The Last of Us
A fungus is among us and other recaps from Season 1.
Hello dear readers,
I fully intended to write a feature on a medicinal plant for today’s post, but the need to submit research papers and grants before next week’s deadline has commandeered all of my free time. I’m counting down the days until I can clear my desk and take a much-needed breather—ideally by escaping into the fiction books waiting on my bookshelf and catching up on some of my favorite TV shows.
If you subscribe to HBO and love post-apocalyptic drama, you may already know that Season 2 of The Last of Us premieres in just a few weeks—starting on April 13th! Now is the perfect time to rewatch Season 1. However, if you haven’t seen the show yet, stop reading here and go watch it. Then, come back for the rest of this post—which definitely contains spoilers for Season 1!
As a science communicator, I love to look for ways to connect to readers or podcast listeners on science through the lens of pop culture, and this show provided the perfect avenue for some fun and nerdy science conversations to share.
First, I collaborated with my friends and science superstars Dr.
and Dr. Jessica Kendall-Bar two years ago on a Substack post exploring fact and fiction from The Last of Us! We examined questions like:What types of organisms can cordyceps infect? (hint: NOT humans in real life)
Can fungi communicate?
Can climate change contribute to more fungal infections?
Give it a read below, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Next, I took a super nerdy (and by nerdy, I mean super fun!) dive down a rabbit hole of the nuances behind fungi and their incredible chemistry with mycologist Dr. Huzefa Raja and natural products chemist Dr. Nick Oberlies of University of North Carolina Greensboro on my podcast, Foodie Pharmacology. If you like to listen to podcasts while driving or working out, here is the link to the audio version. Video is posted below (links to YouTube).
We dive into questions like:
Which fungi can kill humans?
Can fungi survive in the snow? (This one blew my mind!)
Can fungi really turn creatures into mind-controlled zombies?
How do fungi communicate?
What do you think? Would you like me to do some similar science communication pieces on the topics that arise in Season 2 of the show?
Do you have any suggestions on other popular topics of interest for a science deep-dive? Any favorite books or shows—fiction or non-fiction? Let me know! Subscribers can post suggestions below in comments. Thanks for your support!
P.S. If this newsletter makes it’s way to any of the HBO cast or writers for The Last of Us… I would LOVE to have you as guests on the podcast to talk science and art!
Yours in health, Dr. Quave
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D. is a Guggenheim Fellow, CNN Champion for Change, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, recipient of The National Academies Award for Excellence in Science Communication, and award-winning author of The Plant Hunter. Her day job is as professor and herbarium curator at Emory University School of Medicine, where she leads a group of research scientists studying medicinal plants to find new life-saving drugs from nature. She hosts the Foodie Pharmacology podcast and writes the Nature’s Pharmacy newsletter to share the science behind natural medicines. To support her effort, consider a paid or founding subscription to Nature’s Pharmacy or donation to her lab research.
The Plant Hunter is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and e-book formats!
