This American Life

801: Must Be Rats on the Brain

December 28, 2025

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  • New York City's appointment of a rat czar highlights the deep psychological and civic stress caused by urban rat populations, even when disease transmission is rare. 
  • The decision by New York City in 1969 to switch from metal cans to plastic garbage bags is identified as the pivotal moment that fueled the city's massive rat population boom. 
  • Alberta, Canada, maintains its status as the largest rat-free human settlement by implementing a highly proactive, border-patrolling control program that has become almost routine due to its success. 
  • Alberta, Canada, maintains its rat-free status at a surprisingly low annual cost of roughly $380,000, largely due to favorable geography that limits entry points for rats. 
  • Despite achieving a unique feat of rat eradication, Albertans show little collective pride in being rat-less, often failing to mention it when asked what makes their province special. 
  • While Alberta successfully eradicated rats, they face a significant, ongoing battle against native pests, specifically gophers (Richardson ground squirrels), which are considered a major menace to agriculture. 

Segments

NYC Rat Czar Announcement
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(00:00:22)
  • Key Takeaway: NYC Mayor Eric Adams appointed a rat czar with a job description demanding a ‘bloodthirsty’ and ‘badass’ attitude to combat the city’s rat problem.
  • Summary: The announcement for New York City’s inaugural rat czar took place in Harlem in April 2023. Mayor Adams expressed intense hatred for rats, contrasting with his generally low approval ratings on other issues. The position sought candidates with a ‘swashbuckling attitude’ and ‘crafty humor’.
Rat Perspective Co-Hosts
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(00:03:52)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode satirically introduces two New York City rats, Reggie and Rachel, as co-hosts to offer the rodent perspective on the human war against them.
  • Summary: Reggie and Rachel, identifying as rodents, suggest the mayor’s focus on rats is political ‘smoke and mirrors’ to distract from budget cuts. They note that while humans see them as pests, they are resilient and possess the numbers. They also acknowledge that health inspectors report seeing twice as many rats as a few years prior.
Harlem Resident’s Rat Struggle
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(00:06:11)
  • Key Takeaway: For some New Yorkers like Darnice Foster, the rat problem escalated significantly only after the pandemic, coinciding with local gentrification pressures.
  • Summary: Darnice Foster, living in Harlem, experienced a sudden surge in rats outside her building and in the basement since the pandemic began. She describes garbage collection day as the worst, forcing residents to navigate streets where rats dart constantly. Foster believes the rats are being leveraged by her landlord, who is harassing tenants in the gentrifying neighborhood.
Psychological Impact of Rats
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(00:10:09)
  • Key Takeaway: The primary negative impact of rats in North America is psychological stress and the feeling of being out of control, rather than widespread disease transmission.
  • Summary: A scientist noted that catching diseases from rats is rare in North America, with rats more likely to catch diseases like COVID-19 from humans. The constant presence of rats generates significant stress and can be interpreted psychologically as a sign that one needs to correct something wrong in their life.
Todd Sklar’s Pet Rat Conversion
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(00:13:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Todd Sklar’s shift from viewing rats as pests to owning up to 14 pet rats stemmed from rescuing an injured pet rat during the initial pandemic lockdown.
  • Summary: Todd began his rat ownership by saving an injured rat, which led him to research their complex behavior, including their need for companionship. He quickly acquired more rats, realizing they are highly intelligent, secretive, and capable of complex problem-solving, such as opening drawers as a team. He eventually recognized that his intense hobby was serving as an avoidance mechanism for addressing his career and love life post-pandemic.
NYC Garbage Bag History
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(00:37:02)
  • Key Takeaway: The 1969 decision by NYC to switch from metal trash cans to plastic bags, intended for sanitation worker efficiency, inadvertently created an easily accessible, massive food source that caused the city’s rat population to explode.
  • Summary: Before 1969, New Yorkers used noisy metal cans, but Mayor John Lindsay initiated a pilot program for plastic bags to improve conditions for sanitation workers. Pest management experts immediately predicted this change would lead to a massive increase in the rat population, calling it the ‘Big Bag Theory.’ Despite warnings, the city adopted the bags city-wide in 1971, leading to an estimated rat presence in 80-90% of the city today.
Alberta’s Rat-Free Success
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(00:48:45)
  • Key Takeaway: Alberta, Canada, maintains its status as the largest rat-free human habitation by aggressively patrolling its single border with Saskatchewan, a feat costing only about $380,000 annually.
  • Summary: Alberta mobilized in 1950 after observing rats spreading west across Canada, declaring them a pest and educating the public on identification. Rat inspectors patrol an 18-mile-wide control zone along the border, finding only a handful of infestations annually, often through tips from citizens who report suspected sightings via email. The province’s success is aided by geography, as mountains and cold northern climates naturally deter rat migration.
Alberta’s Low Cost Rat Control
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(00:59:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Alberta’s annual cost to maintain its rat-free status is approximately $380,000, less than the price of a single New York City garbage truck.
  • Summary: The cost to keep rats out of Alberta is shockingly low, estimated at roughly $380,000 yearly. This success is partly attributed to geography, as they only need to patrol one border. Rats are naturally deterred from the west by mountains, from the south by distance between food sources, and from the north by cold temperatures.
Albertan Pride in Ratlessness
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(01:00:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Albertans surveyed showed no significant sense of pride or achievement regarding their province’s rat-free status.
  • Summary: When approached outside a zoo, Albertans listed national parks, cost of living, and gas prices as things that make the province special, but none mentioned being rat-less. For many residents, the absence of rats is simply normal, comparable to expecting no giraffes walking around.
Gophers as Alberta’s Pest
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(01:02:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Alberta’s primary pest issue involves native gophers (Richardson ground squirrels), which are as problematic to local agriculture as rats are elsewhere.
  • Summary: Life in Alberta is not entirely pest-free; gophers are abundant, with one farmer shooting hundreds daily to protect grain. Officials confirm that gophers are the worst pest, despite the presence of mice and feral pigs. The key difference is that gophers are native, making eradication efforts politically and culturally different from controlling invasive rats.
Rat Improv: Reproduction and Infidelity
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(01:06:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Male rats are less likely to eat their own offspring, and female rats may mate with multiple males to potentially protect their pups from cannibalism.
  • Summary: The recorded rat conversation featured a female announcing pregnancy and the male expressing certainty it was his, despite her admitting to mating with other males. Scientists theorize that females mate widely as a protective strategy against infanticide by males. The improv segment also humorously touched upon the male rat’s temptation to eat non-related babies, like those belonging to ‘Gina’.
Post-Show Updates and Credits
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(01:09:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Since the original broadcast, Darneice Foster’s rat issue was resolved, and Todd successfully got rid of his rats but still desires a pet rat.
  • Summary: Updates confirm that Darneice’s landlord addressed the trash and rats, and Todd succeeded in removing his rats, though he remains single. Special thanks were given to Rat Disease Expert Katie Byers and the improv actors Chris Gethard and Tammy Sager.