AOA 138 | Mary Roach | The Curious Science Of Humans At War

Written by Derek Loudermilk

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Life | Podcast | Science | Storytelling | Travel

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July 11, 2016

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“I like to take people from ‘Ewww’ to ‘Fascinating!'” – Mary Roach

Mary Roach has been a hero of mine for a long time.

I was first introduced to her work when I was given Packing for Mars for christmas, back when I was looking for microbes from outer space.

While I was in grad school, I was interested in the human gut microbiome, and coincidentally that’s when Gulp came out – all about the Alimentary canal from your mouth to your butt. Including the latest work on fecal transplants.

Besides her many bestselling books, Mary has written pieces in such publications as Vogue, GQ, The New York Times Magazine, Discover Magazine, National Geographic, Outside Magazine, and Wired.

I was thinking if there might be a formula for Mary’s books, which always end up bestsellers and award winners, and I realized that they mostly cover gross things that have to do with the human body.

The other hallmark of her work is her quirky sense of humor. She mentions with great joy meeting a saliva scientist names Spitz.

In this interview we talk about several topics from her new book Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, which pairs really well season two of Serial.

It is with great joy in the second half of the episode that I get to join Mary in brainstorming what her next book might be about!

I think you will find this episode full of amazing things about keeping soldiers alive that will fascinate and disgust you, and you will be drawn to Mary’s sense of curiosity and humor.

Mary Roach Art of Adventure

What you will learn in this episode:

-All about Mary’s writing process

-The latest in penis transplants

-Why the Army has fashion designers

-How Maggots are used to clean wounds

-Why diarrhea is such a problem

-The problem with military hearing protection

-Military slang

-How bomb proof vehicles work

Quotes:

“I like to take people from Eww to Fascinating” – Mary Roach

“I’ve lost all sense of embarrassment when asking for explanations” – Mary Roach

“Curiosity pushes away queasiness” – Mary Roach

“Wedding gowns are similar to bomb suits” – Mary Roach

“Adventure is stepping through a door – beyond which you don’t know what is out there” – Mary Roach

“Maggots are an FDA approved medical device” – Mary Roach

“Scientists are interesting people in general” – Mary Roach

“OMG there are 20 severed heads in this room” – Mary Roach

Continue the Adventure (Resources from this episode):

Mary Roach

Thanks Mary Roach!

If you enjoyed this session of The Art of Adventure Podcast, let Mary know by clicking on the link below and sending her a quick shout out on Twitter:

Click here to thank Mary on Twitter

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