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When we call mosquitoes “the deadliest animals on earth” we aren’t just talking about human deaths. Mosquitoes have played a major role in Hawaii’s infamous designation as the endangered species capital of the world.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all believe that we have the capacity to completely change ourselves, but at what cost?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An entirely new perspective on the infamous black death.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We’ll kick-off this Halloween special with “The Passenger” a tale of control, desire, and the monster within.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most of the time when we get sick we expect to suffer through it and end up rewarded with immunity to disease, or at least the knowledge that it won’t hit so hard if you get it a second time. A bout with the Dengue virus, also known as break-bone fever, is very different. It can actually increase the chance that a second encounter with the virus will end in hemorrhagic fever.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The African continent was declared polio-free just a couple of days ago, which means that we are, once again, coming close to eradicating it from the globe. Yet, in 2014 children started to go limp, losing control over their arms and legs over the course of weeks, this polio-like condition is called Acute Flaccid Myelitis. Since then, there has been a larger and larger outbreak of the condition every other year, and that’s not the only strange thing about it.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The CDC has a catalog of 537 viruses that are transmitted by insects or their relatives around the world. This number can be overwhelming and scary but the more we learn about the world of obscure viruses the better we’re equipped to fight them.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The symbol for medicine, a serpent wrapped around a staff, is displayed on everything from the World Health Organization logo to your doctor’s name tag, depicts the treatment of a single disease, the removal of a Guinea Worm from the patient by slowly wrapping it around a stick over the course of days. This disease is famous for another reason, it is about to be the second disease eradicated from the face of the earth.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A truck slowly drives by your house at night with a cloud of fog coming out from behind it. It might seem creepy but that fog is effectively synthetic chrysanthemums water that is engineered to target mosquitoes based on their flight patterns.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bloodsuckers can be hijacked by viruses and parasites, but some ticks are lethal all on their own. The Australian Paralysis tick paralyzes 10 thousand dogs and cats a year. We didn’t know how their venom worked until some researchers squirted some mouthwash on some ticks and made a discovery.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Author and fly researcher Dr. Erica McAlister helps bust myths about mosquitoes and other flies  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Who needs bug spray when you have phone apps, bug zappers, barbecue grill sized rigs to keep the mosquitoes away? Mosquito control devices might hurt your bank account but their worth it...right?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You may have heard of mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and lice but there are other blood suckers out there, like tsetse flies, floor maggots, toe fleas, and kissing bugs. The race of the victims may have everything to do with the reason you have never heard of them.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After a little girl was bit by a new, exotic, and dangerous insect in Delaware the media began to speculate, but after a closer look we find there is a much mundane story, that has a lot to do with insect feces.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The lives of organisms in an ecosystem are intimately intertwined. When an entire tropical forest is chopped down the ripple from that destruction can end with new diseases being introduced into humanity.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deep inside the cells of an Australian mosquito are bacteria that kill deadly viruses by starving them to death. The death of these viruses could mean life for anyone bitten by them.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You may have joked with your friends about using a tapeworm to lose weight thinking it was a diet of the past but today people are purposely infecting themselves with worms for reasons ranging from weight loss to asthma.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The rumors are true, certain types of mosquitoes are more enticed to bite pregnant people than people who aren’t. It's not just a weird fact, it has dire consequences.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Salvage logging is a way to get a silver lining out of a natural disaster like a wildfire or a hurricane, but how does it change our chances of getting Lyme disease. Learn about the connection between ticks, mice, and fallen logs.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For an unlucky few in the American South, Northern Europe, and Australia one bite from a tick can change everything from the food they eat to the types of cancer medications they can be prescribed. These areas, known for their love of all things meat, are also the home of ticks that can cause a meat allergy so bad it can kill.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.