Neuroparasitology (NATURE ZOMBIES) with Matt Simon

What’s on your mind? ZOMBIES. The planet is full of mind-controlling foes, and “Plight of the Living Dead” author Matt Simon researched deep and traveled the world to document tales of fungus-controlled zombie ants, bellies and brains full of worms, wasp bunkers, decapitated ants, brutal stings, hapless cockroaches, the attraction of light, moonlit skinny dipping, and the philosophy of where I stop and you begin. The two of us also discuss the Last of Us, of course.

Listen via Apple, Spotify, Google, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Visit Matt Simon’s website and follow him on Twitter

Shop Matt Simon’s books including Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal about Our World – And Ourselves

A donation went to the World Wildlife Fund

Links to things we discussed:

Largest living organism

Microphallus hoffmanii 

Parasitic manipulation and neuroinflammation: Evidence from the system Microphallus papillorobustus (Trematoda) - Gammarus (Crustacea)

Influence of Microphallus hoffmanni (Trematoda, Microphallidae) on the survival, sexual selection, and fecundity of Gammarus aequicauda (Amphipoda)

Sexual Selection, Natural Selection, and Body Size in Gammarus pulex (Amphipoda)

A Comparative Field Study of the Breeding Behaviour of a Stream and a Pond Population of Gammarus Pulex (Amphipoda)

lnfluence of Microphallus hoffmanni (Trematoda, Microphallidae) on the survival, sexual selection, and fecundity of Gammarus aequicauda (Amphipoda) 

A New Species of Gordionus (Nematomorpha: Gordiida) from the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico

Method for removing horsehair worms in human body

New Definitive Host Record For Chordodes Morgani (Nematomorpha) In Nebraska With Notes On Ecology

Water-seeking behavior in worm-infected crickets and reversibility of parasitic manipulation

Umwelt? Um, what? 

What inspired The Last of Us (interview)

Ancient death-grip leaf scars reveal ant– fungal parasitism

After This Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies, Their Bodies Explode

Microphallus Ward, 1901

Did the creator of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index volunteer to get stung by everything on earth?

CDC: Toxoplasmosis: An Important Message for Cat Owners

Tetrodotoxin Toxicity

Cost-effectiveness of postexposure prophylaxis after sexual or injection-drug exposure to human immunodeficiency virus

Is Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Related to Brain and Behavior Impairments in Humans? Evidence from a Population-Representative Birth Cohort

“Latent” infection with Toxoplasma gondii: Association with trait aggression and impulsivity in healthy adults

Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and Cognitive Functioning in Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Nonpsychiatric Controls

Toxoplasma gondii as a Risk Factor for Early-Onset Schizophrenia: Analysis of Filter Paper Blood Samples Obtained at Birth

High prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii oocyst shedding in stray and pet cats (Felis catus) in Virginia, United States

Cordyceps mushroom with increased cordycepin content by the cultivation on edible insects

Pharmacological and therapeutic potential of Cordyceps with special reference to Cordycepin

Other episodes you may enjoy:

SPOOKTOBER episodes

Quantum Ontology (WHAT IS REAL?)

Invisible Photology (INVISIBILITY CLOAKS)

Gustology (TASTE)

Chiropterology (BATS)

Scotohylology (DARK MATTER)

Dendrology (TREES)

Mycology (MUSHROOMS)

Myrmecology (ANTS)

Felinology (CATS)

Cicadology (CICADAS)

Ologies info:

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, stickers, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn