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This episode was recorded on May 17th, 2026 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes Paul Thorn, Ray Benson, Sunny Sweeney, Andy Friedman. https://bit.ly/4afWiMG⁠

Several years ago, in 2016, we told a story about Amy Pearl. For as long as she could remember, Amy loved meat in all its glorious cuts and marbled flavors. And then one day, for seemingly no reason, her body wouldn’t tolerate it.  No steaks. No brisket. No weenies. It made no sense: why couldn’t she eat something that she had routinely enjoyed for decades?  It turned out Amy was not alone. And the answer to her mysterious allergy involved maps, a dancing lone star tick, and a very particular sugar called Alpha Gal.  In this update, we discover that our troubles with Alpha Gal go way beyond food. We go to NYU Langone Health hospital to see the second ever transplant of a kidney from a pig into a human, talk to some people at Revivicor, the company that bred the pig in question, and go back to Amy to find out what she thinks about this brave new world. The original episode was reported by Latif Nasser, and produced by Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty. Sound design and scoring from Dylan Keefe, Annie McEwen, and Matt Kielty. Mix by Dylan Keefe with Arianne Wack. The update was reported and produced by Sarah Qari. It was sound designed, scored, and mixed by Jeremy Bloom.  Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.    Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (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. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot talk with author Yi Ling Liu about Chinese hip hop and how the music breaks through the infamous "fire wall" to connect to listeners. They’ll highlight some key artists and tracks, as well as put the music into the larger context.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/4frcVZoMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundops Featured Songs:Kafe.Hu, "Be Free," Kafreeman, Modern Sky, 2017The Beatles, "With a Little Help from My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Higher Brothers and Famous Dex, "Made In China (Prod. Richie Souf)," Black Cab, 88rising, 2017Skai Isyourgod, "Stacks from All Sides," Stacks from All Sides, Showstart Release, 2024In3, "Beijing Evening News," Unknown Artist, In3 Family, 2008Bohan Phoenix, "3 DAYS IN CHENGDU," JALA, loveloveNYC, 2017VAVA, "My New Swag (feat. Ty. & Nina Wang)," Crazy Rich Asians (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Warner Bros., 2017Bohan Phoenix, "NO HOOK (feat. Higher Brothers)," JALA, loveloveNYC, 2017Kafe.Hu, "Fire," Kafreeman, Modern Sky, 2017Jack White, "G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs," Frozen Charlotte, Third Man, 2026See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The religion of ancient Egypt said that when a king died, his soul ascended to the heavens to join with the god Osiris, in the modern-day constellation Orion. His tomb was filled with items he might need to help him on his way. And in the case of at least one pharaoh, some of those items probably came from the heavens. The tomb of King Tutankhamen contained thousands of artifacts. Many of them were made of gold, including a dagger buried inside his coffin. But the boy king also had a second dagger, made of iron. When Tut was buried, more than 3300 years ago, Egypt hadn’t started to work with iron ore, so the dagger probably was made from an iron meteorite – a space rock that fell to Earth. The composition of the dagger’s metal is much like that of a metallic meteorite – a mixture of iron and nickel, with a pinch of cobalt. Another Tut artifact was an elaborate piece of jewelry known as a pectoral. Its centerpiece is a scarab beetle carved from yellow glass. The glass formed about 26 million years ago, when an asteroid or comet plunged toward Earth. It either hit the surface or exploded in the atmosphere. Heat from the explosion melted some of the desert sand, creating chunks of glass. One of those chunks eventually made its way to an Egyptian artist, and then to Tut’s tomb – a piece of glass from the heavens for a king traveling to the heavens. Tomorrow: into the void. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's a special rarities episode featuring deep cuts and unreleased gems. Featured artists include Julieta Venegas, Beastie Boys, Ana Tijoux, Kinky, Juana Molina, Mexican Institute of Sound and more.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered everyone over 30 in the military to have their testosterone tested. That inspired us to rerun this classic episode where everyone at This American Life tested their testosterone and compared results. It did not lead to workplace harmony. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription. Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with producer Alex Blumberg, who explains that he wanted to do this show because of his conflicted relationship with his own testosterone. He tells Ira that the reasons go back to a girl in his 8th-grade homeroom. We also hear from a man who stopped producing testosterone due to a medical treatment, and found his entire personality was altered. (10 minutes)Act One: What’s it like to get injected with testosterone? When Griffin Hansbury transitioned, he got massive shots of it and was surprised at the effect it had on him. (17 minutes)Act Two: The men and women on staff at This American Life decide to get their testosterone levels tested to see who has the most and least, and whether personality traits actually match hormone levels. (13 minutes)Act Three: What happens when a man suddenly loses all of his testosterone? We return to Alex Blumberg’s interview from the top of the show with a man who that happened to. He says life without testosterone is life without desire. By that he doesn’t mean sexual desire. He means any desire. (6 minutes)Act Four: Novelist Miriam Toews interviews her 15-year-old son, someone at an age when boys experience a jolt of ten or twenty times the testosterone they had as children, about all the things she doesn’t understand about what he’s going through. (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.