Episode 2 – Mushrooms: we know they can improve breakfast, but can they save the world?

Butter up the pan and fasten a harness around your favourite truffle pig because it’s time to unlock the infinite potential of fungus.

Quiz Answers
Question 1.
How many spores was the puff ball supposed to have?
a) 1.5 million
b) 2.6 billion
c) 1.5 trillion
d) 270 thousand
c) 1.5 trillion
Question 2.
In which American state did they find the fairy circle that’s thought to be 500 years old?
Kansas
Question 3.
Who thought mushrooms were brought to Earth by strikes of lightning?
The Ancient Greeks
Question 4.
What kind of mushroom can burn for days?
Amadou
Question 5.
What do mushrooms inhale and exhale?
They inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide
Question 6.
What’s the cob-webby substance you can find in soil, that helps plants communicate?
Mycelium

Sources
‘Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Us Save the World’ by Paul Stamets.
The Secret Life of Food: a Feast of Food and Drink History Folklore and Fact by Martin Elkort.
‘Metaphors for Rhizomatic Thinking’ by David Nicholls, Critical Physiotherapy Network, January 22, 2015.

Credits


This episode was narrated and produced by Alice Zaslavsky.
The Termite Awareness Week ad was voiced by Courtney Glass.
Writer: Sam West.
Editor: Sam Lowe.
Recording: Tender Trap Studios, Melbourne.
Curriculum Specialist: Beverley Laing.
Logo design: Love + Money.
Funding: Hort Innovation.

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