WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.839 Oh hey, it's twenty twenty two. Ali with a last minute, 2 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:07.040 preempting release of one of the best episodes we've ever done, 3 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:10.080 Mycology with Doctor Tom Folk. So this first aired in 4 00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:12.679 twenty nineteen, and I've been saving it and saving it 5 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.880 to encore, But I just got the sad news that 6 00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:19.640 this beloved guest passed away on November twenty eighth, twenty 7 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.160 twenty two, at the age of sixty three. I found 8 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.519 out yesterday. So I'm holding the regularly scheduled episode until 9 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.160 next week, and I'm re airing this for you tonight 10 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:33.000 to either hear the first time, or I really urge 11 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.600 you to revisit it with some fresh perspective as a 12 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:39.520 way to celebrate the human that we were lucky enough 13 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.600 to have on the planet and on this podcast a 14 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.240 dear friend. So listen, or listen again and carry him 15 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:49.960 in your heart today. Oh hey, it's straight up your 16 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.600 weird internet dad, just sniffing candles in a blissfully empty 17 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.000 aisle of a discount home goods store. Ali board back 18 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.679 with another episode of Ologies, one that you have requested, 19 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.319 rather you have begged for since the inception of this podcast. 20 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:10.200 I keep hearing dad Ward mycology when and I keep saying, 21 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:14.159 settle down, I have a plan. Please trust me all 22 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:17.079 this time that my celia have been growing and it's 23 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.000 finally time to enjoy my dirty bloom. That it's going 24 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.159 to make more sense later. But first, Okay, a little 25 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:25.319 bit of business, and by business, I mean thank yous 26 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.920 to all the folks on Patreon supporting this podcast for 27 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.480 as little as twenty five cents an episode. Thank you 28 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:33.840 so much for making this whole thing possible. And thank 29 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.599 you to anyone who makes sure that they are subscribed 30 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.519 and have rated the podcast. Special tip of the old 31 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:42.439 hat to those who leave reviews which I read when 32 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:44.480 I'm sad, and then I pick a fresh one each 33 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.920 week to read you, such as this one by m 34 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 post Legator, who says Ali approaches each scientific subject with 35 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.799 the eagerness of a toddler meeting kittens. M post Legator, 36 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.079 I feel seen and also attacked, and I like you 37 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:03.480 for it. Mycology. What is the etymology of mycology? Let's 38 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:05.920 start with it. How did this word burst forth from 39 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.800 our brains and out of our mouths? So mico comes 40 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.000 from the Greek for fungus and little bonus points for you. 41 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.879 The word fungus itself has its roots in the word 42 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.520 for spongy. So this mycologist, oh my word, who has 43 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.280 been on my list for well over a year, and 44 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.199 he is a major reason why I took a Midwest 45 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.199 road trip a few weeks ago. I wanted to find 46 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.039 the best mycologist out there, and I asked Eugenia Bone, 47 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.360 author of the book Micophelia, Thank You to Talk Nerdy's 48 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.039 karas Aanna Marie for that intro, and she told me 49 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.639 that this ologist is quote a mycologist of the utmost charm. 50 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.960 I had to meet him. So on a rainy spring morning, 51 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.960 I headed to the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse, and I 52 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.639 stayed in a charming B and B that was apparently 53 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.759 a castle built by a lumber baron whatever. I navigated 54 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:01.159 to the campus, up some old elevators, down a Lanoillam hallway. 55 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:05.479 Right to his office I found you, which was this 56 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:10.319 thrilling jumble of mushroom knickknacks and maps and hard bound 57 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.240 dissertations of his former students. And he himself stood up. 58 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.120 He has gaged ears and salt and pepper hair. He 59 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:20.039 streaks with purple or pink and he stood up to 60 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:22.120 greet me. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt that 61 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.080 was screen printed with mushrooms and ferns. Both of his 62 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:30.159 arms are heavily decorated in fungus themed tattoos. He's the 63 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.960 best and having run a mushroom and fungus web page 64 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.680 nearly twenty five years when the Internet was just a 65 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.599 squirmy baby, this guy has been cool since before you 66 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.159 were born. He's been a professor in the Department of 67 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.759 Biology at the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse since nineteen ninety 68 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.479 six and teaches general mycology, medical mycology, not to mention, 69 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:56.000 has helmed some classes in food and industrial micology, also 70 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.120 in Latin and Greek for scientists. He seems like that's 71 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.719 the kind of guy I would have gone to concerts 72 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.520 with in my goth days and then spent all night 73 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.080 talking about cell division in a Denny's while our friends 74 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.039 smoked clothes in the parking lot. This is truly the 75 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:15.080 highest compliment I could give a person anyway. He let 76 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:18.079 me pepper him with questions for an hour and we 77 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:22.319 cover what the hell is a fungus foraging under the 78 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:28.199 forest canopy? Fairy rings, magic mushrooms, being blindfolded in the woods, 79 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:33.439 the tastiest mushrooms plus mildew, fungal infections, and how having 80 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.160 a part of you replaced can change the way you 81 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:41.000 live your life. So prepare for a budding fungus obsession 82 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:45.680 with a mushroom expert of the utmost charm, my cologist, 83 00:04:46.000 --> 00:05:08.160 doctor Tom Bulk. I would love to know when did 84 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:10.439 you start getting interested in mushers? When did they become 85 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:11.279 captivating for you? 86 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.160 So I took a course in my collegy in nineteen 87 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:18.240 seventy eight at a high university and I found it 88 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.319 you can get free food, and so that was good, 89 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:25.720 and that was pretty different, and I'm sort of a 90 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.879 different kind of person, and so that's appealed to me 91 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.240 that it was something unusual that not very many people 92 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.639 studied and knew about. So when it came time to 93 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:36.800 go to grad school, that's what I decided I would study. 94 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:38.600 Did they give you free mushrooms to eat? 95 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000 You find them in the woods. 96 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.800 They're all free, is it? But there's always the risk 97 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:47.279 of foraging. You have to get really good in order 98 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:48.240 to get free food out of it. 99 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:48.720 Reletely. 100 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.040 Well, there's a few you can learn, right away that 101 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:54.839 are pretty easy, but then it gets trickier after that 102 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.240 because you could get sick or even dive if you 103 00:05:58.319 --> 00:05:59.000 eat the wrong thing. 104 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:01.199 Has to be on your side. 105 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.240 Absolutely, that's true for everything, right. 106 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.519 So, on the topic of knowledge, Doctor Volk got his 107 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.879 bachelor's in botany from Ohio University and his PhD in 108 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:14.439 botany with a minor in genetics from the University of 109 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:18.600 Wisconsin Lacrosse, where he teaches now. And he studied, among 110 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.480 other things, the life cycle of the coveted and delicious 111 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:24.839 moral mushroom, which are the ones that have like a 112 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:30.480 spongy looking honeycomb texture and sell fresh for upwards of 113 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:34.279 sixty bucks a pound. If you're like where, pray tell? 114 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:36.920 Can I get me some of that hank tied. There's 115 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.000 going to be some forging secrets in a bit. But first, 116 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:43.240 and this is such a basic question, but what is fungus? 117 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:44.920 What is a fun guy? Why does it have his 118 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.079 own kingdom? It's neither animal nor plant? What's happening? 119 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:49.399 Yeah? 120 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:51.279 So, and remember in the olden days, when you were 121 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.759 in schol we probably learned about the two kingdoms, the 122 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:56.639 animals and the plants, and find you were included with 123 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:58.439 the plants because they didn't move and they had cell 124 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:01.439 walls and all that. It turns out that fung gerienmorkless 125 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:05.800 related to animals than plants. So physiologically they and genetically 126 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:10.279 they're much more similar to animals than plants. But they're 127 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:13.959 really different than animals obviously, So the cell walls of 128 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.920 kitan they share the kitan in common with some animals, 129 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.360 like the arthropods, insects and such of kitan exoskeletons and 130 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:23.319 so that chemicals in common. 131 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.759 Okay, quick aside, what is kitan, you ask? It is 132 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.800 a word that looks like chitlins, but minus one l. Now, fungus, 133 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.959 hog guts, all things that seem dicey to eat but 134 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.639 are a delicacy of sourced and prepared rite. All right, 135 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.800 So kitan the thing that makes up the cell walls 136 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.639 of your favorite mushrooms and is technically a long chain 137 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.399 polymer and a derivative of glucose. But the important aspect 138 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:53.160 is it gives arthropods skeletons and fungi cell walls some 139 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.879 rigidity and little chew if you've ever eaten books, So 140 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.160 how varied are fungi? There are an estimated five point 141 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.160 one million species of fun. Guy. Now that's about thirteen 142 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:09.519 times as many species as plants known to science. Okay, 143 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.639 but more importantly, how do you pronounce fungi? Because Tom 144 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:16.120 said fungi and I think I said fungi. Okay, So 145 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.439 I asked my good friend Wikipedia, and they said, this 146 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.519 is how you pronounce it in the US. Okay, definitively 147 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:26.959 this way fungi got it? Okay. Oh wait, there's another 148 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.079 audio clip. Or you can pronounce it this way fungai okay. 149 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:36.639 Oh there's a third way. What fungi okay? 150 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.039 Or fungi? 151 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:43.639 Oh my god? Okay, So just say however your mouth 152 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.720 wants to say it. Let's get back to kingdoms. 153 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.200 But there's they put them the fungi in the animal 154 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.159 sense group called the epists, the conta, which is the 155 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.840 rare flagellum, which refers to the some of the fungi, 156 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.759 the primitive ones have a flagellum on them, and of 157 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.759 course human males have the sperm. 158 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.279 Yeah, with the flagellum. So I know that that's the 159 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.039 one of the things that link them together. 160 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:13.240 Okay. So ps yeast possessed twenty three percent homologous genes 161 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:17.080 to human beings. So you're walking around, you're wearing pants, 162 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.039 you're driving a car, and you're like twenty three percent 163 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.960 kind of the same as a single celled fungus. So 164 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.639 I don't know, Go dance in public, tell someone you're 165 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.080 in love with them. Nothing matters. What even are we? 166 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:35.320 What is life? That which humbles liberates? So tattoo that 167 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:37.399 on a pillow, embroidered on your butt, I don't care. 168 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:40.399 Can you tell me a little bit about the structure 169 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:43.759 of fungi. I know a lot of people think fungi 170 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.720 is just mushrooms, but that's just like essentially looking at 171 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:48.000 their cone heads, right. 172 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.320 Right, Yeah, So you're looking at the reproductive structures. 173 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.480 Most of the time that private pos But what you 174 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:56.960 don't see most of the time are the high fie 175 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:57.759 that are underground. 176 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.519 So these are hiphie. 177 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.799 On my arm, and so you can see if you 178 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.120 were if you were here, which you are, you could 179 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:10.679 see the mycelium the hyphie growing, and that's how they feed. 180 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:16.440 So their reproductive areas are their most public parts. 181 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:18.600 It's kind of like if you wore a full body 182 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:22.440 spandex jumpsuit all the time, but it was crotchless it's 183 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:23.919 just the fungus way. 184 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.960 And so when fungi feed, they can grow through the ground, 185 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:30.799 they can grow through the wood or whatever they're growing 186 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:34.480 on through your brain by dumping their enzymes to the 187 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:38.000 outside of their body, and they digest outside of their 188 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.679 body and then they take in the small molecules and 189 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:46.000 use them in metabolism, and so it's totally different. They 190 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:49.000 digest their food first and ingest it, whereas we ingest 191 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:51.799 our food and then digest it inside our bodies. 192 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.879 And that's how they're breaking down substrates, so. 193 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:57.360 They can push through the soil or push through the wood. 194 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:01.440 Also the fungus way barfing on your lunch and absorbing 195 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.799 a sandwich through your arm, it's casual, it's effective. And 196 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:10.879 now you mentioned also our brains just casually. When what 197 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.759 are some places that a fun guy live? And also 198 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:16.120 I want to hear about our brains and how they 199 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:16.480 might live. 200 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.080 Yeah, I teach, of course in medical mycology as well 201 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.919 as mycology, and so there are fungi that will infect 202 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.320 your brain. 203 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:25.879 Which kinds. 204 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:30.159 There's one called Cryptococcus that's famous for that. It's a 205 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:34.240 yeast and it usually gets them and inches the lining 206 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.879 of the brain, not so much in the brain, but 207 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.440 there are some that'll get in there as well. 208 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.960 Cryptocoxosis, by the bye is what this is called. Oh 209 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.759 it's a nasty bugger. So these Cryptococcus yeast form their 210 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:53.559 name means hidden sphere. They're found worldwide in soil, but 211 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:57.200 for those with compromised immune systems like folks with HIV, 212 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.120 it can be fatal. Cryptocoxosis accounts for twenty to twenty 213 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:05.480 five percent of the HIV related mortality in Africa, So 214 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.399 that's no joke. Now, if you've ever lurked around on Goop, 215 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:14.080 chances are you've seen scary articles like there the insidious 216 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:17.960 yeast infection we all have and what's the latest on 217 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.120 Canada yeasts and whether or not they can cause the 218 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.759 leaky gut syndrome? Has that been debunked by medical science or. 219 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:28.159 Is that there's a lot of things. 220 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:30.960 If you look on the internet, every single disease that's 221 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:36.360 possible is caused by Canada this yeast. So but I mean, 222 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:39.159 I think there's something too some of it, but there 223 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.639 still needs to be a lot more research done with that. 224 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:45.399 There is Canada that passes through the digestice system because 225 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:48.039 you have this as a part of the normal flora 226 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.960 of your body, and so in the you've got Canada 227 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.200 in your mouth as part of the normal floora keeping 228 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:56.919 the bacteria in check. And then you swallow some of 229 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.519 that and it goes through the digestive system and some 230 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.279 of it remains intact, goes through and. 231 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:05.159 Okay, so did a little digging on this, and systemic 232 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.960 candidiasis can spread to the blood, where it's called candinemia, 233 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.639 and the CDC estimates about twenty five thousand folks in 234 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.919 the US a year will have a Canada overgrowth in 235 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:19.440 their blood, but that the total number of Canada overgrowth 236 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.279 may be twice as high if other organs are the 237 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.440 site of the primary overgrowth and it doesn't just show 238 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.039 up in the blood. So yes, it does happen in 239 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.480 the millions per year that we don't know. But leaky 240 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:36.039 gut syndrome isn't recognized as a medical diagnosis. Doctors call 241 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:40.000 it increased intestinal permeability, which is kind of like how 242 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:42.440 if your family calls you scooter, but you're like, don't 243 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.480 call me that from my boss. So it's pretty much 244 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:48.840 the same diff tomato tomato. Now, speaking of food, if 245 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.320 a Canada overgrowth diet, which suggests cutting out gluten and 246 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:57.639 dairy and sugar and alcohol makes you feel better. There 247 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.480 could be a number of reasons why. And now, can 248 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:02.840 you tell me a little bit about where fungi like 249 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:04.679 to live. I know we think of them in dark, 250 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:05.879 damp places. 251 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:09.120 Fungi are anywhere where it's where they have enough moisture 252 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:13.120 to grow and enough heat, and so you know they 253 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.159 need you know, room temperature they like, although there are 254 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.960 some that'll grow low and very low and very high temperatures, 255 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:20.799 but most of them like this middle ground where they 256 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:22.080 can do well. 257 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.120 But you can find fungi in just about any environment 258 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:27.200 where there's enough water to support their growth. 259 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:30.039 Why do you think they like darkness. 260 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.279 Well, they don't like darkness, say, that's just where the 261 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.960 food is. Oh, and so that they don't necessarily need 262 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.639 to be dark. They grow inside of things because that's 263 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:41.600 where they can get in and that's where all the 264 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.960 food is. Their main competition is bacteria, and bacteria can 265 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:47.840 only grow on the surface. They can't push their way 266 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:51.279 through the wood or wherever they're growing in, and so 267 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:55.399 the fungi can go and escape the bacteria by growing 268 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:56.000 into the wood. 269 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:59.960 I always figured that they must be like photophobic or something, 270 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:01.679 but really it's just their pro food. 271 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.200 And so when they're when they're in the log and 272 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.879 they're growing, they just are growing their their hyphi their 273 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:13.159 my celium to eat the food. But then you know, 274 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.919 at some point they reach the surface of the log 275 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.159 again and the light is their signal to make the mushroom, 276 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:23.960 and so that tells them they're outside of the log 277 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:28.120 and that they it's okay to make a mushroom. There's 278 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.759 also more oxygen outside of there, so that's another signal 279 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.480 for them to make the mushroom on the outside of 280 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:34.320 the log or whatever. 281 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:38.600 And can you tell me the difference obviously between the 282 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:42.159 my celia and the hiphie and the mushroom for anyone 283 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:44.960 who's just like, what, there's more to fungi than the mushroom. 284 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:45.720 Yeah. 285 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.879 So there are these hyphie that are underground or in 286 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.720 the wood. I'll just talk about wood for now, that 287 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.279 are in the wood, and they they're they're not particularly dense. 288 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.000 They're growing through the wood. But when they send up 289 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.799 the fretting body, there's the fretting body. The mushroom is 290 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.120 still composed of high fee and if you, you know, 291 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.600 tear one apart and look in the microscope. There's they're 292 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:08.000 the same kind of ighee, but they're all stuck together 293 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.600 in such a way that they're very strong. And they 294 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:14.879 can put this thing up above the wood to make 295 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:17.679 this mushroom so that they can release their spores and. 296 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.279 Get somewhere else. I want to get out of here. 297 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.159 And so the mushroom is made up of hiphee, but 298 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.519 they're really dense in that form rather than more spread 299 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:28.679 out as they are down in the wood. 300 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:31.360 And then where are these spores getting made? 301 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.360 So the spores are made on the gills of the mushroom. 302 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:37.120 If you have a typical mushroom kind of thing, you 303 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:39.519 can see when you look at the gills that they 304 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.399 kind of undulate up and down, and you know, and 305 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.440 so they have a huge surface area, and the spores 306 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:50.039 are born on the external areas of the gills, on 307 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.480 things called bacitia, these club shape things, and then the 308 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:56.080 spores drop off of their and they're usually caught in 309 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:57.960 the air and spread somewhere. 310 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:01.480 Spores they just they grow so fast and then before 311 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.960 you know it, they're just a huge web of underground 312 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.359 hyphie forming a mycelium and barfing onto their lunch before 313 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.880 just exposing their reproductive structures to the sun. 314 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:12.319 Where does the time go? 315 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.000 So they have to make this enormous number of spores 316 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:19.200 because otherwise the chances of landing on something they can 317 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:22.240 actually use is pretty small if you're just random leaves 318 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.640 being spread by the wind. And so they produce huge 319 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:29.400 numbers of spores to by chance some of them will survive. 320 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.400 This is just a numbers game. It's just a gamble. 321 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.519 And so you have some, you know, you think about 322 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:37.160 the gild mushrooms, but you also have some that have 323 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:41.039 different ways of increasing the surface area with pores underneath 324 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.559 or even small teeth, or some of them are just 325 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.960 kind of wrinkled, and some of them are smooth, but 326 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.359 they can dry out and revive, and so they increase 327 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:52.720 in their surface area over time rather than by space. 328 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.319 So side note. If you like variety, may I suggest 329 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:01.160 a mushroom obsession. There are cup fungi and puffballs and 330 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:05.200 bracket fungi and toadstool shapes and lattice types, glow in 331 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.880 the dark ones, the ones that look like they're bleeding 332 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:12.279 terrifying human blood, and ones named after dicks, on and 333 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.039 on and on. Now with five million species, there's a 334 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:16.640 whole lot of selection going. 335 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.720 On, and so they you know, there's a lots of 336 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.400 different kind of strategies that that fung i use. 337 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.400 Do you have a favorite mushroom? 338 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:24.599 Favorite for what? 339 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:25.160 Well? 340 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.119 I got? I know that's such a stupid question. What 341 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.599 is one? When have you been out lurking around you're 342 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.079 looking for mushrooms and you come across one that it's 343 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:36.000 like dada like angels singing. 344 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:39.519 If it's so, if it's food, then I'm talking about Chantrell's. Okay, 345 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.359 So Chanterrell's are the you know, the the I think 346 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:47.000 the most delicious. They're bright orange, you know these folds 347 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:51.960 on the outside, and they smell like apricots. Oh, so 348 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.119 they're pretty smelling. They're pretty dense, and they're usually not 349 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:57.759 contaminated with bugs and stuff. 350 00:18:58.880 --> 00:18:59.799 That's just sex to protein. 351 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:03.920 And when you go to like a farmer's market you 352 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.200 see the mushroom stand. Are you like nice but I 353 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.160 can get them myself or are you excited to see 354 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:09.920 what their variety is. 355 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.720 I'm excited to see that people are promoting mushrooms. So 356 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.319 I'm happy that the growers are finding a way to 357 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.160 exploit the life cycle of the mushrooms in order to 358 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:19.960 that people can try different things. 359 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.359 Does it help the mushrooms to get picked because then 360 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:25.240 their spores go more places. 361 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.240 There's a lot of controversy about that, but that's a whole, 362 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:34.160 a whole different thing. But maybe they're you know, if 363 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.480 you're taking them somewhere else, the chance of the spores 364 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.359 landing for their way might be good. It might be 365 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:43.319 good for their genetics. But you know that's that's a 366 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:44.319 half hour conversation. 367 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.599 Yeah, I don't have you. 368 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:50.480 Just shut up, shut up and test you. Okay, I 369 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:53.039 look this up, boy howdie who? This is a topic 370 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:57.279 of some fierce debate, but most hardcore mushroomers obsorb some 371 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:01.960 basic funkal decency and and they encounter pairs of mushrooms, 372 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.759 they leave one, and they leave behind the smallest fifty 373 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:09.519 percent of the mushrooms they find. They try to identify 374 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.079 mushrooms without picking them first, and as you'll see if 375 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.839 you google mushroom hunt, each my cologist collects in an 376 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.680 adorable little picnic basket, not just because it's cute as 377 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:22.880 hell and it looks like an outtake from a period 378 00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:26.200 piece set in the English countryside. But because the baskets 379 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:29.480 allow for the spores to catch on the wind, go 380 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.799 out and make more fungus babies. So step one, start 381 00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:36.400 basket shopping. Step two send out a press release letting 382 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.160 everyone know how goddamn adorable you have just become. Okay, 383 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.680 and then what's next? What would how would you advise 384 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:48.160 people if they are interested in maybe starting to forage 385 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.079 or starting to catalog mushrooms, or also want to make 386 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:53.319 sure they don't eat the wrong ones. 387 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.920 Yeah, the best way to learn is to have friends 388 00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.799 who will help you, or if you don't have any friends, 389 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.000 and make friends at any of I think there's one 390 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.000 hundred and twenty mushroom clubs in North America, and so 391 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:09.599 you can join one of those and they go out 392 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:12.039 on foray's, which are little mushroom hunts. 393 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:16.240 Okay, so ps, A foray is different than a forage. 394 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.759 A foray is when you're looking at all the ding 395 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:22.240 ding mushrooms, but a forage is when you're out specifically 396 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.960 looking for edible yum yums. So Na, we just learned 397 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:26.359 that together. 398 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.240 And you can learn a lot from people in the woods, 399 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:30.920 you know, they say, oh, look, this is where you 400 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:33.599 look for this one, and there's somewhere el there and 401 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:36.559