's right. All right, Heather. All right. I'm going to assume you have a story to tell us. That's right. That's why we're here.
0:37.5	I have something to tell you.
0:38.9	So a little while back, I had a conversation with one of Radio Lab's favorite science writers. I'm Lucy Cook. I'm the author of Bitch on the female of the species and got a background in zoology. All right, Lucy. We do love Lucy. Yeah. She's like this globe-trotting tracker of amazing animal stories.
0:37.5	She's been to globe-trotting tracker of amazing animal stories.
0:56.0	She's been to Panama to meet stoned dwarf sloths.
1:00.0	She went to Sweden to track drunken moose.
1:02.0	All right.
1:03.0	And then a little while back, while she was working on her latest book,
1:07.0	I was delighted to fly to Seattle and meet this population of orcas.
1:12.8	She got wind of a pretty amazing discovery in killer whales.
1:16.3	Yeah, this felt like a really, really important story, and one that I found inspirational.
	...

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