Sex and the SETI

Birds do it. Bees do it. But no one sings about how they do it. And frankly, not even Cole Porter can make bedroom behavior that involves decapitating your mate sound romantic. And what rhymes with “cannibalism?” But the animal world abounds with bizarre sexual behavior… and it’s all perfectly normal.

Find out how female spiders lure males to their doom… why dolphins are the friskiest of mammals… whether E.T. would have sex… and why sexual reproduction evolved in the first place.

Also, why the marketing gurus have it all wrong: driving a Hummer or wearing Gucci won’t help you land a mate. Find out what will.

Listen to individual segments here:
Part 1 - Olivia Judson
Part 2 - Lori Marino on dolphins
Part 3 - Lori Marino on aliens
Part 4 - Sharon Moalem
Part 5 - Geoffrey Miller

Sex and the SETI - Olivia Judson

Part 1 of Sex and the SETI featuring Olivia Judson, evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London and author of Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex.

Sex and the SETI - Lori Marino on dolphins

Part 2 of Sex and the SETI featuring Lori Marino, evolutionary biologist at Emory University.

Sex and the SETI - Lori Marino on aliens

Part 3 of Sex and the SETI featuring Lori Marino, evolutionary biologist at Emory University.

Sex and the SETI - Sharon Moalem

Part 4 of Sex and the SETI featuring Sharon Moalem, neuro-geneticist, evolutionary biologist and author of How Sex Works: Why We Look, Smell, Taste, Feel, and Act the Way We Do.

Sex and the SETI - Geoffrey Miller

Part 5 of Sex and the SETI featuring Geoffrey Miller, evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico and author of Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior.

It's the Science, Cupid!

Love makes us feel warm and mushy, but the sweet sting of Cupid’s arrow makes a compelling chemistry lesson, too. Research into animal mating and human courtship provides clues to an eternal mystery: what’s the purpose of love?

Learn lessons from the family values of field mice, and affectionate same-sex penguin pairs. Plus: Darwin’s take on speed dating, and the science of smooching.

Listen to individual segments here:
Part 1 - The biology of love
Part 2 - Helen Fisher
Part 3 - Sarah Woodley
Part 4 - Skyler Place
Part 5 - Larry Young
Part 6 - Marlene Zuk

It's the Science, Cupid! - Helen Fisher

Part 2 of It's the Science, Cupid! featuring Helen Fisher, Anthropologist, Rutgers University.

It's the Science, Cupid! - Skyler Place

Part 4 of It's the Science, Cupid! featuring Skyler Place, Doctoral Student, Indiana University’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

It's the Science, Cupid! - Larry Young

Part 5 of It's the Science, Cupid! featuring Larry Young, Neurobiologist, Emory University.

It's the Science, Cupid! - Marlene Zuk

Part 6 of It's the Science, Cupid! featuring Marlene Zuk, Biologist, University of California, Riverside in a discussion of the phenomenon of same sex partnerships in the animal kingdom.