The startup that cried dire wolf

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Colossal says it's brought the dire wolf back from extinction — but the accuracy of that claim and the ethics of de-extinction are in question. This episode was produced by Devan Schwartz, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Further reading: The Dire Wolf Is Back. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Colossal’s Dire Wolves, Romulus and Remus, at one month old. Photo credit Business Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Dyerwolves, not just a thing from Game of Thrones, not just John Snow's best friend.
0:09.0	Dyerwolves walked the Americas for millennia, up until about 14,000 years ago when maybe
0:16.0	their primary food source dried up or humans hunted them to extinction.
0:20.0	No one was taking notes. But we know they were a bit bigger than gray wolves.
0:24.0	They ate a lot of meat and their bite could crush bones.
0:28.5	And now we know that apparently dire wolves are back.
0:35.6	A startup called Colossil says they've brought these pups back from extinction.
0:40.3	They say they've got three of them, but are these dire wolves they brought back actually
0:45.9	dire wolves?
0:46.9	And whether they are or aren't, should we be trying to bring dire wolves back?
0:51.7	Like why?
0:53.2	We're going to ask on Today Explained.
0:56.0	Amazon offers term time working to their employees, like Anton, who's home to look after
1:07.0	his daughters during their holidays.
1:09.0	To him, this is the best sound in the world.
1:16.0	Actually, maybe that's the best sound of all.
1:20.1	Now that's term time working.
1:22.5	Offered at Amazon.
1:24.0	Ten weeks off guaranteed per year.
1:25.8	Mix of paid holiday and unpaid time off. Conditions apply.
1:29.5	This week on a touch more, we are live at Deep Blue's Business of Women's Sports Summit.
1:34.6	Our special guest is Chelsea Clinton, who tells us what it means for her to be an investor in women's sports and what we can all learn from gutsy women.
	...

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