For this episode of 4Ps: Plants, Pests, Parasites and People, Dr. Kate Martin follows the strange, moldy, world-changing story of penicillin: from accidental observation to lifesaving medicine, and from one famous petri dish to a much larger cast of scientists, patients, and microbes. Along the way, we look at how antibiotics changed medicine, why fungi are such astonishing chemists, and why resistance reminds us that evolution is always in the room. It is a story about chance, curiosity, collaboration, and the tiny organisms that have shaped human history in ways we are still trying to understand.

South Florida’s tropical fruits are not just a glamorous little collection of produce that happens to like warm weather. They are really a lesson in how growing something and growing it well are not at all the same thing. Avocado, mango, lychee, longan, mamey, banana, passionfruit, and dragonfruit all bring their own baggage, frankly, whether that is drainage issues, flowering quirks, storm damage, trellising, pests, diseases, or the awkward little question of whether anyone is actually going to buy enough of it to make the whole thing worthwhile. And that is what makes South Florida so interesting. It is not just warm, and therefore magical. It is warm in a way that opens the door, but then everything else — the soil, the weather, the crop biology, the grower, and the market — has to decide what happens next.

In this episode of 4Ps, Dr. Kate Martin takes a closer look at cockroaches, the insects people think they already understand. From their strange biology and surprising diversity to the major pest species found around human spaces, this episode explores what cockroaches actually are, how they succeed so well alongside us, and why their reputation only tells part of the story. Unsettling, scientifically fascinating, and unfortunately very good at being cockroaches.