Radiolab: Apocalyptical
WNYC Studios - December 9, 2013
Hosts: Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich
Podcast Summary

Main Theme

This special live episode of Radiolab, titled "Apocalyptical," is a whirlwind exploration of endings—how they happen, what follows, and what they mean. Recorded at Seattle’s Paramount Theater, the Radiolab team, along with scientists, musicians, comedians, and masterful sound and visual artists, dive into the story of the dinosaurs’ extinction, the birth of death as a concept on the atomic level, and a poignant story of two actors confronting endings in their lives.

Key Segments and Discussion Points

1. The End of the Dinosaurs: A Forensic Reimagining

(03:22–27:52)

• Setting the Scene:
  The show begins with an audacious, detailed retelling of the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs, taking the audience back 66 million years to a seemingly ordinary June day.

• Forensic Paleontology:

  • Jay Melosh (impact cratering expert) explains that, using pollen found in rocks, scientists pinpointed the impact to between June and July, during the flowering window of lotus and water lilies (04:43).
    • "The impact took place between the flowering of the lotus and the flowering of the water lilies." — Jay Melosh (05:11)
  • The impactor: an asteroid named Baptistina, six miles wide, traveling at 20,000 mph—about the size of Manhattan or Mount Everest (07:28).

• Visualizing the Impact:

  • The asteroid creates a vacuum (a "hole in the sky") as it enters the atmosphere. If, hypothetically, dinosaurs had eyes sensitive enough, they might see "a nighttime hole in a daytime sky" (10:26).

• Magnitude and Mechanics of Destruction:

  • The explosion unleashed was equivalent to 100 million megatons of TNT—100 million times a modern hydrogen bomb (15:25).
  • Contrary to the classic "long, slow, wintry collapse" narrative, new experiments (with NASA scientist Peter Schultz) point to a much faster, more brutal apocalypse caused by a “rain” of vaporized, re-solidified rock (glass spherules) superheating the atmosphere—a sudden global broiling.
    • "A pizza oven is about right." — Jay Melosh describing the temperature experienced globally (24:24)
    • The process: impact vaporizes rock; ejects it into space as droplets; Earth's gravity brings them back, and upon atmospheric re-entry, their collective heat raises surface temperatures to up to 1200°F, boiling blood and incinerating life above ground almost instantly (24:32-25:24).

• Suddenness and Totality:

  • Unlike old beliefs, this theory argues the extinction would've happened in just a few hours, not millennia.
    • "There is zero evidence that any dinosaur made it through." — Doug Robertson, geologist (26:21)
    • "His best guess, he thinks, maybe two hours." — Robert Krulwich on Doug’s timeline (26:39)

• Physical Evidence:

  • The "KT boundary" (a finger-width dark line in Earth’s strata), visible in Colorado and other places, holds glass spherules and iridium from the impact, and starkly divides rock containing dinosaur fossils from all later layers, which are dino-free (29:16–32:18).
    • "But just go above the line, you don't find any dinosaurs." — Robert Krulwich (31:49)

2. Who Survived, and Why?

(38:14–45:18)

• Survival Underground and Underwater:

  • Small creatures in burrows, a few inches below ground, and aquatic life deeper than 300 feet survived thanks to insulation from heat.
    • "Plain ordinary dirt is a very good insulator." — Doug Robertson (39:20)

• Birth of Mammals:

  • A tiny, furry ancestor—our many great-grandmother—endured below ground, survived the cataclysm, and seeded the age of mammals.
    • "There was a creature down there ... the great, great, great, great, great, great grandma of everybody in this room." — Jad Abumrad (40:51)

• Naming Our Ancestor:

  • Evolutionary biologist Maureen O’Leary reconstructs what this ancestor looked like: a shrew-like animal, dubbed “Schrodinger” by a listener contest.
    • “Its official name is the hypothetical placental mammal.” — Maureen O’Leary (43:21)
    • "Schrodinger" wins the naming contest (44:19)

• Theme:

  • Instantaneous mass death gives rise to new beginnings, death leading to “resurrection”—mammals (eventually, humans) taking the stage.

3. The Invention of Death at the Atomic Level

(66:01–73:17)

• When Did "Endings" Begin?
  • Robert and Jad pose the cosmic question: when did the universe invent "endings"?
  • Elements up to Bismuth (element 83) can last forever; Bismuth marks where atomic instability (i.e., decay or “death”) begins.
    • “I would argue that this is where the universe invents endings.” — Robert Krulwich (67:46)
• Bismuth and Pepto Bismol:
  • The element bismuth in our medicine cabinets (Pepto Bismol) is literally the chemical embodiment of death entering the elemental world.
    • “In each bottle of pink liquid there are little black rocks. …That’s just the truth." — Robert Krulwich (71:13)

4. Endings in Human Lives: "Endgame"

(74:53–98:30)

• The Human Perspective: Facing Parkinson’s with Art

  • Actors Chris Jones and Dan Moran, both diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, decide to perform Samuel Beckett’s "Endgame" together.
  • They’re in the endgame of both their acting careers and, perhaps, their faculties—the play’s theme resonates personally and painfully.
  • Their journey:
    • Both struggle physically and emotionally; their craft slips away.
    • Rehearsals are challenging, mirroring the uncertainty and slow march of their disease (89:02–90:39).
    • Opening night brings terror and release—Dan forgets a line, but his “performance muscles” kick in. For stretches of the play, their disease seems to vanish as they are carried by the story and audience (94:41).

• Reflection on Endings:

  • The process of directly confronting mortality and decline leads to unexpected pride and self-discovery.
    • "Who will I meet in the person of me in this project?" — Chris Jones (97:02)
    • "I can't go on, I will go on." — Jad Abumrad, quoting Beckett (87:27)
  • The show closes with Dan’s advice (and Beckett’s wisdom):
    • "Start at the beginning, go until the end, then stop." — Dan Moran (98:27)

5. Comedy, Music, and Multimedia Breaks

(Reggie Watts segments: 48:42–65:32; various musical cues)

• Interludes features:
  • Reggie Watts delivers a surreal, playful, Seattle-centric comedy set filled with musical improvisation and improv lyrics, providing levity amid heavy themes.
  • Musician Sarah Lipstate and others provide atmospheric, sometimes explosive, live scoring.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ultra-Specific Forensics:
  "The impact took place between the flowering of the lotus and the flowering of the water lilies." — Jay Melosh (05:11)

• Science & Horror: "You would have experienced some heat that is almost unimaginable ... within minutes, it would have been 300 degrees, 500 degrees, 700 degrees ..." — Jad Abumrad (24:32)

• Reframing the Dinosaur Apocalypse:
  "There is zero evidence that any dinosaur made it through." — Doug Robertson (26:21)

• Existential Philosophy:
  "We are rag dolls made out of many ages and skins... Our identity is a dream. We are process, not reality. What we call reality ... is an illusion of the daylight, the light of our own particular day." — Lauren Isley (quoted by Robert Krulwich, 46:03)

• Beckett Wisdom: "I can't go on. I will go on." — (Quoted at 87:27)

• Practical Wisdom to End the Show:
  "Start at the beginning, go until the end, then stop." — Dan Moran (98:27)

• Meta-radio Joy:
  "You wonder where we get all of our sound design? It's out of that man's mouth, that's where." — Jad Abumrad, on Robert’s expertly-timed sound effects (20:51)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Dinosaurs’ Final Day (KT impact breakdown): 03:22–27:52
• KT Boundary in the Field: 29:11–32:19
• The Mammal Ancestor “Schrodinger”: 40:05–45:18
• Reggie Watts Comedy Set: 48:42–65:32
• When Endings Begin (Bismuth, Periodic Table): 66:01–73:17
• Parkinson’s and "Endgame" (the human ending): 74:53–98:30
• Show Close & Reflection: 98:30–end

Overall Tone & Experience

Radiolab’s "Apocalyptical" weaves scientific detective work, dark humor, dazzling live music, and poignant personal storytelling into an evening-long meditation on endings—catastrophic and personal, cosmic and immediate. Jad and Robert maintain their signature curiosity and friendly skepticism, while letting horror, awe, comedy, and catharsis all have a turn on stage. The episode echoes with a sense of wonder at the universe’s power to wipe out and to reinvent, and finds deep humanity in how we face—even celebrate—the inevitable.

For more, including the full visual spectacle, see the episode’s video counterpart at radiolab.org/live.