WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.080 Oh hey, it's straight up your weird Internet dad just 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:07.679 sniff and candles in a blissfully empty aisle of a 3 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.400 discount home goods store. Alley Woard back with another episode 4 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:15.320 of Ologies, one that you have requested, rather you have 5 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.120 begged for. Since the inception of this podcast, I keep 6 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.640 hearing Dad ward my cology when and I keep saying, 7 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:26.600 settle down. I have a plan, please trust me all 8 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.519 this time that my celia have been growing and it's 9 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:33.600 finally time to enjoy my dirty bloom. That it's gonna 10 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:35.719 make more sense later. But first, okay, a little bit 11 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.159 of business, and by business, I mean thank yous to 12 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:41.520 all the folks on Patreon supporting this podcast for as 13 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.079 little as twenty five cents an episode. Thank you so 14 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:46.399 much for making this whole thing possible. And thank you 15 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:49.240 to anyone who makes sure that they are subscribed and 16 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.240 have rated the podcast. Special tip of the old hat 17 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.399 to those who leave reviews which I read when I'm sad, 18 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:57.280 and then I pick a fresh one each week to 19 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.399 read you, such as this one by m post Gator, 20 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:05.200 who says Ali approaches each scientific subject with the eagerness 21 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.760 of a toddler meeting kittens. And post legator. I feel 22 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:13.480 seen and also attacked, and I like you for it. Okay, mycology, 23 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.319 what is the etymology of mycology? Let's start with it. 24 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:19.200 How did this word burst forth from our brains and 25 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:21.920 out of our mouths? So mico comes from the Greek 26 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.079 for fungus, and little bonus points for you, the word 27 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.239 fungus itself has its roots in the word for spongy. 28 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.239 So this mycologist, oh, my word, who has been on 29 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.200 my list for well over a year, and he is 30 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:39.040 a major reason why I took a Midwest road trip 31 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.680 a few weeks ago. I wanted to find the best 32 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.000 mycologist out there, and I asked Eugenia Bone, author of 33 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.359 the book Micophelia, Thank you to Talk Nerdy's karas Aanna 34 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.760 Maria for that intro, and she told me that this 35 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:55.560 ologist is quote a micologist of the utmost charm. I 36 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.400 had to meet him. So on a rainy spring morning, 37 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:02.400 I headed to the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse, and I 38 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:05.040 stayed in a charming B and B that was apparently 39 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:08.159 a castle built by a lumber baron whatever. I navigated 40 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:13.039 to the campus up some old elevators, down a linoleum 41 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:17.639 hallway right to his office. I found you, which was 42 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:22.360 this thrilling jumble of mushroom knickknacks and maps and hard 43 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.680 bound dissertations of his former students, and he himself stood up. 44 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.560 He has gaged ears and salt and pepper hair. He 45 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.479 streaks with purple or pink, and he stood up to 46 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:34.560 greet me. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt that 47 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:37.479 was screen printed with mushrooms and ferns. Both of his 48 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:43.080 arms are heavily decorated in fungus themed tattoos. He's the best, 49 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.759 and having run a mushroom and fungus web page nearly 50 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.120 twenty five years when the Internet was just a squirmy baby, 51 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.520 this guy has been cool since before you were born. 52 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:56.280 He's been a professor in the Department of Biology at 53 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:00.639 the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse since nineteen ninety six. Teaches 54 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:05.000 general mycology, medical mycology, not to mention, has helmed some 55 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:09.719 classes in food and industrial micology, also in Latin and 56 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.800 Greek for scientists. Ah. He seems like the kind of 57 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.680 guy I would have gone to concerts with in my 58 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.919 goth days and then spent all night talking about cell 59 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.520 division in a Denny's while our friends smoked clothes in 60 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:25.520 the parking lot. This is truly the highest compliment I 61 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.280 could give a person anyway. He let me pepper him 62 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.840 with questions for an hour and we cover what the 63 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:37.120 hell is a fungus foraging under the forest canopy, fairy rings, 64 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.479 magic mushrooms, being blindfolded in the woods, the tastiest mushrooms 65 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:46.360 plus mildew, fungal infections, and how having a part of 66 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.560 you replaced can change the way you live your life. 67 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.840 So prepare for a budding fungus obsession with a mushroom 68 00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:18.199 expert of the utmost charm, mycologist, doctor Tom Bulk. I 69 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:21.680 would love to know when did you start getting interested 70 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.680 in mushers? When did they become captivating for you? 71 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.600 So I took a course in my college in nineteen 72 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:30.720 seventy eight at High University, and I found it you 73 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.279 can get free food, and so that was good, and 74 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.480 that was pretty different, and I'm sort of a different 75 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.480 kind of person, and so that's appealed to me that 76 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.079 it was something unusual that not very many people studied 77 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.480 and knew about. So when it came time to go 78 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.560 to grad school, that's what I decided I would study. 79 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:51.040 Did they give you free mushrooms to you eat? 80 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.639 You find them in the woods. They're all free, is it? 81 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:58.279 But there's always the risk of foraging. You have to 82 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.600 get really good in order to get free food out 83 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:01.120 of Italy. 84 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:03.480 Well, there's a few you can learn right away that 85 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.240 are pretty easy, but then it gets trickier after that 86 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.680 because you could get sick or even die if you 87 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:11.439 eat the wrong thing. 88 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:13.639 So knowledge has to be on your side. 89 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.879 Absolutely. That's true for everything, right. 90 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.959 So on the topic of knowledge, Doctor Volk got his 91 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.319 bachelor's in botany from Ohio University and his PhD in 92 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:26.879 botany with a minor in genetics from the University of 93 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:31.040 Wisconsin Lacrosse, where he teaches now. And he studied, among 94 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.920 other things, the life cycle of the coveted and delicious 95 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.279 moral mushroom, which are the ones that have like a 96 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:42.920 spongy looking honeycomb texture and sell fresh for upwards of 97 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.720 sixty bucks a pound. If you're like where, pray tell, 98 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.360 can I get me some of that hank tied? There's 99 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.439 gonna be some forging secrets in a bit. But first 100 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.759 let's ask a smart person something pretty stupid, and this 101 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:58.480 is such a basic question. But what is fungus? What 102 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.879 is a fun guy? Why does it have his own kingdom? 103 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.079 It's neither animal nor plant? What's happening? 104 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:06.160 Yeah? So, and remember in the olden days when you 105 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.639 were in scholar we probably learned about the two kingdoms, 106 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.600 the animals and the plants, and fungia were included with 107 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:13.439 the plants because they didn't move and they had cell 108 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:15.839 walls and all that. But it turns out that fungi 109 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.600 are more closely related to animals than plants. So physiologically 110 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.720 they and genetically they're much more similar to animals than plants. 111 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:28.439 But they're really different than animals obviously. So the cell 112 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:31.120 walls of kitan they share the kitan in common with 113 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:34.560 some animals like the arthropods, insects and such of kitan 114 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.319 exoskeletons and so that chemicals in common. 115 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.720 Okay, quick aside, what is kitan? You ask? It is 116 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.800 a word that looks like chitlins, but minus one l. Now, fungus, 117 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.920 hog guts, all things that seem dicey to eat but 118 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.639 are a delicacy of sourced and prepared right, all right, 119 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:55.720 So kitan, the thing that makes up the cell walls 120 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:59.600 of your favorite mushrooms and is technically a long chain 121 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.600 and a derivative of glucose. But the important aspect is 122 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:08.879 it gives arthropods, skeletons and fungi cell walls some rigidity 123 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.800 and a little chew if you've ever eaten books. So 124 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:16.199 how varied are fungi? There are an estimated five point 125 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.160 one million species of fung gui. Now that's about thirteen 126 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:24.480 times as many species as plants known to science. Okay, 127 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.639 but more importantly, how do you pronounce fungi? Because Tom 128 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:31.120 said fungi, and I think I said fungi. Okay, So 129 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.519 I asked my good friend Wikipedia, and they said, this 130 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.480 is how you pronounce it in the US. Okay, definitively, 131 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:41.920 this way fungi got it? Okay? Oh wait, there's another 132 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:46.079 audio clip. Or you can pronounce it this way fungi okay. 133 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:51.560 Oh there's a third way. What fungi okay? 134 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.000 Or fungi? 135 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.639 Oh my god? Okay, So just say however your mouth 136 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.680 wants to say it. Let's get back to kingdoms. 137 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:05.240 But there's they put them. The fungi in the animal 138 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:09.079 sense group called the Epistola conta, which is the rare flagellum, 139 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:12.439 which refers to the some of the fungi, the primitive 140 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:15.439 ones have a flagellum on them, and of course human 141 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:19.120 males have the sperm. Yeah, with the flagellum. So I 142 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.480 think that that's the one of the things that link 143 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:23.000 them together. 144 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.240 Okay, So ps yeast possessed twenty three percent homologous genes 145 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.039 to human beings. So you're walking around, you're wearing pants, 146 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:35.000 you're driving a car, and you're like twenty three percent 147 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.960 kind of the same as a single celled fungus. So 148 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.600 I don't know, Go dance in public, tell someone you're 149 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.039 in love with them. Nothing matters. What even are we? 150 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.279 What is life? That which humbles liberates? So tattoo that 151 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.399 on a pillow, embroidered on your butt, I don't care. 152 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:55.360 Can you tell me a little bit about the structure 153 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.759 of fungi. I know a lot of people think fungi 154 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:01.720 is just mushrooms, but that's just like essentially looking at 155 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:02.960 their coneads, right. 156 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:06.039 Right, Yeah, So you're looking at the reproductive structures most 157 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:09.720 of the time, that private pots. But what you don't 158 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.799 see most of the time are the highee that are underground. 159 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:16.080 So these are highee on my arm, and so you 160 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:18.879 can see if you were on if you were here, 161 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:23.559 which you are, you could see the mycelium the high 162 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.679 fee growing and that's how they feed. 163 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.799 So their reproductive areas are their most public parts. It's 164 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.159 kind of like if you wore a full body spandex 165 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.679 jumpsuit all the time, but it was crotchless. It's just 166 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:38.879 the fungus way. 167 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.879 And so when fungi feed, they can grow through the ground. 168 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.759 They can grow through the wood or whatever they're growing 169 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:49.440 on through your brain by dumping their enzymes to the 170 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:52.960 outside of their body, and they digest outside of their 171 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.639 body and then they take in the small molecules and 172 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:00.600 use them in metabolism, and so it's totally different. They 173 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:03.960 digest their food first and ingest it, whereas we ingest 174 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.200 our food and then digest it, yeah, inside our bodies. 175 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.080 And that's how they're breaking down substrates, and that's how they. 176 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:12.360 Can push through the soil or push through the wood. 177 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:16.399 Also the fungus way barfing on your lunch and absorbing 178 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.799 a sandwich through your arm, it's casual, it's effective, and 179 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:26.120 now you mentioned also our brains just casually. What are 180 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:29.080 some places that a fungi live and also I want 181 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:31.440 to hear about our brains and how they might live. 182 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.080 Yeah. I teach of course in medical mycology as well 183 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.960 as mycology, and so there are fungi that will infect 184 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:39.279 your brain. 185 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:40.879 Which kinds. 186 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:45.120 There's one called Cryptococcus that's famous for that. It's a 187 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:49.320 yeast and it usually gets themon inchies the lining of 188 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:53.240 the brain, not so much in the brain, but there 189 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.399 are some of that'll get in there as well. 190 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:00.240 Cryptocoxosis, by the bye is what this is called. It's 191 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:04.039 a nasty bugger. So these Cryptococcus yeast form their name 192 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:08.720 means hidden sphere. They're found worldwide in soil, but for 193 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:12.440 those with compromised immune systems like folks with HIV, it 194 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:16.360 can be fatal. Cryptocoxosis accounts for twenty to twenty five 195 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:21.080 percent of the HIV related mortality in Africa. So that's 196 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.360 no joke. Now, if you've ever lurked around on Goop, 197 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:29.039 chances are you've seen scary articles like there the insidious 198 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:32.919 yeast infection we all have, And what's the latest on 199 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:37.120 Canada yeasts and whether or not they can cause the 200 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.919 leaky gut syndrome? Has that been debunked by medical science. 201 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:43.679 Or is that there's a lot of things. If you 202 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.559 look on the internet, every single disease that's possible is 203 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:51.320 caused by Canada. Yeah, this yeast so, but I mean 204 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.159 I think there's something too some of it, but there 205 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:56.639 still needs to be a lot more research done with that. 206 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.480 There is Canada that passes through the digesticis because you 207 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.440 have this as a part of the normal flora of 208 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.000 your body, and so in the you've got Canada in 209 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.240 your mouth as part of the normal flora, keeping the 210 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.960 bacteria in check, and then you swallow some of that 211 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.720 and it goes through the digestive system and some of 212 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:17.240 it remains intact. It goes through and. 213 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:20.120 Okay, so did a little digging on this, and systemic 214 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.960 candidiasis can spread to the blood, where it's called candinmia, 215 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.639 and the CDC estimates about twenty five thousand folks in 216 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.879 the US a year will have a Canada overgrowth in 217 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:34.360 their blood, but that the total number of Canada overgrowth 218 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:37.279 may be twice as high if other organs are the 219 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.399 site of the primary overgrowth and it doesn't just show 220 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:43.039 up in the blood. So yes, it does happen in 221 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:46.480 the millions per year that we don't know. But leaky 222 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:51.039 gut syndrome isn't recognized as a medical diagnosis. Doctors call 223 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:55.000 it increased intestinal permeability, which is kind of like how 224 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.440 if your family calls you scooter, but you're like, don't 225 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.519 call me that from my boss. So it's pretty much 226 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.840 the same de tomato tomato. Now, speaking of food, if 227 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:08.320 a candida overgrowth diet, which suggests cutting out gluten and 228 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.600 dairy and sugar and alcohol makes you feel better, there 229 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:15.440 could be a number of reasons why. And now, can 230 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:17.320 you tell me a little bit about where a fung 231 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.159 i like to live? I know we think of them 232 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:20.559 in dark, damp. 233 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.080 Places, puire, anywhere where it's where they have enough moisture 234 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:27.879 to grow and enough heat and so there you know 235 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.039 they need, you know, room temperature they like, although there 236 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.159 are some that'll growed low and very low and very 237 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:35.399 high temperatures, but most of them like this middle ground 238 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.399 where they can they can do well. But you can 239 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.120 find fungin just about any environment where there's enough water 240 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:42.200 to support their growth. 241 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.000 Why do you think they like darkness? 242 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:47.279 Well, they don't like darkness. Say that's just where the 243 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:50.919 food is. Oh and so that they don't necessarily need 244 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.639 to be dark. They grow inside of things because that's 245 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:56.600 where they can get in and that's where all the 246 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:00.919 food is. Their main competition is bacteria, and bacteria can 247 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:02.799 only grow on the surface. They can't push their way 248 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:06.279 through the wood or wherever they're growing in, and so 249 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:10.360 the fungi can go and escape the bacteria by growing 250 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:10.960 into the wood. 251 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:14.960 I always figured that they must be like photophobic or something, 252 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.639 but really it's just their pro food. 253 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.000 And so when they're in the log and they're growing, 254 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:24.919 they just are growing their their hyphie, their myceelium to 255 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.919 eat the food. But then you know, at some point 256 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:32.399 they reach the surface of the log again and the 257 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.919 light is their signal to make the mushroom, and so 258 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.600 that tells them they're outside of the log and that 259 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.600 they it's okay to make a mushroom. There's also more 260 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.080 oxygen outside of there, so that's another signal for them 261 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.759 to make the mushroom on the outside of the log 262 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:49.279 or whatever. 263 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:54.320 And can you tell me the difference obviously between the mycelium, 264 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.879 the hyphie and the mushroom for anyone who's just like what, 265 00:14:58.039 --> 00:14:59.919 there's more to fungi than the mushroom. 266 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:02.679 Yeah, so there are these high fee that are underground 267 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:04.240 or in the wood. I'll just talk about wood for now, 268 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.000 that are in the wood, and they they're they're not 269 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.519 particularly dense. They're growing through the wood. But when they 270 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.279 send up the freeing body, there's the fretting body. The 271 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.879 mushroom is still composed of high fee. And if you, 272 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.720 you know, tear one apart and look in the microscope, 273 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.679 there's they're the same kind of high fee, but they're 274 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.240 all stuck together in such a way that they're very strong, 275 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.399 and they can put this this thing up above the 276 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.960 wood to make this mushroom so that they can release 277 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.320 their spores and get somewhere else. 278 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:34.240 I want to get out of here. 279 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:37.799 And so they're the mushroom is made up of high fee, 280 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.200 but they're really dense in that form rather than more 281 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.639 spread out as they are down in the in the wood. 282 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.320 And then where are these spores getting made? 283 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.360 So the spores are made on the gills of the mushroom. 284 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:52.080 If you have a typical mushroom kind of thing, you 285 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:54.519 can see when you look at the gills that they 286 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.360 kind of undulate up and down, and you know, and 287 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.440 so they have a huge surface area, and the spores 288 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:05.039 are born on the external areas of the gills, on 289 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.159 things called b the citia, these club shape things, and 290 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.720 then the spores drop off of their and they're usually 291 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:12.960 kind in the air and spread somewhere. 292 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.120 Spores they just they grow up so fast and then 293 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:18.399 before you know it, they're just a huge web of 294 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.919 underground hyphie forming a mycelium and barfing onto their lunch 295 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.559 before just exposing their reproductive structures to the sun. Where 296 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:27.320 does the time go? 297 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:30.000 So they have to make this enormous number of spores 298 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.200 because otherwise the chances of landing on something they can 299 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.240 actually use is pretty small if you're just random leaves 300 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:39.399 of being spread by the wind right. And so they 301 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.080 produce huge numbers of spores to by chance some of 302 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:44.360 them will will survive. 303 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.360 This is just a numbers game. It's just a gamble. 304 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:50.480 And so you have some you know, you think about 305 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:52.120 the guild mushrooms, but you also have some that have 306 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.960 different ways of increase in the surface area with pores underneath, 307 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.519 or even small teeth, or some of them are just 308 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:01.759 kind of ring gold, and some of them are smooth, 309 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:04.880 but they can dry out and revive, and so they 310 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.680 increase in their surface every over time rather than by space. 311 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.319 So side note, if you like variety, may I suggest 312 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:15.839 a mushroom obsession. There are cup fungi and puff balls 313 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:20.119 and bracket fungi and toadstool shapes and lattice types, glow 314 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:22.359 in the dark ones and ones that look like they're 315 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.920 bleeding terrifying human blood, and ones named after dicks, on 316 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.000 and on and on. Now, with five million species, there's 317 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.640 a whole lot of selection going on. 318 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.000 And so they you know, there's a lot of different 319 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:36.400 kind of strategies that that funge I use. 320 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.400 Do you have a favorite mushroom? 321 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:40.160 Favorite for what? Well? 322 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.119 I go, I know that's such a stupid question. What 323 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:46.599 is one? When have you been out lurking around you're 324 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.039 looking for mushrooms and you come across one that it's 325 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:51.000 like dada like angels singing. 326 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.480 If it's so, if it's food, then I'm talking about Chantererell's. Okay, 327 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:57.319 So Chanterrell's are the you know, the the I think 328 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:02.000 the most delicious. They're bright orange. You have these folds 329 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.160 on the outside and they smell like apricots, so they're 330 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.200 pretty smelling. They're pretty dense, and they're usually not contaminated 331 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.799 with bugs and stuff. That's just sixtra protein. 332 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:18.759 But and when you go to like a farmer's market, 333 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.279 you see the mushroom stand. Are you like nice but 334 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:23.920 I can get them myself, or are you excited to 335 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:24.880 see what their variety is. 336 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:27.680 I'm excited to see that people are promoting mushrooms, So 337 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.279 I'm happy that the growers are finding a way to 338 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.160 exploit the life cycle of the mushrooms in order to 339 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:34.960 that people can try different things. 340 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.319 Does it help the mushrooms to get picked because then 341 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:40.240 their spores go more places? 342 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.200 There's a lot of controversy about that. That's a whole 343 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:49.559 different thing. But maybe they're you know, if you're taking 344 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:52.920 them somewhere else, the chance of the spores landing for 345 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.599 their way might be good. It might be good for 346 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:59.319 their genetics. But you know that's that's a half hour conversation. 347 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:05.359 Yeah, you just shut up, You shut up and test you? Okay, 348 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:07.599 I look this up? Boy howdie who? This is a 349 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:12.079 topic of some fierce debate, but most hardcore mushroomers obsorb 350 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:16.960 some basic funkal decency, and when they encounter pairs of mushrooms, 351 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.759 they leave one, and they leave behind the smallest fifty 352 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:24.519 percent of the mushrooms they find. They try to identify 353 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:28.079 mushrooms without picking them first, and as you'll see if 354 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.759 you google mushroom hunt, each my collogist collects in an 355 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:35.640 adorable little picnic basket, not just because it's cute as 356 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:37.880 hell and it looks like an outtake from a period 357 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:41.200 piece set in the English countryside, but because the baskets 358 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:44.440 allow for the spores to catch on the wind, go 359 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.759 out and make more fungus babies. So step one, start 360 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:51.400 basket shopping. Step two send out a press release letting 361 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:55.119 everyone know how goddamn adorable you have just become. Okay, 362 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.119 and then what's next? What would you How would do 363 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:02.319 you advise people if they are interested in maybe starting 364 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.880 to forage or starting to catalog mushrooms, or also want 365 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:08.319 to make sure they don't eat the wrong ones. 366 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.880 Yeah, the best way to learn is to have friends 367 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:14.880 who will help you. Or if you don't have any friends, 368 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:17.839 you can make friends and any of I think there's 369 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:21.799 one hundred and twenty mushroom clubs in North America, and 370 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:24.319 so you can join one of those and they go 371 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.039 out on forays which are little mushroom hunts. 372 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:31.240 Okay, so ps, A foray is different than a forage. 373 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.720 A foray is when you're looking at all the ding 374 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:37.200 ding mushrooms, but a forage is when you're out specifically 375 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.880 looking for edible yum yums. So toda, we just learned 376 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:41.359 that together. 377 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.240 And you can learn a lot from people in the woods. 378 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:45.880 You know, they say, oh, look this is where you 379 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.559 look for this one. And there's somewhere el there and 380 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:51.519 you look, there's an elm tree right there, So that's 381 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:53.640 where you need to look. And you know they can, 382 00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:56.519 you know, and everything is better than three D. And 383 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.079 so if you're doing this with people and you know, 384 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.880 go to these mushroom for it. The people go out 385 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.079 and find mushrooms and then they'd lay them out on 386 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:06.839 a table and you can look at them side by 387 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.240 side and find which ones. You know they're poisonous in 388 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.799 their audible, you know, the things that look alike. You 389 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.799 can distinguish between them much more easily if you have 390 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:17.839 them sitting there in three D and you can touch 391 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:20.480 them and feel them and smell them and everything else, 392 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:25.440 so you know there are really they're wonderful mushroom clubs. 393 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:26.960 That are fantastic. 394 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.440 Have you met some of your favorite friends mushroom hunt? 395 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.000 Absolutely? 396 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:31.279 Yeah. 397 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.720 What's a vibe like on a mushroom hunt? 398 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:36.519 There's a lot of different kind of vibes on a 399 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:41.759 mushroom hunt depending on whether how competitive people are. So 400 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.079 sometimes the morale hunts are really different because that's really competitive. 401 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:48.519