Anacondas: Not Like in the Movie

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stuff You Should Know – Anacondas: Not Like in the Movie

Podcast Information:

• Title: Stuff You Should Know
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode: Anacondas: Not Like in the Movie
• Release Date: June 12, 2025

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1. Introduction

In the episode titled Anacondas: Not Like in the Movie, hosts Josh, Chuck, and Jerry delve deep into the world of anacondas, demystifying the misconceptions perpetuated by Hollywood and shedding light on the true nature of these magnificent reptiles.

2. Anacondas' Characteristics

Josh begins the discussion by outlining the fundamental attributes of anacondas, highlighting their status as the world’s heaviest snakes.

Josh [05:26]: "Anacondas are giant, massive snakes. The world's heaviest snake by far—not the longest, but nearly as long as the world's longest."

3. Size and Physical Attributes

The hosts explore the impressive size of anacondas, focusing on the differences between green and yellow species.

• Green Anacondas: Females can reach lengths of 15 to 30 feet and weigh between 150 to 440 pounds. They are notably the heaviest snakes globally.

  Host 1 [11:01]: "Green anacondas are larger than the yellow ones, anywhere from 15 to 30 feet even sometimes that's at the very high end."

• Yellow Anacondas: Generally smaller, females average 9 to 10 feet and weigh around 100 to 120 pounds.

Josh provides additional context on their girth:

Josh [13:20]: "Green anacondas can get to about 12 inches, or a third of a meter in diameter. That's a 'thickie,' as they call it."

4. Behavior and Habitat

Anacondas are primarily freshwater snakes thriving in the swamps, slow-flowing rivers, and seasonal floodplains of South America. They are exceptional swimmers, capable of holding their breath for up to 10 minutes, which aids in their hunting strategies.

Host 1 [07:07]: "They love the water so much. They live in the swamps of the world, slow flowing rivers…"

5. Misconceptions from Movies

The hosts critically analyze the portrayal of anacondas in films, particularly the 1997 movie Anaconda starring Jon Voight, Ice Cube, and Owen Wilson. They emphasize that real anacondas pose little threat to humans, contrasting sharply with their cinematic counterparts.

Josh [06:47]: "Snakes generally don't want to be around people at all. So it's certainly not like the movie where they are on the attack."

6. Species Classification and Recent Studies

A significant portion of the episode covers recent taxonomical revisions based on genetic studies. Originally classified into four species, scientists have redefined these classifications due to genetic divergences discovered through DNA analysis.

Host 1 [22:45]: "They are split up, they diverged because of probably plate tectonic activity about 10 million years ago… their genomes differ by about five and a half percent."

Josh relates this to broader scientific concepts:

Josh [26:46]: "The genomes differ by about five and a half percent, which is a lot genetically. Humans and chimps are separated by about 2%, and these are identical looking snakes."

7. Notable Anacondas

The episode spotlights several famous anacondas, emphasizing their roles in research and captivity.

• Anna Julia: A 20-foot, 440-pound green anaconda from the Formosa River near Bonito, Brazil. She was known for her docile nature and significant contributions to scientific studies before her untimely death from natural causes.

  Host 1 [42:16]: "Anna Julia was just present a lot. She contributed greatly to our understanding of anacondas."

• J. Lo: An 18-foot, 210-pound anaconda that resided at the St. Louis Zoo. Rescued from potential exploitation, J. Lo became a star attraction, showcasing the gentle demeanor of anacondas in captivity.

  Host 1 [44:16]: "J. Lo was saved from being sold for meat and skin… she became the star of the show at their developing herpetarium."

8. Human Interactions and Threats

The discussion extends to the relationship between humans and anacondas, addressing both fear-driven aggression and conservation efforts.

• Human-induced Threats: Despite being classified as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), anacondas face threats from habitat destruction and retaliatory killings in regions where they coexist with humans.

  Host 1 [40:08]: "Draining of wetlands for agricultural use and just clear cutting of rainforests…"

• Conservation Efforts: Education and improved standards of living correlate with reduced instances of anaconda killings. However, in areas with lower Human Development Index scores, fear and lack of education contribute to the decline of anaconda populations.

  Josh [38:24]: "The more you're educated about, the less likely you are to hurt them."

9. Conclusion

Josh and Host 1 wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of understanding anacondas beyond their mythologized representations. They advocate for coexistence and respect for these incredible creatures, emphasizing that misinformation only fuels unnecessary fear and conflict.

Host 1 [40:37]: "They're in pretty good shape… Florida has a complete ban on anacondas and they are prohibited as pets."

They conclude with a reflection on the need for continued research and conservation to ensure that anacondas remain a thriving part of their natural ecosystems.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Josh [05:26]: "Anacondas are giant, massive snakes. The world's heaviest snake by far—not the longest, but nearly as long as the world's longest."
2. Host 1 [11:01]: "Green anacondas are larger than the yellow ones, anywhere from 15 to 30 feet even sometimes that's at the very high end."
3. Josh [13:20]: "Green anacondas can get to about 12 inches, or a third of a meter in diameter. That's a 'thickie,' as they call it."
4. Host 1 [07:07]: "They love the water so much. They live in the swamps of the world, slow flowing rivers…"
5. Josh [06:47]: "Snakes generally don't want to be around people at all. So it's certainly not like the movie where they are on the attack."
6. Host 1 [22:45]: "They are split up, they diverged because of probably plate tectonic activity about 10 million years ago… their genomes differ by about five and a half percent."
7. Josh [26:46]: "The genomes differ by about five and a half percent, which is a lot genetically. Humans and chimps are separated by about 2%, and these are identical looking snakes."
8. Host 1 [42:16]: "Anna Julia was just present a lot. She contributed greatly to our understanding of anacondas."
9. Host 1 [44:16]: "J. Lo was saved from being sold for meat and skin… she became the star of the show at their developing herpetarium."
10. Host 1 [40:08]: "Draining of wetlands for agricultural use and just clear cutting of rainforests…"
11. Josh [38:24]: "The more you're educated about, the less likely you are to hurt them."
12. Host 1 [40:37]: "They're in pretty good shape… Florida has a complete ban on anacondas and they are prohibited as pets."

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This episode of Stuff You Should Know provides an insightful and comprehensive look into the true nature of anacondas, debunking myths and highlighting the importance of these remarkable snakes in their natural habitats. Whether you're a reptile enthusiast or simply curious about the realities of one of nature's most formidable serpents, Josh, Chuck, and Jerry offer a balanced and informative narrative that enlightens and engages.

Transcript

[Host 1]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Dexter Thomas]

Are there any pictures of you online? Then you could already be in a massive police database without even knowing it.

[Guest 1]

Clearview scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.

[Dexter Thomas]

I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, a podcast about how living in the future is affecting us right now.

[Guest 1]

Police, they are trusting the software with this magical ability to lead them to the right suspect.

[Dexter Thomas]

In this episode, we dive into how cops are using AI and facial recognition and some sometimes getting it wrong and putting innocent people behind bars.

[Guest 1]

So if your accuser is this algorithm, but you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.

[Dexter Thomas]

Listen to Kill Switch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host 2]

OpenAI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be an aberration, a symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm gonna tell you why on my show, Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry, where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other AI companies, are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job. I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts.

[Host 3]

Welcome to Stuff youf Should Know, a production of iHeartrad.

[Josh]

Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck. And Jerry's here for the moment. And this is Stuff you should know. The podcast.

[Host 1]

That's right. This was one of my ideas. I believe Olivia helped us with this because I am on a mission to get my daughter to watch the movie Anaconda.

[Josh]

The first one.

[Host 1]

Was there another one?

[Josh]

I think they remade it. Yeah.

[Host 1]

Oh. I mean, if we're talking about the one with Jon Voight and Ice Cube and Owen Wilson, that's the one I'm talking about.

[Josh]

Don't forget J. Lo. She's the star.

[Host 1]

Well, arguably, the star is that big slithery snake.

[Josh]

I guess so. I watched it for the very first time last night.

[Host 1]

Oh, did you really?

[Josh]

It's not good.

[Host 1]

No, I know.

[Josh]

I mean, it's not one of those ones that's, like, so bad. It's good. It's just kind of bad.

[Host 1]

Oh, I see. I think it's kind of a fun bad movie. Our friends of the podcast, the Flop House, the bad Movie podcast has been around for as long as we have. Those guys are great. Their rating system is good. Bad movie. Bad Bad movie or movie I kind of liked, so it's kind of fun.

[Josh]

Did they rate Anaconda, do you know?

[Host 1]

I don't know that they've ever done this one. I'll have to ask Dan about that.

[Josh]

Well, I'm giving it a bad, bad movie.

[Host 1]

Okay. I remember it as being good bad and for a, you know, almost 10 year old, like, she would like it.

[Josh]

Yeah, totally. There's a lot of Jaws homage to it. So I'm sure that's one reason you like it subconsciously.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I had a. Just before we get going again, while we're on movies, a very humbling dad moment, which is a reminder that you can't necessarily make your favorite stuff your kid's favorite stuff. We tried to watch army of Darkness, aka Evil Dead 3, and she made it through about 40 minutes and I thought she was liking it. And then she went, can we turn this off? And I was so heartbroken. I was like, oh, really? I was like, you don't think it's kind of fun and funny and weird? And she was like, yeah, but it's just not my thing. And I was like, okay, man.

[Josh]

Did you write her out of the will?

[Host 1]

Yeah, that's it. Sorry. Bruce Campbell gets it all now.

[Josh]

Do you know what she didn't like about it?

[Host 1]

No. I mean, it wasn't too scary because she doesn't mind scary stuff. It was funny. She was laughing. I don't know, I thought she was into it. It may have just been the mood. Maybe a try again later because that's happened before.

[Josh]

Have you ever seen Bubba Hotep with Bruce Campbell?

[Host 1]

You bet your sweet bippy I have. It's a great movie.

[Josh]

I wonder if she would like that. Maybe she didn't like all the skeletons that he had to fight and stuff like that, but she would like Bruce Campbell doing his thing.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I mean, who doesn't? I think Bruce Campbell appeals to all ages.

[Josh]

He really does. And that's our Bruce Campbell story.

[Host 1]

All right. Should we do a good old Fashioned Stuff youf Should Know Animal episode?

[Josh]

Yeah, this is definitely that. We're talking anacondas for those of you who didn't bother to look at the title. And anacondas are giant, massive snakes. The world's heaviest snake. Like by far. Not the world's longest, but they're not too much shorter than the world's longest. So they're just a massive giant snake. They're boas, which means they like to constrict you. They're big enough that if you're a human, they could constrict around you and kill you and eat you if they wanted to. Luckily, they don't really have much to do with humans. Apparently, our buns are not substantial enough for their liking, and so they don't want none of us.

[Host 1]

And just remember, everyone, you can do side bends or sit ups, but please don't lose that butt.

[Josh]

No, not if you want an anaconda to eat you.

[Host 1]

I just referenced that specific part of that song this past weekend because that is my favorite part of that song, which is one of my favorite songs.

[Josh]

The side bends and sit ups part?

[Host 1]

No, just that whole. That whole sort of section, starting with workout tapes by Fonda.

[Josh]

Mm.

[Host 1]

It's just. I don't know. It's. Again, cer. Mixcalat. We've talked about him a lot lately. I feel like.

[Josh]

Yeah, he's come up a couple of times almost as much as Billy Joel.

[Host 1]

They should do a mashup.

[Josh]

So. Yes. So anacondas are giant and scary, but strangely, they're not really anything to be scared of, according to science and people who don't live around them.

[Host 1]

Yeah. They are a member of the Eunectus genus, which means good swimmer in Greek. And as we'll see, they're great swimmers, and they are part of the. I even looked this up.

[Josh]

I think it's like it's spelled.

[Host 1]

All right, say it then.

[Josh]

Boeede.

[Host 1]

Okay. I saw E, though. I think we've been pronouncing D A E wrong. I think it's D. Boeede.

[Josh]

Hmm? You're back on that bao bow thing again, and I'm pretty sure it's boide.

[Host 1]

Maybe.

[Josh]

How about boy day?

[Host 1]

But that is known as a true boa. They are non venomous, so they're not gonna. They're not gonna kill you with. With venom. They're just gonna give you a big, warm hug, but they're not after you. Again, like you said, they. Snakes generally don't want to be around people at all. So it's certainly not like the movie where they are on the attack.

[Josh]

No. And, I mean, they say so many lies about anacondas in that movie. Like.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Bad.

[Josh]

Yeah. Yeah. Luckily, most of the people who saw that movie probably don't live around anacondas and don't have a chance to kill them. But it was like, that level of lies and smears against anacondas in that movie.

[Host 1]

Yeah. One thing that the movie did get right and that I mentioned is that they are great, great swimmers. They have those eyes and the nose on top of the head. So they can barely keep their little top of their head out of the water and still be below water. Which is a terrifying thought. Although mostly when I've seen them, they're kind of swimming on top of the water like you see a lot of snakes do. But they can hold their breath for like 10 minutes. Right, and just like fully dive.

[Josh]

Yeah, yeah, 10 minutes. Like the more you learn about anacondas this, the more unsettling they are. Like, it's good that they don't really want to have much to do with humans, but if they wanted to, like, we would be in trouble for sure.

[Host 1]

Yeah, absolutely. Because they love the water so much. They obviously live in the swamps of the world, slow flowing rivers. If there are places that are flooded annually or seasonally, they will be there during those times. And when it's not, they will probably travel to wetter climes or maybe just burrow down in the mud. But they'll also go into the jungle and forest here and there. Just. They really like the water though.

[Josh]

Yeah, all fresh water, though they're not salt tolerant, which was not immediately apparent to me. I had to look it up.

[Host 1]

Oh, you thought there could be like an ocean anaconda?

[Josh]

Well, I'll explain why later on. How about that? I'm going to save that one for later. My thinking.

[Host 1]

Are you going to say the word brackish at any point?

[Josh]

I may.

[Host 1]

Okay.

[Josh]

So just because they're snakes, they have the Jacobson's organ in their mouth, the roof of their mouth. It's prominently featured in the movie Anaconda because that thing like bears its fangs at the camera like every 30, 40 seconds. And there's a Jacobson's organ, the big hole in the back of the roof of its mouth. And because whenever you see a snake flicker its tongue really quickly, what it's doing is it's sampling the air and transferring it to the Jacobson's organ, which analyzes it and says, there's a capybara right over there. Let's go eat it.

[Host 1]

Yes, they can. Also, the heat signatures can be recognized. So part of finding that animal is their warm blood. But they also use it to find a nice cool place to go rest after they've had a big meal, which we'll get to.

[Josh]

That's the. Yeah, and that's a different one. That's the pit organ. This is just nuts.

[Host 1]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Josh]

So so that's the one that, so one the Jacobson's senses smells in the air, pit organs, like you said, sense heat. And the pit organs transfer these, this, these electrical impulses based on thermal signatures to their optic center and it gets integrated with their vision. So, so they can see like a capybara, again, plain as day in complete darkness. Just like predator.

[Host 1]

Yeah, it's nuts. We think we've never asked them to draw a picture of what that looks like. It's true, but this is the best we can figure.

[Josh]

But I mean, that kind of goes to show just how amazing science can be. That we basically walk around thinking like we know what a anaconda's vision looks like, even though. Yeah, no anaconda's ever told us.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I mean, that's the same with whether an animal is colorblind. I'm always like, well, how do you know?

[Josh]

Sure.

[Host 1]

So if you wanna talk. Well, speaking of colors, we'll get to the nitty gritty of sort of the different kinds of anacondas, but for now we'll just say the green ones are the ones that are really, really big. They're bigger than the yellow ones. They're the heaviest snake in the world, like you said, basically. I think you mentioned not the longest, that goes to the reticulated python, but the female anaconda. Green anaconda is larger than the male, anywhere from 15 to 30ft even sometimes that's at the very high end. I think they're generally 15 to 20ft and weigh about 150 to 200 pounds, whereas the males are only about 9 to 10ft and 100 to 120 pounds. Still a very large snake.

[Josh]

That's a giant snake still. And yeah, that 30 foot one, that's supposedly the record, although it's not obvious where that came from, but supposedly the record anaconda was 30ft long and £550. Right. Again, that's not. I. We don't know who said that originally, but there was, we know for a fact, a snake and a green anaconda female that was about 440 pounds and 20ft long. So they do get giant. I mean, they are so big. And you look up, like, go look up pictures and videos of green anacondas and you'll be like, wow, that's a big snake. And then see if you can find one next to like a human or something for scale. And you will just be blown away by how giant these things are.

[Host 1]

Yeah, like a banana. Also be wary because there are a lot of Fake pictures and videos of giant anacondas.

[Josh]

Yes.

[Host 1]

And it's just harder to tell these days. I saw some video from, like, helicopters above a river where it's like, there's no way this thing is that big. Because they were 60ft long and as big around as a basketball.

[Josh]

I know.

[Host 1]

And they look really good.

[Josh]

Yeah. And they're hard to tell, like you said. I saw one and it was curling around this lion, and I was like, wait a minute. These things are only in South America, and lions are not in South America. That was the only way I had to stop and think about it. Because it looks so realistic.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh]

It's like, can you just be amazed by the natural world as it is? Like, does everything have to be pushed to the extreme for you to get your jollies?

[Host 1]

I'm with you, buddy. I had the same thought. So I mentioned the yellows are smaller. They're nine to ten pounds for the females, which are larger than the males. Cause they're only about six feet long, which is, again, still a very big snake. And they can top 100 pounds. A yellow one can. Like all snakes, they have intermediate growth, means they're always growing. It slows down in adulthood, but the snakes keep growing forever.

[Josh]

Yeah. And there was one other dimension that we left out, and that is those green anacondas can get to about 12 inches, or a third of a meter in diameter. That's an old thickie is what they call that.

[Host 1]

And how long do they live, Josh?

[Josh]

For a while, actually. In the wild, up to 20 years on average. And then, because the wild is so much more dangerous than a cushy zoo, in captivity, they can live up to 30 years. They're just not as happy as the ones in the wild. The ones in the wild are like, live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. The ones in captivity are like, I'm going to get soft, but I'll live to an old age.

[Host 1]

That's right. Just throw me a capybira in here so I can have some lunch.

[Josh]

Right. They're like capybira again. Can I get a tapir?

[Host 1]

They are apex predators, so nothing is gonna come after the anaconda. They're just. It's not gonna happen. They feed on fish, they feed on reptiles. We mentioned mammals. They'll eat a deer, they'll eat a caiman. Although I did see a caiman stand off an anaconda because I think it was one of the smaller anacondas. So I got out of there.

[Josh]

The caimans are like the Mini crocodiles, right?

[Host 1]

Yeah. But they're still, you know, got some size to them.

[Josh]

Sure, sure. But I just want to make sure. I was thinking the right animal.

[Host 1]

Totally. And they kill things like, you would think they're constrictors. So they grab it. They grab it around the neck. They coil that body and they squeeze it. And I always heard that, like, oh, they'll crush your internal organs and you break your rib cage. They're really not doing that. And this is kind of a cool little fact. What they're doing is they're stopping the blood flow. And you end up having heart failure because. Or a stroke, because you have no blood reaching your brain or your heart and you lose consciousness. They can bite if you're smaller, but they're generally going to constrict you to death.

[Josh]

Yeah. And the reason that they don't break your bones is because they don't want bones sticking out of your body on the way down their gullet as they're digesting you. So they use a little bit of finesse, I think.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Because they swallow you whole, you know, that's the idea. That's why when you see constrictors with those big bulges that is like a pig or something, it's probably Jon Voight. I wish it was. But we should say that they don't. You know, because they're eating such big things, they don't have to eat very much. They can go months between eating meals, and it can take weeks and weeks for them to digest. So they'll just sneak away to a nice cool place and digest on the down low for a little while. And there was one report of a captive anaconda that lived for two years without eating.

[Josh]

Right. And they normally keep to themselves. They have their own hunting territories, but most of the time they're like, just leave me alone. I'm just over here doing my thing. Except they come together from April to May during breeding season. And they're polyandrous, which means that a single female will mate with multiple males, as opposed to polygamous, which means a single male will mate with multiple females. And they will mate in what's called a breeding ball. And if you want to be unsettled to your core, look up green anaconda. Breeding ball.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Breeding ball is the stuff of nightmares, for sure. That's like as many as 13 snakes sometime just having a big old snake party with each other. That's not how it always goes down, though. A lot of times, the females will spend an entire mating season with just one dude, but that dude may be lunch after they're impregnated, because the female may just eat that male because they've just gotten pregnant and they need to bed down for seven months without eating again. So TS for you, pal.

[Josh]

Yeah. That's something in the animal kingdom called sexual cannibalism.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Josh]

Sexual cannibals is maybe the greatest band name we've run across so far.

[Host 1]

Yeah, they open for the fine young animals.

[Josh]

Yeah, exactly. And I just one other thing about that. I read some species of males will sacrifice themselves to be cannibalized after mating. And there was a study of fisher spiders, or dark fisher spiders, something like that, where they found that after the female eats the male, she has more success, like healthier offspring and more offspring when she eats the male than if she immediately ate an alternative prey like a cricket or something like that. So there's something involved in that exchange that helps reproduction and natural selection go full steam ahead, I guess, in whatever species does that.

[Host 1]

Wow, that's super interesting.

[Josh]

I thought so too.

[Host 1]

They mate. The green ones, that is, mate every other year because it's a lot, I think we could admit. That big sex ball that they form. Sometimes for weeks. Yeah. And just, you know, the seven month pregnancy and they're not eating. It's just a lot. So they do this every other year. Greens have about 30 babies at a time. Yellow ones have about 40. But there is at least one verified case of a green anaconda having 82 baby anaconda snakes.

[Josh]

Yeah, that's. I mean, that poor snake. Yeah, it's like my aching back. They have live births too. They're viviparous rather than oviparous. They don't lay eggs like some kinds of snakes. And regardless, however the baby comes out, they don't do any parenting. They're just done. They have their babies and they just slither off and the babies are on their own immediately. And they just start swimming around and eating whatever's in. In the area. And then after three or four years, they get into their own breeding ball situations and the circle of life just keeps continuing on.

[Host 1]

Yeah. And those babies are a couple of feet long, and that feels like a pretty good place to break. Yay.

[Josh]

Yay.

[Host 1]

I don't know why I said yay as opposed to nay. We'll be right back.

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Are there any pictures of you online? I'm not just talking about Google, I'm talking anywhere.

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[Guest 1]

So in this one case, two of the search results that I think were in the top 10 of the search results were Michael Jordan Just a picture of Michael Jordan.

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[Guest 1]

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This is not Minority Report. This is happening right now. People are getting arrested and doing actual time in jail after being picked out by a computer. I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, where every Wednesday we explain the right now of living in the future. You can turn off the computer, but do not let the computer turn you off. Listen to Kill switch in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Foreign.

[Josh]

So, Chuck, there are different species of anacondas. And one of the things that's extremely interesting about this, the, I guess the taxonomy of anacondas, is that very recently they've shaken things up. I mean, if you're a herpetologist, this is one of the most exciting things in your field to come along in a really long time, I'm guessing.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I bet you're right.

[Josh]

So, originally, up until very recently, scientists divided anacondas into four species. There was the green anaconda, Eunectes marinus, which we talked about basically this whole time. Yellow anaconda, Eunectes notaeus. The beni doesn't even. It's not even called an anaconda. That's how odd it is. That's Eunectes benensis, and then the dark spotted anaconda, which is Eunectes deschouwsenseel. Deschouanciel. Did I say that right, Mr. German pronunciation guy?

[Host 1]

I think that is an I at.

[Josh]

The end and not an L. Oh, deschouense.

[Host 1]

I think that is exactly right. That's definitely a German word.

[Josh]

So those four species are the ones that they've considered anacondas since time immemorial. But within the last year or so, they're like, this is all wrong. We need to reconfigure stuff into, like, a new breeding ball of species of anaconda.

[Host 1]

Yeah, there was a paper, as Emily likes to say, probably a white paper from last year, where an international team of scientists got together. They had probably the leading anaconda expert in the world, Jesus Rivas of New Mexico Highlands University. And they got together and said, guys, I think we got to dig in a little deeper. We're being a little lazy. And we got to rename these, reclassify these snakes. We're going to split these green anacondas into two species, and we're Going to combine the other three into one. And Will Smith somehow has something to do with this.

[Josh]

Yeah, interestingly so. They've studied anacondas for decades and decades to try to figure out if the taxonomy is correct. Because I mean, when Linnaeus started taxonomy, it was all based on like this thing looks like this thing. And as we've gotten better at genetic analysis, we've been like, well, just because it looks like it. Actually they're not very related at all. That's been the case with anacondas. But a big chunk of the work that's been done, the research that's been done that led to this was done through a National Geographic show pole to poll with Will Smith.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Josh]

There is apparently at least one episode where one of the leaders of the Waorani people said name was Penty Behua. He said, hey Will Smith, why don't you guys come to Ecuador and we'll hang out in the Amazon and we're, we'll, we'll lead you around and show you anacondas and you guys can capture them and test them and release them back. And that's exactly what happened. And from that they took all sorts of blood samples and tissue samples and did a genetic analysis. And they're like, we got this way wrong.

[Host 1]

Yeah. And Will Smith said, what did the five fingers say to the face?

[Josh]

I know, man, that is gonna be tough for him to ever live down.

[Host 1]

It's. Cause it's one of the weirdest public things that's ever happened, televised things that's ever happened.

[Josh]

It was weird. Yes.

[Host 1]

It's still mind boggling to think about. And I remember seeing it live, just being like, what did I just see?

[Josh]

Yeah, no, same here. I'm pretty sure I saw it live and not a replay. But it was. But also the violence of it I think is what's gonna make it so hard to live down. It was just an ugly, ugly thing.

[Host 1]

It really was.

[Josh]

It's crazy.

[Host 1]

Oh man. So strange. So they did some research and again you said that, you know, once we sort of get into the genetics, just because something looks like something doesn't mean much. So they did that, they got into the genetics of these snakes and they found that two, the two green anaconda types, because you know, they reclassified, were split up, they diverged because of probably plate tectonic activity about 10 million years ago when plates smashed together and created a big like ridge or a mountain range. And all of a sudden it's like the Berlin Wall and they were split up and they look a Lot alike if you look like them, like you were saying. But their genomes differ by about five and a half percent, which is a lot genetically.

[Josh]

Yeah, humans and chimps are separated by about 2% and these are identical looking snakes. So they are definitely different species. And it just goes to show you, like how species put into very similar habitats a long time ago that those small changes that spread out and out and out over millions of years can have huge sweeping effects. That their genomes could be divergent by 5% just over that time, which is the basis of chaos theory.

[Host 1]

Oh really?

[Josh]

Yeah, the little tiny changes inputs early on over a long enough span of time create completely different things over long spans of time.

[Host 1]

You should say that all as Jeff Goldblum.

[Josh]

I can't. I wish I could do a Jeff Goldblum. Yeah, me too. That would be amazing. I saw him once in person outside of the. What's the place we always stayed for Sketchfest? The hotel.

[Host 1]

I saw him outside the hotel too. He was there at the same time and I was at one point even in a little circular group with friends I knew that knew him. And I just stayed quiet and tried to just be among Jeff Goldblum.

[Josh]

I feel like we talked about this at the San Francisco show.

[Host 1]

I think so. And my takeaway just from being near him is that boy, he was a charming, lovely guy that seemed like he wanted every interaction with the person to leave thinking like what a great dude that guy is.

[Josh]

And he smells like a million dollars.

[Host 1]

A million bucks.

[Josh]

So yeah, I wish I could do a Jeff Goldblum too, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

[Host 1]

So we should mention the range quickly before we probably break again. The Greens, obviously almost all of Brazil and other parts of South America east of the Andes, up the northern Venezuela coast, you can find them as far south as Paraguay. And interestingly also maybe unlucky for them on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

[Josh]

Yes. Okay, now here's where the salt tolerance thing comes up. I could not figure out. If you look at a map, Trinidad is. There's a part of Venezuela that's no more than 10 miles away from Trinidad and Tobago, the islands right off of Venezuela. So these things can swim and hold their breath for 10 minutes. I was like, how did they get to Trinidad? Did they swim? I still have no idea how they got to Trinidad. It had to have been, you know, at a point in time when Trinidad was still fused to maybe to South America or like maybe the sea levels were lower so there was a land bridge. I don't know. But that's how I found out that they're not salt tolerant. They're only freshwater snakes. Because, no, they couldn't have swam to Trinidad. That's the answer to that.

[Host 1]

Even if they vaselined up and wore.

[Josh]

The goggles and the skull cap and the bike shorts.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. They wear bike shorts these days.

[Josh]

What was it that Pee Wee Herman thing in Pee Wee's Big Adventure? He said, oh, yeah, he's talking about blowing your mind. He's like, have you ever seen a snake wear a vest? You remember that part? That's Yumi's favorite part in that entire.

[Host 1]

I don't remember that part. That's funny. I thought I knew that movie inside and out. That's very funny. I've not seen that documentary yet on Pee Wee Herman. I heard it's really, really good, though.

[Josh]

Yeah, we just watched it. It is very good.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Josh]

There's also one we're watching called Chimp Crazy by the guy who did Tiger King.

[Host 1]

No, no, thanks.

[Josh]

It's not as hard to watch as you would think. It's more human interest stuff. But, yeah, I mean, there's still. It's weird because you empathize with both sides. It's one of those documentaries.

[Host 1]

I'm one of the few people that didn't have any interest or watch Tiger. Was it Tiger What?

[Josh]

Tiger King. You kind of missed out, man. That was something.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I don't feel like it did.

[Josh]

Okay, well, then, yeah, you might not like Chimp Crazy then if you didn't want to watch Tiger King.

[Host 1]

All right, shall we take that break?

[Josh]

Yes.

[Host 1]

All right, we'll be back and talk about human interactions with anacondas right after this.

[Zoe Saldana]

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[Host 3]

Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in.

[Zoe Saldana]

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[Host 3]

There's always a trade in.

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[Host 3]

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[Host 3]

I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.

[Host 1]

I'm good. Seriously.

[Host 3]

Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.

[Zoe Saldana]

Really, I'm fine.

[Host 3]

Oh, I have raisins. I'm a mom. Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car.

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[Dexter Thomas]

Are there any pictures of you online? I'm not just talking about Google, I'm talking anywhere.

[Guest 1]

Clear View scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.

[Dexter Thomas]

That database is now being used by police departments all across the country to match criminal suspect photos. And sometimes it makes mistakes.

[Guest 1]

So in this one case, two of their search results that I think were in the top 10 of the search results were Michael Jordan, A picture of Michael Jordan.

[Dexter Thomas]

But cops are still using it to make arrests.

[Guest 1]

Police, they are trusting the software to lead them to the right suspect. But you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.

[Dexter Thomas]

This is not Minority Report. This is happening right now. People are getting arrested and doing actual time in jail after being picked out by a computer. I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch where everyone Wednesday we explain the right now of living in the future. You can turn off the computer but do not let the computer turn you off. Listen to Kill Switch in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host 1]

So we mentioned that you're probably not in danger around an anaconda. Uh, I don't know if I'd go, like, partying with one, but, you know, we said they may eat like every couple of months. So if you know for a fact that anaconda has eaten something, those are probably the videos you're seeing on the Internet. When there's people like, you know, doing like documentary work on anacondas, they probably know that that thing is eaten.

[Josh]

Yeah. Interestingly, there was a study that found that humans who live around anacondas see a full anaconda as far less threatening than one that doesn't have a big pot belly.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I would say so.

[Josh]

It makes sense.

[Host 1]

There was a book that I don't even know if we should mention, but a book from the 50s called Giant Snake Hunt by a guy named Ralph Blomberg who claimed two definite cases of people being killed by snakes. But I think that book is probably not accurate is my guess. There is a video that I watched from Terra Santa Brazil that has a guy. I'm sure you watch this too. An anaconda standing, or the guy was standing rather, in like chest deep water in a river in Brazil, and the anaconda was wrapped around him, and his buddies up on the boat were trying to get it off and he bit this snake near its head and the snake released it and they got. They got this guy out of there.

[Josh]

It was weird. If you listen closely, his bite made the same sound that Fred Flintstone makes when he bites into something, that chomp sound. I was really surprised.

[Host 1]

It was very surprising.

[Josh]

So, yeah, that's really, really rare that that happens. And the guy was able to escape unharmed. The point is, if an anaconda wanted to take you on, like, you would be in big trouble.

[Host 1]

Yeah, sure.

[Josh]

It turns out that there are some people who want an anaconda to take them on. There's a guy named Paul Rizzoli who for all intents and purposes is Chainsaw from summer school. Did you look this up and see him?

[Host 1]

I did. And I remember when this happened.

[Josh]

Okay, so Discovery Channel had a two hour special called Eaten Alive wherein Paul Rizzoli was out looking for a giant anaconda to eat him. And it was just pulse pounding from the beginning to the last moment, from what I understand.

[Host 1]

Yeah. You don't remember this?

[Josh]

No.

[Host 1]

Oh, boy. I do. It was a media disaster in, I would like to think a low point for Discovery Channel, but they made a carbon fiber suit that he wore and he drenched himself in Pig's blood as you do. And what he claimed was like, oh, I want to bring awareness to the loss of habitats, you know, for these snakes. But close to 40,000 people signed a petition beforehand calling it animal abuse, saying, you can't do a show like this. The show itself was a disaster. Sort of a Geraldo digging for who? Is it Jimmy Hoffa? Or was it.

[Josh]

I don't know about Hoffa. I know that he found Al Capone's vault.

[Host 1]

Al Capone. That was it. That had nothing basically in it. And that was kind of the deal here, where almost all of the show was just prep. In the last 15 minutes, this snake, this poor snake being exploited, tries to bite him on the head and starts constricting him. And he's like, oh, oh, my arm. And he taps out. And that was it.

[Josh]

Right. So I think the rule of thumb here, Chuck, is if you are in another animal's habitat messing with it and there's a TV camera on you, you are in the wrong. There is no exception to that.

[Host 1]

Agreed.

[Josh]

You are going into their house and messing with them for your own benefit, and that's just wrong. It's wrong and don't do it.

[Host 1]

Agreed.

[Josh]

That's all I have to say about that.

[Host 1]

I think we should mention a couple of these tweets, though, because they're pretty funny.

[Josh]

Totally. There was one person who said that they called it eaten alive because getting squeezed really hard didn't sound as enticing. That was a good one.

[Host 1]

Another one, someone said calling it Eaten Alime is like having a show on the Food Network about cooking a turkey. And all they do after two hours is preheat the oven.

[Josh]

Good stuff.

[Host 1]

Roasted.

[Josh]

I don't remember it at all, and I don't remember it being a disaster, but I could see that.

[Host 1]

Yeah. As far as human interaction, humans are probably a bigger threat. Not probably. Humans are a bigger threat to anacondas than they are to them.

[Josh]

Definitely.

[Host 1]

A lot of times it will be preemptively killed in a small community because of fear of small kids. Maybe a little bit more of a threat. Or a small elderly person, perhaps, or your livestock. A lot of times they'll describe this as retaliatory killing because they ate my prized deer, so I'm going to kill it. But they did an actual study in Brazil in 2015, and they found it's probably more of a preemptive fear to keep them from doing something like that.

[Josh]

Right. And based on your Human Development Index score, which is a rating of education level and standard of Living and income for an area. The lower that score, the more likely you are to kill an anaconda. I feel like that's a little bit slanted because I feel like people with high Human Development Index scores probably don't live with anacondas in their yard. So I think that's a little bit skewed. But I get, I get the gist that, you know, the more you're educated about, say, animals, the more, the less likely you are to hurt them.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Josh]

At the same time, the more educated you are, probably the more removed you are from animals. So it's hard to fault people who literally live amongst anacondas or other things that they perceive as a threat killing them. Even though to us in the developed world or the global north, it seems just abhorrent, we don't have to deal with that. So there's a certain amount of judgment that you have to take perspective on either way. I wish that no one would kill an anaconda, especially if they leave humans alone. But I can't also put myself in the shoes of the people who live among them, I guess, is what I'm saying.

[Host 1]

Yeah, well said.

[Josh]

I'm glad you said that because I'm out of breath.

[Host 1]

No, that's great. Obviously, a loss of habitat is a problem for everything in South America. Draining of wetlands for agricultural use and just clear cutting of rainforests and things like that. Despite all this, they're in pretty good shape. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources classified, or they're currently classified as of least concern.

[Josh]

That was surprising.

[Host 1]

Yeah, I mean, they're doing pretty good. You might wonder about, like, well, what about these things? Like, if people bring them over and all of a sudden they're in the swamps of Florida. There are some anacondas in Florida, but it's generally not a problem. The Burmese python is, you know, very much on record as being a much, much bigger problem. But regardless, Florida has a complete ban on anacondas and they are prohibited as pets.

[Josh]

They said, don't even think about it. We're Florida, we'll find you. We'll hunt you down and find you. If you release an anaconda here. One of the reasons why they're not a big problem as an invasive species is because they're really hard to keep as pets. Like, you essentially need, like a zoo exhibit size place. There's a word in there somewhere that I'm missing to keep an anaconda, like, at your home. Most people can't do that, so there's not A lot of pet anacondas anywhere that could be released in the first place.

[Host 1]

Yeah. So we're going to finish up with a little bit on some of the more famous anacondas. First of which has got to be Anna Julia. This is a 20 footer, 440 pound female, obviously green, and probably the most famous anaconda that lived in the Formosa river near Bonito, Brazil because there's a lot of ecotourism there. And Anna Julia was just present a lot. And the water there in the river around Bonito is pretty clear as far as that kind of water goes. And Anna Julia was not aggressive. So she was like, hey, if you want to make a documentary about me, I'm right here, let's do it, come.

[Josh]

On in, the water's fine.

[Host 1]

Yeah, or maybe you don't come on in the water.

[Josh]

So there's a. Yeah, well there's actually from that study, that pole to pole National Geographic thing that contributed to that huge study that changed the species arrangement, the taxonomy. One of the biologists involved in that, there's a video of him swimming alongside Anna Julia and she's totally underwater, just swimming along and does not seem at all bothered by his presence. I mean he's not like trying to ride her or anything like that. He's not putting up on her.

[Host 1]

Was he the one wearing the frickin dress shirt?

[Josh]

I think so, yeah. He was not dressed for snorkeling or swimming.

[Host 1]

It was very weird. And I immediately went to the comments, I'm like, surely I'm not the only one that is noticing this. And of course everyone was like, well I see the guy dressed, you know, formal for the occasion and everyone's talking about this guy wearing, I mean it may be one of those weird sort of moisture wicking all weather outdoor shirts that just is a button up. But why are you swimming in a button up?

[Josh]

I get the impression that he's Dutch.

[Host 1]

Oh, that explains.

[Josh]

So what's sad about it though is that Anna Julia was found dead just a few weeks after this. The research that she was a huge part of, like because she was so docile, they were able to closely study and observe her and she contributed greatly to our understanding of anacondas. And she died like five weeks after that research was published, that big 2024 paper. And of course everybody's like somebody like, who shot Anna Julia? It was like a murder mystery that Netflix quickly made a ten part series about. And it turns out that she died of natural causes.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Which is sad, but good to know that she was not killed.

[Josh]

Yeah, definitely.

[Host 1]

If you live in St. Louis, you're probably screaming at us right now. You gotta mention J. Lo, guys. You gotta mention J. Lo. J. Lo was the 18 foot, 210 pound anaconda that lived for about a dozen years at the St. Louis Zoo.

[Josh]

And.

[Host 1]

And you know, feel what you want about zoos, but this anaconda was saved. Actually escaped being sold for meat and skin at a Guyana market. And an animal exporter stepped in, bought the snake and brought JLO to the Zoo in 2010 and was apparently the star of the show at their developing herpetarium.

[Josh]

Yeah. And the animal exporter who brought her very famously put her in what looked like a present box with like a bow on it. And everything was like, here you go, guys. And let him open it. And all of a sudden J. Lo sprung out and coiled herself in a very like, happy, playful way around the zookeeper.

[Host 1]

Yeah. Kind of like a genuine hug.

[Josh]

Yeah, exactly. And slithered off and. Because anacondas sound just like this anaconda in the movie Anaconda, she went as she slithered off because that's the sound that snakes make.

[Host 1]

That sounds sort of like the sound that the mummy makes. Did you ever see that special?

[Josh]

No.

[Host 1]

They built a. They were just talking about this on the threedom podcast with Scott Aukerman, Lauren Lapkitz and Paula Tompkins, where there was another one of the specialists, like, let's recreate this thing that we have no idea what it sounded like. And they tried to recreate what a mummy sounded like by building this, I think a 3D mummy voice box and passing air through it. And it was just sort of like, hey, a mummy.

[Josh]

A dead human being that's been embalmed.

[Host 1]

Yeah.

[Josh]

That's bizarre. I mean, I'm sure they sounded like a human pre mummy. And then they didn't sound like anything. Cause they were dead. Post mummification. That's just odd.

[Host 1]

I know.

[Josh]

My mind just got blown.

[Host 1]

I'm with you. It was a very strange thing.

[Josh]

Okay.

[Host 1]

I don't know why they did it. I don't know much about it other than hearing it on threedom and looking it up because I had to hear the sound.

[Josh]

Like, we may edit that gap out, but there is a substantial pause where we were both just stunned thinking about this for a second.

[Host 1]

No, I think we should leave it in there because that was real life.

[Josh]

Who else, Chuck? We got to mention Oliver from the San Francisco Zoo.

[Host 1]

You know what's funny is I didn't. I was so caught up in the sound that that mummy made, I didn't even think about, like, what does that even mean?

[Josh]

Yeah. What are you doing? Like, who thought of that idea?

[Host 1]

Oh, I don't know. It's probably Discovery Channel, so.

[Josh]

Yeah. I mean, that's just bizarre. There's Oliver from San Francisco Zoo. He may have been the oldest anaconda to live in captivity. He was 40, they think. And then the oldest living snake in captivity is Annie, who is in the Monte Cassino Bird Gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa. And in 2021, May 14, 2021, Guinness said that she was 37 years and 317 days old. And since Livia said that she couldn't find any mention of her death and that she. She thinks that she's still there, that she's coming up on her 42nd birthday.

[Host 1]

Wow.

[Josh]

So, yeah, on May 62nd, she'll be 42 years old.

[Host 1]

You know what they don't have in that bird garden?

[Josh]

Birds. Yep. That was a great end. Chuck, we can't go any further.

[Host 1]

All right, I'm done.

[Josh]

Okay, well, Chuck's done because he just dropped the mic. And since he did that, it's time for listener mail.

[Host 1]

I'm gonna call this. Oh, this is a fun follow up. I always love it when we do something on someone and like, a family member writes in.

[Josh]

Oh, yeah.

[Host 1]

And that's what happened here with Garrett Udell. Hey, guys. Listening to the popcorn episode, I was delighted you mentioned Charles Kreiders, my great, great, great grandfather. Here's some more information about him and how he came to invent the popcorn machine. He founded c. Kreiders & Co. In Chicago in 1885, initially building peanut roasters. Patented the process of popping popcorn in oil, or seasoning, as he called it, to prevent popcorn from burning. In 1893, he patented the first popcorn popper, which used a steam engine to power it. And he debuted it at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. @ first, his invention wasn't getting much attention until he started handing out free bags of popcorn. Brilliant. I love it. During the 20th century, early 20th century, his invention became a staple for street vendors, helping them to support themselves and their families. And today, SEA Creators and Company is a fifth generation family business. My grandfather, Charles D. Creators, owns the company, and both my uncles and my mom still work there to this day.

[Josh]

Oh, that's so cool.

[Host 1]

I love that. That is from Garrett, I guess. Udell.

[Josh]

Thanks a lot, Garrett. This is a fantastic email. We do love it when we talk about somebody and a family member writes in, especially when they're not upset of at us.

[Host 1]

Yeah, and especially when they did something great like inventing the popcorn machine.

[Josh]

That's right. If you want to be like Garrett, you can get in touch with us via email. You can send it off to stuffpodcastheartradio.com.

[Host 3]

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Dexter Thomas]

Are there any pictures of you online? Then you could already be in a massive police database without even knowing it.

[Guest 1]

Clear View scrapes together images from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from Venmo accounts.

[Dexter Thomas]

I'm Dexter Thomas, host of Kill Switch, a podcast about how living in the future is affecting us right now.

[Guest 1]

Police, they are trusting the software with this magical ability to lead them to the right suspect.

[Dexter Thomas]

In this episode, we dive into how cops are using AI and facial recognition and sometimes getting it wrong and putting innocent people behind bars.

[Guest 1]

So if your accuser is this algorithm, but you're not even being told that it was used, let alone given any of the details about how it works.

[Dexter Thomas]

Listen to Kill Switch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Host 2]

OpenAI is a financial abomination, a thing that should not be an aberration, a symbol of rot at the heart of Silicon Valley. And I'm going to tell you why on my show, Better Offline, the rudest show in the tech industry where we're breaking down why OpenAI, along with other AI companies, are dead set on lying to your boss that they can take your job. I'm also going to be talking with the greatest minds in the industry about all the other ways the rich and powerful are ruining the computer. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts.

[Host 1]

If you've ever wondered what diseases, medieval pee tests and cocktails have in common, you're in the right place.

[Host 3]

On our show, this podcast will kill you. We explore the wild world of diseases, their history, biology and impact. Today, vaccines are, in part, a victim of their own success. They have been so effective in preventing disease and death that we take them for granted. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the exactly right network. Listen to this podcast will kill you on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Host 1]

This is an iHeart podcast.