Radiolab Podcast Analysis

Radiolab is a podcast that focuses on discussing a wide variety of topics that are found in our world today. A concept that was discussed on the podcast was one that connects one of the largest creatures in the world to a human. In the Radiolab podcast episode titled, “Animal Minds”, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, along with their guest, Mick Menago, analyze the idea that animals can express emotions similar to those of humans.
In today’s society, people often associate human qualities, such as expressing emotion, to their pets. For many, associating characteristics to their pet is natural, but people rarely associate this kind of behavior with large animals. For Mick Menago, a boater in San Francisco, an experience with a humpback whale would change his perspective of the emotions that a large creature could experience. While at home, Mick received a call about a whale that was in distressed and was possibly caught in a crab fisher’s …show more content…
Tim and James, Mick’s friends, jumped in the water and began to swim toward the rope covered whale. The two divers spent several hours cutting rope while dodging attacks from the distressed creature. With a final cut, the crab traps sunk to the bottom and the whale swam away, until an unexpected event. The whale came back, swimming towards the diver at incredible speeds. James describes the experience as “a fifty ton whale coming at me and, when she was a few inches away, stopped and pushed me on the chest, repeating this several times”. Once the whale stopped, she rose to the surface so that her eye was just above the water, staring directly at James. “She stared at me for thirty seconds, as if she was saying thanks for the help” said James, “ and she did this to every diver that was in water”. The divers swam back to the boat and the entire crew began their trip back home with an experience that would stick with them forever and a new perspective of animal