Radiolab: “Oops” (June 28, 2010) – Detailed Episode Summary

Episode Overview

In the “Oops” episode, Radiolab (hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich) dives into human blunders—moments of error, unintended consequences, and surprise chain reactions. The hosts and their guests explore “classic oopses,” from language mishaps and ill-fated science experiments, to environmental disasters and moral dilemmas. The tone is witty, curious, and often reflective, as the show examines how simple mistakes or well-meaning interventions spiral out in unexpected—and sometimes profound—ways.

Key Segments and Discussion Points

1. Opening: Language “Oopses” (00:45–10:12)

Notable Guests:

• Ben Zimmer (NYT Magazine “On Language” columnist)

Highlights:

• Language mishaps caused by automation and search & replace errors.
• Example 1: The American Family Association’s news portal automatically replaced every instance of “gay” with “homosexual”, resulting in headlines like “Tyson Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials,” referring to sprinter Tyson Gay.
  • “The sprinter's name is Tyson Gay. Oh, my God.” (02:44)
• Example 2: The "African American"/"Back in the black" Fresno Bee editing fail—possibly a prank.
• Example 3: The obituary for Walter Cronkite where every “Cronkite” became “Mr. Cronkite,” resulting in the odd “Walter Leland, Mr. Cronkite Jr.” and “Kathy Mr. Cronkite.”

Notable Quote:

“This is a classic example of a search and replace oops.” —Ben Zimmer (03:00)

Timestamp Reference:

• Language oopses start at [00:45], examples run to around [10:12].

2. Unintended Consequences: The Harvard Experiments (10:13–36:24)

Key Guests:

• Professor Reuben Gur (UPenn psychiatrist)
• Alston Chase (Author, “Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber”)

Story Summary:

The story examines Henry Murray’s psychology experiments at Harvard in the 1950s, initially designed to develop techniques to resist brainwashing in the context of the Cold War. The experiments involved harsh, humiliating interrogations of undergraduates, who were tricked into exposing their most private thoughts and then mocked by strangers.

• One of the students, codenamed “Lawful”, suffered especially; he turned out to be Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber).
• The hosts and their experts ponder whether these experiments contributed to Kaczynski’s later crimes.

Notable Quotes:

“He was proud how he destroyed people.” —Alston Chase (23:56)
“I think the evil twist was done there.” —Alston Chase (34:47)

Timestamp Reference:

• Experiments start at [10:13], revelation of Kaczynski’s identity at [34:00].

3. Tech Mishaps: The Cupertino Effect (36:25–38:23)

Guest:

• Ben Zimmer returns

Highlight:

• The Cupertino Effect: Early spell checkers would suggest “Cupertino” instead of “cooperation,” seeding numerous official documents (even in NATO and UN) with nonsense like “stimulating cross-border Cupertino.”

“For instance, here’s a German NATO officer was quoted as saying, ‘The Cupertino with our Italian comrades proved to be very fruitful.’” —Ben Zimmer (37:52)

4. Scientific “Oops”: Killing the Oldest Living Organism (38:24–59:05)

Reporter:

• Pat Walters

Storyline:

Don Curry, a young grad student in 1964, accidentally cuts down the world’s oldest living tree—Prometheus, a bristlecone pine—while trying to retrieve a broken coring tool. Only after cutting the tree does Curry realize, with horror, the tree is nearly 5,000 years old.

• Community and scientific blowback is immense.
• Curry quietly leaves the field, haunted by the event.

Notable Quotes:

“He had himself the oldest tree ever, but he had killed it. And you gotta think; I’ve got to have done something wrong.” —Pat Walters (54:15)
“It was horrifying. It was a... family tragedy.” —Ron Lanner, reflecting on Curry’s actions (55:05)

Timestamp Reference:

• Tree story starts at [38:24], revelation and aftermath unfold to [59:05].

5. Another Language Oops: Queen Bees and Queen Elizabeth (59:06–1:00:40)

Guest:

• Ben Zimmer (again)

Highlight:

• A newswire article on bees replaces all “the queen” with “Queen Elizabeth,” resulting in:
  • “With its highly evolved social structure of tens of thousands of worker bees commanded by Queen Elizabeth, the honeybee genome…”

Notable Quote:

“With its highly evolved social structure of tens of thousands of worker bees commanded by Queen Elizabeth…” —Ben Zimmer, reading the article (1:00:15)

6. Moral Dilemmas: The Kirtland’s Warbler and the Mack Lake Fire (1:00:41–1:32:27)

Reporter:

• Lulu Miller

Storyline:

A conservation story with unintended tragic consequences.

• The Kirtland’s Warbler, a rare bird in Michigan, is nearly extinct due to brood parasitism by cowbirds and loss of young pine habitat.
• Conservation attempts required systematic killing of cowbirds and controlled burns to restore habitat.
• A prescribed burn in 1980 got out of control (the Mack Lake fire), destroying 20,000 acres, killing a beloved wildlife technician (Jim Swiderski), and bringing immense anger and moral questioning to the town.
• Despite tragedy, the fire created ideal warbler habitat, leading to a dramatic recovery of the birds.

Notable Quotes:

“Is the life of a fireman worth the life of a bird?” —Lulu Miller (1:25:21) “I say, you keep that little bird going. Exactly.” —Robert Swiderski (Jim’s brother, 1:29:40)
“That bird didn’t do anything to any of us. You know, if we can keep it going, I mean that’s what he [Jim] set out to do.” —Swiderski family (1:31:20)

Timestamp Reference:

• Story begins at [1:00:41], major fire at [1:13:12], town interviews and wrap-up to [1:32:27].

7. Environmental Accidents and Redemption: The Berkeley Pit and Acid-Loving Yeasts (1:32:28–End)

Reporters:

• Jad and Soren Wheeler, with field help from Barrett Golding

Storyline:

In Butte, Montana, decades of copper mining left behind the Berkeley Pit—an enormous, acidic, toxic lake. Local legends persist about geese landing and dying en masse after drinking its water.

• Don and Andrea Sterling, chemist couple, accidentally end up in Butte and begin studying the bizarre life forms surviving in the acidic pit.
• Discovery: Unique organisms thrive in the acid waste; some can absorb massive amounts of heavy metals, and some produce anti-cancer compounds.
• The “oops” comes full circle: The yeast that absorbs toxins was apparently introduced by the dying snow geese—tragedy leads, unpredictably, to scientific and ecological opportunity.

Notable Quotes:

“What’s less than nothing? Maybe absolute nothing. Like negative numbers of nothingness. It’s more than nothing. It’s an active getting rid of thing.” —Andrea Sterling, on the pit (1:38:18) “But then... we discovered the only place this yeast had ever been found was... in the rectal swabs of geese.” —Don Sterling (1:48:08)

Timestamp Reference:

• Berkeley Pit and Sterling introduction at [1:32:28], yeast revelation by [1:48:08].

Notable Moments & Quotes by Timestamp

| Timestamp | Quote / Segment | Speaker | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------| | 02:44 | “The sprinter’s name is Tyson Gay. Oh, my God.” | Host & Ben Zimmer | | 23:56 | “He was proud how he destroyed people.” | Alston Chase | | 34:47 | “I think the evil twist was done there.” | Alston Chase | | 37:52 | “The Cupertino with our Italian comrades proved to be very fruitful.” | Ben Zimmer | | 54:15 | “He had himself the oldest tree ever, but he had killed it...” | Pat Walters | | 55:05 | “It was horrifying. It was a family tragedy.” | Ron Lanner | | 1:00:15 | “With its highly evolved social structure... commanded by Queen Elizabeth...” | Ben Zimmer | | 1:25:21 | “Is the life of a fireman worth the life of a bird?” | Lulu Miller | | 1:29:40 | “I say, you keep that little bird going. Exactly.” | Robert Swiderski | | 1:31:20 | “That bird didn’t do anything... if we can keep it going, that’s what he set out to do.” | Swiderski family | | 1:38:18 | “What’s less than nothing?... It’s an active getting rid of thing.” | Andrea Sterling | | 1:48:08 | “...the only place this yeast had ever been found was... in the rectal swabs of geese.” | Don Sterling |

Reflections & Takeaways

• “Oops” moments reflect the limits of human foresight, whether it’s the fallout from software automation, Cold War paranoia, scientific ambition, conservation zeal, or industrial exploitation.
• The nature of “oops” is complex: sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, sometimes creating opportunities in the very wake of disaster.
• The show thoughtfully interrogates intent vs. outcome, and the moral calculus we make when balancing lives, species, or progress.

Episode Structure

1. Language oopses—funny, often trivial mistakes with unexpected consequences
2. The Unabomber’s Harvard experiment—how a quest for mind control had tragic, far-reaching consequences
3. Cupertino effect—the perils of trusting technology too much
4. The Prometheus tree—a scientist’s error erases a nearly 5,000 year-old living record
5. Queen Elizabeth bees—an automated replacement turns an article into nonsense
6. Kirtland’s Warbler and the Mack Lake fire—the price of conservation, and collective moral reckoning
7. The Berkeley Pit & beneficial yeast—from ecological disaster to scientific opportunity

For Further Listening

To explore these stories or discover more about unintended consequences, head to radiolab.org and look for the “Oops” episode.