Why we get scared—and why we like it

Outside/In

NHPR

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

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jack Rodolico knows exactly what scares him. Sharks. But here’s what he doesn’t get: if he’s so freaked out, why can’t he stop incessantly watching online videos of bloody shark attacks? Why would he deliberately seek out the very thing that spooks him? To figure it out, Jack enlists the help of other scaredy-cats: our listeners, who shared their fears about nature with us. Together, Jack and the gang consider the spectrum of fear, from phobia to terror, and what it might mean when we don’t look away. Featuring Lauren Passell, Arash Javanbakht, Nile Carrethers, and Sushmitha Madaboosi. This episode originally aired in October 2022. SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Subscribe to our (free) newsletter for occasional merch drops and updates. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or Twitter, or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS Lauren Passell’s Podcast the Newsletter. Related: why people love horror movies. The ubiquity of smartphones means plenty of hair-raising amateur videos of shark attacks to get you started on your doomscrolling (warning: a couple of these are bloody). If this image of an octopus freaks you out, you might share Lauren’s “fear of holes,” or trypophobia. Learn more about augmented reality technology and other projects at Arash Javanbakht’s clinic. CREDITS Host: Nate Hegyi Reported and produced by Jack Rodolico Mixed by Taylor Quimby Edited by Taylor Quimby, with help from Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, Nate Hegy, and Jessica Hunt. Executive producer: Rebecca Lavoie Music for this episode by Silver Maple, Matt Large, Luella Gren, John Abbot and Blue Dot Sessions. Thanks to everyone who sent in voicemails and memos, even the ones we didn’t play: Erin Partridge, Lauren Passell, Nile Carrethers, Michelle MacKay, Alec from Nashville, and Hillary from Washington. Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What should I search on YouTube?
0:03.0	Do I search a video?
0:05.0	Something along the lines of Shark Week, White Shark Attack,
0:12.0	that should do it. I'm Nate this is outside in this is Jack Rodelico a
0:16.9	producer at New Hampshire Public Radio. Before he got into podcasting he
0:21.9	actually majored in marine biology which is kind of funny because Jack he's got a problem.
0:27.6	I've watched this once and earlier today I remembered that we're going to do this.
0:31.3	Are you nervous?
0:32.3	Yeah. Yes. Oh wow. Yes. Yes. All right.
0:37.6	Anyone who works with them knows the risks. Just keep calling them out. So it's a video from Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which by the way is supposedly
0:48.8	now the longest running cable TV event in history? There's a guy in a shark tank and the ocean is a deep deep blue.
0:56.0	Next thing you know it'll have it.
1:00.0	There's a shark here.
1:02.0	Okay there's a great white shark.
1:04.0	Great white circling him.
1:08.0	Here's the thing you really need to know about the shark cage this guy's in.
1:11.0	It's not made of metal bars. It's made of clear plastic, like a fish tank.
1:16.7	It almost doesn't look like he's in a cage.
1:20.1	I don't know why he's in there.
1:21.4	This is just downright stupid.
1:22.6	It's stupid.
1:23.4	Yeah.
	...

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