The Menopause Mystery
Radiolab8 Aug 2025

The Menopause Mystery

Until recently, scientists assumed humans were the only species in which females went through menopause, and lived a substantial part of their lives after they were no longer able to reproduce. And they had no idea why that happens, and why evolution wouldn’t push females to keep reproducing right up to the end of their lives. But after a close look at some whale poop, and a deep dive into chimp life, we find several new ways of thinking about menopause and the real purpose of this all too often overlooked second act of life.

Special thanks to Danielle Friedman, Rachel Gross, and Kate Radke.

EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Heather Radke and Becca Bressler
Produced by - Sarah Qari and Becca Bressler
Fact-checking by - Emily Krieger
and Edited by - Becca Bressler

EPISODE CITATIONS:
Books -
Check out everything Heather Radke writes, including Butts: A Backstory, cause it’s all that good, here: Heather Radke (www.heatherradke.com).

Find any one of Lucy Cooke’s book, including Bitch:On the Female of the Species, here: Lucy Cooke (http://www.lucycooke.tv/)

And check out everything Caroline Paul has on offer, including Tough Broad, here: Caroline Paul (https://www.carolinepaul.com/)

Socials -
Heather Radke: https://www.instagram.com/radhradke
Lucy Cooke: https://www.instagram.com/luckycooke/


Audio:
Becca Bressler’s greatest hits-
Bloc Party
Our Stupid Little Bodies
Gigaverse

Radiolab | Lateral cuts -
Butt Stuff

Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(652)

Your Friendly Neighborhood Hookworms

Your Friendly Neighborhood Hookworms

For most of human history, people went about their daily lives with a worm or two (or fifty) in their guts. Only in the past century, with pharmaceuticals and sanitation practices, have we made signif...

15 Maj 46min

The Bad Show

The Bad Show

With all of the black-and-white moralizing in our world today, we decided to bring back an old show from 2011 about the little bit of bad that's in all of us...and the little bit of really, really bad...

8 Maj 1h 6min

What is a Pig Worth?

What is a Pig Worth?

In 2017, Wayne Hsiung and a crew of animal rights activists from Direct Action Everywhere broke into a Utah pig farm run by Smithfield Foods, one of the largest pork distributors in the world. They we...

1 Maj 42min

Forests on Forests

Forests on Forests

For much of history, tree canopies were pretty much completely ignored by science. It was as if researchers said collectively, "It's just going to be empty up there, and we've got our hands full study...

24 Apr 19min

The Resistance of a Cow

The Resistance of a Cow

There’s something rotten in the cows of Denmark. And Minnesota. And Wisconsin. And Idaho. What could cause a previously thriving herd of majestic dairy cattle to stop drinking water and start drinking...

17 Apr 51min

The Builders

The Builders

In an episode first aired back in 2025 on our sister show, Terrestrials, we take you on a musical journey all about beavers. Few mammals have a bigger positive impact on the planet than the beaver. Wi...

10 Apr 30min

Life in a Barrel

Life in a Barrel

This week, in an episode we first aired in 2022, we flip the Disney story of life on its head thanks to a barrel of seawater, a 1970s era computer, and underwater geysers. It’s the chaos of life. Lati...

3 Apr 54min

Antibiotic Apocalypse

Antibiotic Apocalypse

Doctor and special correspondent Avir Mitra takes Executive Editor Soren Wheeler, plus a live studio audience, on a journey from the operating room to inside the body to the farm to the sewers and bac...

27 Mars 1h 1min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

allt-du-velat-veta
p3-dystopia
dumma-manniskor
rss-ufobortom-rimligt-tvivel
ufo-sverige
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
svd-nyhetsartiklar
hacka-livet
rss-spraket
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
ufo-sverige-2
medicinvetarna
rss-vetenskapsradion
dumforklarat
sexet
det-morka-psyket
rss-dennis-world
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-tidsmaskinen
halsorevolutionen