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Grass Apes

A tiny ode to grass, for its epic role in human history.
Duration
25m
Broadcast on
25 Sep 2026
Audio Format
other

When you think about grass, what do you think of? Pool parties? Suburbs? Allergies? What about: human history? It turns out, unassuming grass, which exists on every continent, has an epic story to tell. One of transforming the planet, and … us. From what we eat, to how our body might be shaped and the ways we perceive the world. Senior Correspondent Molly Webster speaks to biologist and writer David George Haskell in this tiny ode to Grass.

This episode was inspired by “Grass Fed”, a Radiolab outdoor theatre performance at Little Island in New York City. “Grass Fed” featured biologist and writer David George Haskell; Foley artist Steven Wendt; and dance company, Pilobolus. Special thanks to all the artists, and to Little Island, Sarah Sandbach, Natalia Ramirez, and Soren Wheeler.

EPISODE CREDITS: 
Hosted by - Molly Webster
Reported by - Molly Webster
with help from - Jo Strogatz and Anisa Vietze
Produced by - Sarah Qari
with help from - Jo Strogatz, Molly Webster 
Original vocals from - Jo Strogatz
with mixing from - Jeremy S. Bloom
Fact-checking by - Nora Belblidia
and Edited by  - Pat Walters
 

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Articles - 

Books - 

  • How Flowers Made Our World” (https://zpr.io/r4ybZJea8WV9) by David George Haskell which has a chapter all about grass in it (it’s a flowering plant, if you didn’t know!)
     

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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.


 


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(air whooshing) RadioLab is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video, a text, or a group chat that never stops. And right now, AT&T has a deal that will keep the connection going. You can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with eligible trade-in. It has the Ultimate Pro camera system and a big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your phone for the new iPhone 18 Pro at AT&T. Connecting changes everything. Required trade-in of $230 or more and eligible plan, terms, and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. - Oh, wait, you're listening. - Okay. - Okay. - Okay. - Okay. (clears throat) - You're listening to RadioLab. - RadioLab. - From WNYC. - WNYC. - WNYC. - C. (laughing) (coughing) - Hey, I'm Molly Webster. This is RadioLab. And today's show is inspired by an invitation that I got last spring, which was essentially to tell a story for a park about parks. It was a little more complicated than that, but basically they were like, "Can you make a story out of the space that we're in?" Which happened to be this shady glade. It had a lawn down the middle and trees around the side and rocks and things. So I looked around the space and I was like, "Okay, maybe there's something to do with mushrooms." Or, I don't know, squirrels, it's New York City. And as I was talking about these scintillating ideas with people, I started having a conversation with a horticulturist. And they said, "You know what I think about all the time?" Grass.

Transcription truncated.

A tiny ode to grass, for its epic role in human history.