Learn what it means when you have something “in your genes” with help from award-winning author Carl Zimmer; whether cockroaches really can survive a nuclear apocalypse; and how to change behaviors using a subtle suggestion.

Carl Zimmer, award-winning author and columnist for The New York Times, explains how our growing knowledge of genetics could change the way we understand ourselves.

In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:

• Could Cockroaches Really Survive a Nuclear Apocalypse? — https://curiosity.im/2tGXOmo
• A Subtle Suggestion May Be More Powerful Than Direct Instruction — https://curiosity.im/2tF0Szd

More from Carl Zimmer:

• Carl Zimmer’s website — https://carlzimmer.com/
• “She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity” — https://amazon.com
• “Matter,” Zimmer’s weekly science column for The New York Times — http://www.nytimes.com/column/matter
• “What Is Life,” a podcast series of live conversations between writer Carl Zimmer and eight leading thinkers on the question of what it means to be alive — https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-life/id1451004288?mt=2
• Follow @CarlZimmer on Twitter — https://twitter.com/carlzimmer
• Additional publications from Carl Zimmer — https://amazon.com

Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing! Just click or tap “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.

Find episode transcript here: daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/heredity-isnt-what-you-think-w-carl-zimmer-how-nudge-theory-changes-behaviors-and-could-cockroaches-survive-a-nuclear-blast">https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/heredity-isnt-what-you-think-w-carl-zimmer-how-nudge-theory-changes-behaviors-and-could-cockroaches-survive-a-nuclear-blast