Produced by: Mansi Sharma, Louis Wong, Jeffrey J. Lin

Join us as we uncover the secrets of the MedFly through an examination of how California has historically managed its medfly infestations. As we move through decades of federal lawmaking, state policy decisions, and scientific research, we will expose how a decades-long disagreement between scientists and extreme pesticide spraying has shaped the villainous portrayal of the MedFly.
Longer Description:
The Mediterranean Fly has made a name for itself as one of the most notorious fruit fly species around the world. Although the MedFly has had devastating economic impacts in numerous regions, our podcast centers around MedFly tensions in California specifically. From the first MedFly invasions of California to those as recent as last year, the MedFly continues to pose a threat to California’s status as a golden agricultural state. In response to the threat of the MedFly, California has utilized man-made interventions like aerial pesticide sprays to eradicate the fruit fly, while imposing strict quarantine guidelines. Over time, California’s defenses against the MedFly have evolved from strictly chemical interventions to incorporating new scientific techniques like the sterile insect technique.
However, the tension between the MedFly and California is only one aspect of the story. Our podcast investigates how the “MedFly problem” has changed from a “man vs. insect” scenario into various “man vs. man” scenarios. The government’s response to the MedFly has increased tension between the public and the government, a result of public pushback and growing public distrust in the government and fear surrounding pesticides. The government has shown that their priority is to protect California’s reputation and agricultural econonmy, even if that means rushing to lift quarantine restrictions or enforcing pesticide sprays. While this may benefit agricultural companies, the average person has now been exposed to dangerous chemicals that could give rise to health problems. All of these social tensions were not directly caused by the MedFly, but rather our own actions in one-sided fight against the MedFly. Our podcast examines how these tensions have evolved over time using a holistic analysis through a scientific lens, an economic lens, and a social lens.

Suggested Further Reading

Five sources we recommend for listeners who want to go deeper.

1. Scott, T. (Director). (2025). Why the government drops flies on California. [Film]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/tomscott/videos/why-the-government-drops-flies-on-california/3288278304683543/

2. Subramaniam, B. (2001). The aliens have landed! — Accessible analysis of how 'invasive species' language mirrors xenophobic rhetoric around immigration. JSTOR: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40338794

3. Carey, J. R. (1991). Establishment of the Mediterranean fruit fly in California. Science,253(5026). — The landmark paper arguing medflies are California residents, not perpetual invaders. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1896848

4. Rolls, D. A., et al. (2025). Estimating the realised economic value of a historic Mediterranean fruit fly eradication. Scientific Reports, 15(1). — Rigorous economic analysis showing biosecurity benefits can materialize decades later. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-28594-2

5. Schwartz, N. A., et al. (2015). 'Where they (live, work and) spray.' Health & Place, 32, 83–92. — Ethnographic study giving voice to farmworker communities most harmed by pesticide exposure. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.12.016

Pests and Prejudice is a podcast series created by UCLA undergraduates in the spring of 2026. Each episode is a story of a messy relationship, one in which people seduced pests, and then decided to break up with them... and it usually goes about as well as you would expect...

Produced by Ee Mahmud and Hayley Torres

Mosquitoes kill more humans than any other animal on Earth. They carry malaria, dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and more. And despite decades of scientific effort and billions of dollars spent, we are still losing. In this episode, Ee Mahmud and Hayley Torres trace the history of humanity's attempts to fight back. They follow DDT and the ecological disaster it left behind, genetically modified mosquitoes released over communities without their consent, Wolbachia bacteria introduced into mosquito populations with results scientists still cannot fully explain, and a drug discovered in 2025 that makes human blood itself lethal to the mosquito.
But science is only part of the story. This episode asks who gets to make these decisions, who carries the burden when things go wrong, and who never gets asked at all. The mosquito did not create these inequalities. It exposed them.
Featuring an interview with USC researcher Dr. Luisa Reis-Castro, this episode moves from the history of DDT to the cutting edge of genetic science, and ends with a centuries-old Indigenous story that asks a question Western science is still trying to answer: what if the mosquito was never something we could beat?

Suggested Further Reading

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962). Penguin Books.
Carson exposed what DDT was doing to ecosystems before anyone wanted to hear it.

Wienhues, Anna (2021) ‘The Innocent Mosquito? The Environmental Ethics of Mosquito Eradication’ [book chapter] in Mosquitopia? The Place of Pests in a Healthy World edited by Marcus Hall and Dan Tamir. London: Routledge.
A short piece that asks whether humans are actually justified in trying to wipe out an entire species. It reframes the mosquito as a victim of circumstance rather than an enemy.

Reis-Castro, L. (2026). View of Can the Mosquito Bite? the Multispecies Transmutation of Wolbachia Mosquitoes as Biotechnologies of Epidemic Control in Rio De Janeiro. Engaging Science Technology and Society https://estsjournal.org/index.php/ests/article/view/1555/939
The article by the researcher interviewed in this episode. It follows Wolbachia mosquito programs in Rio de Janeiro and looks at what it means to turn a disease carrier into a public health tool.

Haines, L. R., et.al. (2025). Anopheles mosquito survival and pharmacokinetic modeling show the mosquitocidal activity of nitisinone. Science Translational Medicine, 17(791). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adr4827
The study that found people taking nitisinone for a rare metabolic disorder were accidentally killing the mosquitoes that bit them. The science behind one of the most surprising findings in the episode.

Pests and Prejudice is a podcast series created by UCLA undergraduates in the spring of 2026. Each episode is a story of a messy relationship, one in which people seduced pests, and then decided to break up with them... and it usually goes about as well as you would expect...

Produced by Anya Mendelson, Jessica Gebraeel, and Vincent Cao

In this episode of Enemies Underground, we’ll explore the long and complicated history between Californians and the California Ground Squirrel. Long before California was settled by Europeans, these squirrels inhabited the landscape and played an important role in local ecosystems. However, as human populations expanded, their relationship with ground squirrels shifted dramatically. Once hunted as a food source, the animals later became targets of widespread eradication campaigns when they were associated with the spread of bubonic plague and viewed as a growing threat to agriculture. Since the early 1900s, Californians have waged an ongoing war against the California Ground Squirrel through trapping, poisoning, gassing, and even fertility control programs, yet their populations have proven remarkably resilient. In this podcast, we’ll examine the century-long conflict between humans and ground squirrels, uncover the motivations behind these control efforts, and explore why the war against the California Ground Squirrel has never truly been won.

Recommended Readings For Listeners:

For the best listening experience, we recommend you immerse yourselves in relevant reading material.

Barry, S. (n.d.). A brief history of ground squirrel control efforts in California. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2018-08/288938.pdf.
This source provides a useful brief historical background of the ground squirrel story! We recommend taking a quick read to familiarize your self with the key players in the war on squirrels.

Marsh, R. E. (1998). Historical review of ground squirrel crop damage in California. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 42(2-3), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0964-8305(98)00014-6
This source provides a more comprehensive background for those interested in the details of this tale.

Center. (2024, September 26). California OKs Strongest Rat Poison Restrictions in Nation. Center for Biological Diversity. https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/california-oks-strongest-rat-poison-restrictions-in-nation-2024-09-25/
On the other hand, this source gives recent insight on the latest developments of the management of California Ground Squirrels.

Pests and Prejudice is a podcast series created by UCLA undergraduates in the spring of 2026. Each episode is a story of a messy relationship, one in which people seduced pests, and then decided to break up with them... and it usually goes about as well as you would expect...