Morel Dilemma

Long before they helped craft Earth's first soils, fungi may have traveled the universe in rudimentary spaceships made of rock. Izzie plunges into the science of sci-fi mycology, breaking down the impossible mission of microbes in space and laying out some of the evidence for - and against - the idea that we Earthlings are not alone. Introduction transcript: “Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Sporeship Enterprise. Its continuing mushroom: to ex-spore strange new worlds. To seed out new life and new lichenizations. To moldly go where no one has gone be-spore!"

If you can't bring yourself to watch the Disney classic "The Little Mermaid" because it doesn't have enough fungi in, then this post is dedicated to you. Izzie pitches Disney for a science-oriented live-action reboot of the 90's animated film. Ariel is an undersea science enthusiast with a love of fungi, but the mycophobic merpeople don't understand her passion. Maybe if she could show them a pretty mushroom, she could make them understand... If only there were a gilled mushroom that fruited underwater! Oh well, I guess she'll have to become a human to study terrestrial mushrooms instead. This mini-sode features a preview of the song written for Episode 11, called "Come to My World". It's available on Patreon for donations starting at $1/month. Thank you!

Ninety percent of all plants on Earth rely on the fungi intertwined in their roots. The plants receive nutrients and water, as well as some other benefits, from these mycorrhizae - but some plants take advantage of the fungi and drain all their energy, giving nothing in return. Among the most beautiful, bountiful, and endangered such plants are the orchids. In this episode, Izzie talks with Dennis Whigham and Melissa McCormick, orchid scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, about how the fungi help the orchids and why orchid conservation is also leading to a lot of new fungal science.

Welcome to Season 2 of Morel Dilemma! In Episode 8, Izzie discusses how to safely add mushroom foraging to your list of New Year's resolutions. This episode features interviews from Ari and Jenna of The Mushroom Forager, and Eugenia Bone, writer of many cookbooks and former co-president of the New York Mycological Society.

Many natural things ebb as the seasons change. Here in the U.S., winter is on its way, and that means our fungal friends are going to hunker down in their substrate and get all cozy-warm, and not make any mushrooms for a while. As at so many times in my life, I'm going to take a cue from the fungi. The seven existing episodes of Morel Dilemma represent the first break* of the fruits of my labor, and now it's time to take a break for myself.

Why are some fungi brightly colored, while others are just brown? Can we capture the colors of a fungus before they fade into memory? In this episode, Izzie explores how fungi were used to create an iconic ancient color and how the fungal rainbow has recently gotten more attention.

This episode is best enjoyed with headphones, on low volume. Episode 2 tells only part of the story of mushroom cultivation. Specialty mushroom growers use different substrates and grow mushrooms completely unrelated to Agaricus bisporus. Izzie talks with Chris Bailey and Justin Reyes, two employees of Gourmet Mushrooms - the company that led the push to domesticate new edible fungi. From wine country to a Bali forest to a Michigan farm with a long-awaited surprise, Gourmet Mushrooms is leading the way to more interesting mushroom cuisine.

It's good to have a husband when it's crunch time and you can't land an interview. Nate and Izzie talk about the process by which industrial mushroom farmers prepare compost and spawn to generate amazing numbers of mushrooms. At intermission, caller Anschel waxes on the agency a little mushroom can give a small, lost girl in Wonderland.