Stephen Dubner

Come along for this third and final episode in our series, Sympathy for the Rat.

Come along for this third and final episode in our series, Sympathy for the Rat.

We humans really love some animals. Two thirds of American households have at least one pet, most of them dogs or cats. We often treat them like members of the family. When we hear about an animal being mistreated or killed, the outcry can be as loud as if it happened to a fellow human, if not louder.

We humans really love some animals. Two thirds of American households have at least one pet, most of them dogs or cats. We often treat them like members of the family. When we hear about an animal being mistreated or killed, the outcry can be as loud as if it happened to a fellow human, if not louder.

We humans really love some animals. Two thirds of American households have at least one pet, most of them dogs or cats. We often treat them like members of the family. When we hear about an animal being mistreated or killed, the outcry can be as loud as if it happened to a fellow human, if not louder.

And yet, in 2022, when New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared war on rats and appointed a rat czar to get rid of them, there was almost no outcry. The rat seems to have crossed some invisible border from animal to pest, even menace. But it wasn't always thus.

And yet, in 2022, when New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared war on rats and appointed a rat czar to get rid of them, there was almost no outcry. The rat seems to have crossed some invisible border from animal to pest, even menace. But it wasn't always thus.

And yet, in 2022, when New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared war on rats and appointed a rat czar to get rid of them, there was almost no outcry. The rat seems to have crossed some invisible border from animal to pest, even menace. But it wasn't always thus.

This is Julia Zichello. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is an evolutionary biologist at Hunter College. But her rat experience is not just academic.

This is Julia Zichello. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is an evolutionary biologist at Hunter College. But her rat experience is not just academic.

This is Julia Zichello. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is an evolutionary biologist at Hunter College. But her rat experience is not just academic.

I know that rats are extraordinarily fertile. They have really short gestation. They have a lot of pups. Do you know if maybe your car was also a rat baby hospital as well?

I know that rats are extraordinarily fertile. They have really short gestation. They have a lot of pups. Do you know if maybe your car was also a rat baby hospital as well?

I know that rats are extraordinarily fertile. They have really short gestation. They have a lot of pups. Do you know if maybe your car was also a rat baby hospital as well?

Zichello had never thought deeply about rats until they moved into her car. And even then, her attitude was relaxed. She wasn't strongly anti-rat, nor did she find a reason to become pro-rat. But soon after the car incident, things changed.

Zichello had never thought deeply about rats until they moved into her car. And even then, her attitude was relaxed. She wasn't strongly anti-rat, nor did she find a reason to become pro-rat. But soon after the car incident, things changed.

Zichello had never thought deeply about rats until they moved into her car. And even then, her attitude was relaxed. She wasn't strongly anti-rat, nor did she find a reason to become pro-rat. But soon after the car incident, things changed.

Can I have some names, please?

Can I have some names, please?

Can I have some names, please?