Human Technomorphology (SWAPPING OUT BODY PARTS) with Mary Roach
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Oh, hey, it's last year's calendar. You don't know if you should throw away. Ali Ward. And this is a very special episode of Ologies that I know so many of you right now are losing your damn minds. Friends, I'm right there with you. Wow. Over the last 20 years, this guest has written so many New York Times bestsellers. It's a labor to list them all, but I will because they are glorious books. So you may know these titles. Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Spook, Science Tackles the Afterlife. Bonk, The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. Packing for Mars, The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Gulp, Adventures on the Elementary Canal, Grunt, The Curious Science of Humans at War, and Fuzz, When Nature Breaks the Law.
This guest is the Meryl Streep of science writing. I looked it up. Meryl Streep has three Oscars. This person, seven New York Times bestsellers, absolute goat. With just an eight brain and a notepad, this person has changed the way the public interfaces with science. Now, because of that, in the first half, I just barraged them with questions about science communication and how they write books. and their approach to storytelling in conveying science to the public, what it's like behind the scenes. And then in the second half, we really dive into your questions on human technomorphology, which is the topic in their latest book, Replaceable You, Adventures in Human Anatomy, which comes out today, September 16th.
I had to wait to put this up until today. Get the book. Love it. I read it in a day and a half. It's like a bingeable book, this one. So this interview, side note, had to be rescheduled a few times just because of some tech glitches. And right after we did record, I closed my laptop and I started crying. But you will find out why in a bit. But first, thank you to patrons of the show who support us for as little as a dollar a month and submit questions before we record. Thank you to everyone wearing things from allogiesmerch.com. Thank you to all the caring souls who leave reviews of the show because you know it helps and you know I read them, including listener Recommended in Dreams who wrote a review saying, Seriously, twice now I have recommended this podcast to people in a dream.
Recommended in dreams. I thank you in dreams. Also, if you want some G-rated, family-friendly versions of ologies, you can subscribe to Smologies, which are classroom-safe edits. They're in their own separate feed, S-M-O-L-O-G-I-E-S. You can find them at the link in the show notes or wherever you get your podcasts. G-rated, good for everyone. Also, thank you to sponsors of this show who make it possible for us to donate to causes of the ologist choosing each week. Okay, let's get into how and why we modify the human body, past, present, and future as we talk to this author and journalist who has gone to actual ends of the earth to interview the finest experts with the best stories. So prep your flesh for figuring out how to write a book, getting to fourth base in a lab.
Organs from Critters, How to Find the Best Nuggets of a Conversation, Bugs on Drugs, Bendable Genitals, Elective Amputation, Gene-Tweaked Pigs, Vacuum Chambers, Beating Hearts, Leftover Tendons, and so much more with replaceable you author, science communicator, lauded journalist, my personal career hero, I like them so much it's embarrassing, the icon and writer on human technomorphology, Mary Roach.
My name is Mary Roach and my pronouns are she and her.
And Mary Roach, an icon, a legend. I've read all of your books, including I got an advanced copy of a book coming out. Your book will come out the day this is released. And when it comes to your books, does the name come first? Does the subject come first? Do you have leftover pieces from another book that you realize all fit into a new book? How did you decide on the topic?
You know, I wish I had a really cool inspiration story because I'm usually not inspired. It's not like there's a moment of inspiration. It's rather like a period of random flailing.
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