The world's humblest heroes, from plumbers to tardigrades

Inspired by The Super Mario Bros Movie, we're talking about a humble class of heroes whose lives are devoted to infrastructure maintenance and repair. There are heating engineer rogues and space janitors and, of course, plumbers. Later in the episode we’ll head down to Antarctica, where our guest Ariel Waldman spent her summer vacation studying the environment and the tiny creatures who live there – including tardigrades, the world’s greatest microscopic animals! 

Notes, citations, etc.

Ariel Waldman

Life Under the Ice, Ariel Waldman’s project documenting tardigrades and other microscopic life in Antarctica

Ariel Waldman, Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV

Super Mario Bros Movie

Space Sweepers

Brazil

Wall-E

Lexx

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Snowpiercer

Robert Jackson Bennett, The Tainted Cup

Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Minecraft

Annalee Newitz