00:00

Up next

    Short WaveIs The Sperm Race A Fairy Tale?
    12 min

    Is The Sperm Race A Fairy Tale?

    Listened

    In progress

    A lot of us were taught that conception happens with a survivor-style sperm race — the fastest and strongest sperm fight to make it to the egg first. In this Back To School episode, we revisit this misleading narrative and learn just how active the egg and reproductive tract are in this process.

    You can find Ariela @arielazebede, Lisa @CampoEngelstein, and Kristin @kristin_hook on Twitter. Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

    Read more
    Listen now12 min

    © NPRLength 12 min5 March 2021ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic

    Introducing Short Wave

    Introducing Short Wave

    This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

    Listen to episode one here
    11+ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic5 March 2021© NPR

    A lot of us were taught that conception happens with a survivor-style sperm race — the fastest and strongest sperm fight to make it to the egg first. In this Back To School episode, we revisit this misleading narrative and learn just how active the egg and reproductive tract are in this process.

    You can find Ariela @arielazebede, Lisa @CampoEngelstein, and Kristin @kristin_hook on Twitter. Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

    Editorial Note - The introduction of this episode has been updated to reflect anthropologist Emily Martin's crucial role in first making this issue widely known.

    REFERENCES:

    The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, Emily Martin (1991)

    Revisiting "The fertilization fairytale:" an analysis of gendered language used to describe fertilization in science textbooks from middle school to medical school, Lisa Campo-Engelstein & Nadia Johnson (2014)

    Misconceptions about Conception and Other Fallacies: Historical Bias in Reproductive Biology, Virginia Hayssen (2020)

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    NPR Privacy Policy


    © NPR |Original Episode URL. The content, artwork and advertising within this podcast is not owned or affiliated with Sound Carrot and remain the property of their respective owners.


    Find your next favourite Podcast

    Sound Carrot is your source for Family Podcast Discovery. Verified awesome, 0% boring.

    Privacy Focused

    Distraction free website, no flashing banners or adverts to steal your attention.
    (Some shows do contain their own ads however).

    Kid verified

    At first I made this site for my kids, but like any dad I got a little over excited. I hope you find it as useful as they do.

    Family Friendly

    Whether you want to listen to them together in the car, or alone in your room - the content is all safe for younger ears.