Ants

Then Kenzie turned back to Pringle.

Ants, he said with determination.

Termites, Pringle answered him stubbornly.

Kenzie glared at Pringle for a minute.

Why not both of them? he asked, like a fellow who was willing to be big about it.

Sure, why not? Pringle came his halfway also, then like he wasn't to be outdone in generosity.

Ants first, then termites later.

Solemnly the two shook hands.

Oh!

Well, Ant, what's your superpower?

Well, I would guess his superpower is the power of cooperation.

I mean, have you ever seen how ants work together so well?

And what was that? Anyone tell us about that?

Yeah, the name of the study on BioRxiv is Carbon Dioxide Sequestration into Biomineral Armor by Ants.

Which, again, just another point in favor of ants being cool and weird and doing fun stuff.

But it brought up a lot of other things about other animals that make shells or armor in some way.

Next is The Waxwork, a tour-de-force performance where Conrad plays every role in the story.

Then we'll hear Lannanjin vs. the Ants, a titanic tale of man vs. nature.

And finally, he's the narrator, adding ominous dread with every syllable to the whole town sleeping.

I'll be back on Thursday with another episode, but for now, sit back, and enjoy my favorite performances of William Conrad from Suspense.

Folklore belongs to every nation's legendary past, and I guess we Americans have our share of some tall ones.

And now,

William Conrad in Leningen versus the Ants.

A story well calculated to keep you in

the

natural system? I mean, I don't know the answer to this, but I was wondering, you know, if we're thinking about how this shows up in humans, what does an over-functioning Ant look like? Is there a way that there is reciprocity in other natural systems, like a system...

biological system.

I don't know the answer to this.

Yes, I know where this is going.

When the Ant and the Scorpion fight.

Yes.

That movie made me afraid to go outside because I was afraid of scorpions.

Yeah.

That, that part was horrible.

There were a lot of disturbing bits in that, like, Dad, don't eat me! Yeah, the Ant and Scorpion battle actually did scare me.

I don't think I've seen that movie again since then.