FRAMED BY FABLES | Animals & Pop Culture

Spiders: The Creepy, the Crazy & the Completely True (w/ phobia expert Dr. Eda Gorbis)

Send us Fan Mail  Why can a tiny spider send an otherwise fearless person into a full-blown panic?   Little Miss Muffet was driven away by a spider. But Peter Parker go

What's The REAL Truth About Rabbits? (w/The Bunny Museum founders)

Send us Fan Mail What do Bugs Bunny, the Easter Bunny, Playboy, the Tortoise and the Hare, and pregnancy tests have in common? More than you might think. Helen Hong go

Who's the ass: us or donkeys? (w/ Bill & Ted's Alex Winter)

Send us Fan Mail Are donkeys really dumb, stubborn animals? Or did Aesop just give them that reputation? From ancient fables to Jackass, we take a look at how the donkey

Wile E. vs. real coyotes: What's the science? (w/Looney Tunes Eric Bauza)

Send us Fan Mail For many, Wile E. Coyote is the only coyote we know.  But how much is he like a real coyote?  The answers may surprise you.  With Coyote vs. Acme final

Owls: Whooo said we're wise? (w/ Criminal Minds Kirsten Vangsness)

Send us Fan Mail Are owls really the wise birds of lore or did they just get that reputation from their association with Athena? We dig into what’s fact and what’s ficti

Are birds and bees the right "sex talk" mascots? (w/ Dr. Cara Natterson)

Send us Fan Mail "The birds and bees" means sex? Really?  We uncover the strange story behind this famous euphemism, explore how birds and bees actually do it, and ask w

The Wolf : Fact Or Fang Fiction? (w/ Teen Wolf's Melissa Ponzio)

Send us Fan Mail Wolves have been cast as villains for centuries, but does the science back it up? In this episode, Comedian Helen Hong and Zoologist Dr. Jo Wimpenny are

Snakes Tired Of Being Typecast (w/ Hollywood Snake Wrangler Jules Sylvester)

Send us Fan Mail From the biblical serpent who supposedly got us kicked out of Eden to Hollywood’s endless snake pits and slithering sidekicks, snakes have carried the “

How Did Pigs Get Screwed? w/Eric Bauza (voice of Porky Pig)

Send us Fan Mail Why do pigs get stuck with all the worst labels? From idioms like “greedy pig,” “filthy pig,” and “pigging out” to the political satire of Animal Farm,

What Pop Culture Gets Right -- and Wrong -- About Animals

Send us Fan Mail We all think we know animals. The Big Bad Wolf. Bugs Bunny. The Three Little Pigs. But how much of what we know comes from the stories we’ve been tellin