Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Radiolab Pledge Spot - Idea Fix

JA: Hello, I’m Jad Abumrad.
RK: And I’m Robert Krulwich.
JA: Robert you feeling okay? You seem a little out of sorts
RK: Well, to be truthful, I have been feeling a little agitated, maybe kind of short-tempered.
JA: And I think I know what's wrong with you.
RK: What?
JA: I think your Dopamine levels are down.
[Dopamine song]
JA: Because of this pledge drive.
RK: That makes no sense.
JA: Sure it does. So you know how you eat chocolate, you feel good...that's because, in part, there is a little gang of neurons in your head that sees a chocolate, gets excited, and spits out some Dopamine.
RK: Okay.
JA: The same thing happens when you have sex, do drugs, or when you listen to public radio.
RK: Really?
JA: Studies have shown that the same neurons that get excited by sex and chocolate, also get fired up at information...you know, like the kind you crave.
[Morning Edition audio]
JA: So in other words, that constant stream of ideas...
[Marketplace audio]
JA: ...that is public radio creates, in your head, a constant stream of chemical joy. And the pledge drive interrupts all of that. You are in withdrawal.
RK: (laugh)
JA: Junkie.
RK: God, maybe I am addicted.
[Music]
JA: The only way to satisfy that addiction is to pledge.
RK: So we can get back to our regular stream of satisfying, soothing, double-chocolatey information programming.
[Music Out]