Buried Treasure: Weeds, Seeds, and Zombies

If you’ve ever engaged in mortal combat with a patch of ragweed,
dandelion, or crabgrass in your garden, you might understand the
twin emotions of rage and begrudging admiration when it comes to
weeds: They. Just. Won’t. Die. When it comes to commercial
agriculture, weeds pose a more existential threat—globally, the
proportion of our harvest that is lost to weed infiltration is
enough to feed millions, and, even with advanced herbicides, weeds
cost farmers in North America an estimated $33 billion in lost
yield each year. No matter what we throw at them, weeds just seem
to get stronger. This episode, we follow a group of scientists
along on a 149-year-old quest to see just how long weeds can
survive—and, along the way, figure out what we can learn from
weeds, what we really ought to thank them for, and what is a weed,
anyhow? Listen in now for zombie seeds, a midnight treasure hunt,
and the wild ways that weeds have outwitted us for millennia. Learn
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