Listener Special: John
Number one. Parasites. Kind of random, but my dad was killed by one after a kidney transplant. It kind of stays with you, something like that.
Number two. Parasite extinction. Yeah, parasites suck, you know? But a lot of things in the world depend on them. They keep the ecosystems healthy. If they go out it's a sign that something worse is along the way.
Number three. All other extinctions. It's gonna be a hell of a year. We’re probably going to lose the Vaquita. There's only two northern white rhinos left. One of the orangutan species could be wiped out by a dam. That's just a few. It's going to be a bad year.
Number four. This pain in my shoulder. I use the computer a lot and this mouse is killing me, and I already went through physical therapy once. It slowed me down for so long. I don't want to go through it again.
Number five. My blood pressure. Well, I write about endangered species every day so of course my blood pressure is high. I do what I can to keep it down.
Number six. The construction equipment behind my house. Small yard full of birds, bobcats, raccoons. But they're building a whole other neighborhood right behind me. Fun.
Seven. Sea level rise. I live on a mountain. And according to projections it’s going to end up an island in one hundred years. I don't know how to swim all that well anymore.
Number eight. Death. Not mine, but everyone around me. There are so many people I know who are sick, whether they're young or old, who've been through major illnesses, major problems. I just can’t bear losing any of these people. Speaking of which,
Number nine. My pug’s snoring because she's getting old, and before too much longer that snore is not going to exist anymore.
Number ten. That the world just doesn't care enough. Because there's a lot of things we need to care about and a lot of things weighing us down. It’s easy to say I just can't deal with that anymore. That's probably the most terrifying thing of all.
My name's John Platt and these are 10 things that scare me.
