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Survival of the fittest? Try survival of the sneakiest.

caption: What is this fox plotting? Wouldn't you like to know.
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What is this fox plotting? Wouldn't you like to know.

It turns out all those fables might have been right after all: the witty animal is often the one that prospers. Also: how do you feel about further automating your grocery shopping? A Washington state senator wants to legalize corpse composting, and whatever happened to the town of Zenith, WA.

Listen to the full show by clicking the play button above, or check out one of the show’s segments below. You can also subscribe to The Record on your favorite podcast app.

Microsoft and Kroger's grocery adventure

Let’s say you need paper towels, spaghetti, and toothpaste. You make a digital shopping list, stroll into the grocery story, and scan for your personal avatar to find what you need. Todd Bishop, co-founder of Geekwire, talks about the tech. And Akshay Rao, chair in Marketing at the University of Minnesota, talks about the psychology behind it.

David Barash, Through a Glass Brightly

Evolutionarily, do wits outmatch muscle? Folk tales of tricksters from around the world would suggest that they do, and now animal behavior studies might back that up. David Barash, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington, explains why.

Compost yourself after death

A new bill introduced this legislative season plans to legalize the composting of dead bodies. Is the idea of fertilizing a tree creepy, or comforting? We asked Katrina Spade, founder of the Urban Death project (now called Recompose).

The mystery of Zenith

And a listener asked us: what ever happened to the town of Zenith, WA? KUOW’s Anna Boiko-Weyrauch set out to figure out why it vanished off the map.

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