Coral are teeny tiny animals just two layers thick, and yet they create the biggest structures made by any biological creatures on the planet—like, the size of Italy big. Literally HOW! This week, Dr. Juli Berwald and Jonathan dive deep on all things coral, from their mating behaviors to their “badass merger” with algae to coral reefs’ critical importance to life in the ocean and on land.

Juli Berwald received her PhD in ocean science from the University of Southern California. She’s the author of Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone and a contributor to The New York Times, Nature, National Geographic, and Slate. Her new book Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs is out now.

You can follow Dr. Berwald on Twitter and Instagram @juliberwald. Her website is www.juliberwald.com. 

Interested in learning more about coral reefs and sunscreen? Discover more here!

Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. 

Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.

Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com.