Terrestrials: The Mastermind

Sep 23, 2022

Sy Montgomery, an acclaimed author and naturalist, shares the captivating tale of Inky, an ingenious octopus who cleverly escaped captivity. The discussion highlights Inky's remarkable intelligence and survival tactics, challenging traditional views on animal smarts. Listeners are enchanted by the notion of octopuses 'kissing' with their suction cups and their unique underwater behaviors. This adventure into marine intelligence encourages both kids and adults to appreciate the wonders of the natural world and invite exploration of animal consciousness.

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ANECDOTE

Inky's Escape

Inky, a seven-armed octopus, escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand.
He traveled across the floor and through a drainpipe back to the ocean.

INSIGHT

Octopus Intelligence

Octopuses possess surprisingly large brains that extend into their arms.
This complex nervous system contributes to their intelligence and hunting prowess.

ANECDOTE

Escape Artists

Octopuses are known escape artists, with many documented cases of them leaving their tanks.
One octopus even escaped a nailed-shut cigar box.

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Lulu Miller, intrepid host and fearless mother of two, went off on her own and put together a little something for kids. All kids: hers, yours, and the one still living inside us all.

Radiolab for Kids Presents: Terrestrials

And it’s spellbinding. So much so, that we wanted to put this audio goodness in front of as many ears as possible.

Which is why we’re running the first episode of that series here for you today.

It’s called The Mastermind. In it, Sy Montgomery, an author and naturalist, shares the story of a color-changing creature many people assumed to be brainless who outsmarts his human captors. If you want a SPOILER of what the creature is, read on: It’s an octopus. We hear the story of one particularly devious octopus who lost a limb, was captured by humans, and then managed to make an escape from its aquarium tank—back into the ocean! The tale of “Inky” the octopus calls into question who we think of as intelligent (and kissable) in the animal kingdom.

Learn about the storytellers, listen to music, and dig deeper into the stories you hear on Terrestrials with activities you can do at home or in the classroom on our website, Terrestrialspodcast.org

Find MORE original Terrestrials fun on Youtube.And badger us on Social Media: @radiolab and #TerrestrialsPodcast

And if your little ones or you want to hear more of Team Terrestrials amazing work on this series, please search for Radiolab for Kids Presents: The Mastermind, wherever you get podcasts or subscribe here.

Terrestrials is a production of WNYC Studios, created by Lulu Miller. This episode is produced by Ana González, Alan Goffinski and Lulu Miller. Original Music by Alan Goffinski. Help from Suzie Lechtenberg, Sarah Sandbach, Natalia Ramirez, and Sarita Bhatt. Fact-checking by Diane Kelley. Sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick with additional engineering by Joe Plourde. Our storyteller this week is Sy Montgomery. Transcription by Caleb Codding.

Our advisors are Theanne Griffith, Aliyah Elijah, Dominique Shabazz, John Green, Liza Steinberg-Demby, Tara Welty, and Alice Wong.

Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.