Sep 15, 2022

Transcript
Terrestrials: A New Kids Show from Radiolab

Lulu Miller: Hey there. Have you ever felt a little [A pause, for drama.] bored? 

A little stuck on this lumpy old planet of ours? 

(Gently bubbling up out of nothingness, a synthesizer begins to play. Each note lifts up like a hot air balloon, slowly rising and falling as it moves towards the clouds.)

Miller: Well, got a little something for you. All I need you to do is close your eyes and: 

AJ: Imagine …

Sy: Imagine …

Nataanii: Imagine …

Wanda: Let's imagine that you’re, um …

Sy: You are a liquid creature. 

(Bubbles rush around you, flying towards the surface of imaginary waters.)

Sammy: You’ve got these two big red eyes.

Nataanii: Your skin turned to feathers.

(Birds flap their wings all around you. They soar up to the clouds.)

Sy: And you have blue blood. And you have three hearts. 

(Dah-dun, dah-dun, dah-dun: the sound of a person pretending to be a heart.)

Nataanii: And you’re higher than the airplanes. 

Sy: And you are so—

Wanda: —Powerful, moving at the speed of light!

(Lasers echo—pew pew!—almost bouncy, just like teeny-tiny tennis balls.)

Sy: You can literally pour your body through a tiny opening.

AJ: And, instantly, you feel weightless.

(A human voice blows out “Whew!” like a rush of air.)

(The balloon music goes quiet.)

Sammy: And that’s where things get freaky.

(Bubblegum-bright notes pop over a steady drumbeat.)

Miller: From WNYC Studios and Radiolab comes a brand new show for kids—and adults—all about the strangeness right here on earth. 

Sy: She was beginning to turn white right where my fingers were. 

Miller: Real creatures.

Sammy: Oh, yeah. Mhm.

Miller: Real encounters.

Ed: They were just going, “How did you do that?”

Miller: And occasional … Uh … 

(The music winds down suddenly.)

Miller: Songs!

Wanda: Sí, cómo es la … How is the song?

(The theme song comes in over the candy-sweet music—“Terrestrials, terrestrials! We are not the worst, we are the …”—before every sound pauses, waiting for us to finish the next line.)

Wanda: And what do I say?

Ed: (Realizing.) Oh! “The best!”

(Ed got it! And so the song continues: “… Best-trials!”)

(Both Wanda and Sammy laugh a light, silly laugh.)

Miller: Terrestrials is your friendly neighborhood nature show. Hosted by me, Lulu Miller. 

Miller: (Whispered, in shock.) What?!

Wanda: Mhm!

Miller: Check us out! September 22nd, wherever you get your podcasts.

(The music fades out, and so does the trailer.)

Copyright © 2022 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

THE LAB sticker

Unlock member-only exclusives and support the show

Exclusive Podcast Extras
Entire Podcast Archive
Listen Ad-Free
Behind-the-Scenes Content
Video Extras
Original Music & Playlists