Wyatt Smith
Deep within the Chicago Field Museum, two women ponder the dismembered corpse of a snow leopard laid out before them.
“I have never smelled anything like this,” said Emily Graslie, a visitor to the museum.
“Do you smell the spice in it?” asked Anna Goldman, manager of the Field Museum’s mammal preparation lab. “There’s the urine, right? You can smell the ammonia, that’s all this region. But you can also smell the fat a little bit, you can smell the muscle, there’s a little bit of blood in there. It’s got this spice to it.”
“One of the best parts of this job,” continued Goldman, “is not only seeing the insides of so many different mammals, but also all their different smells. Primates smell totally different than any other mammal. And chipmunks, they smell the best.”
This is a scene from The Brain Scoop, a YouTube channel that provides a surprisingly engaging look at taxidermy and biology. The show is hosted by the ever-enthusiastic Graslie, an art student turned taxidermist, with production help from YouTube celebrities Hank Green and Michael Aranda. The channel is named after a specialized piece of taxidermy equipment.
The Brain Scoop’s videos include conversations with experts, Q&As and informational pieces, but the frequent dissections are the best. Between 10 and 15 minutes long, these longer episodes follow Graslie and her colleagues as they cut into a wide array of animals, from zebras to anteaters to squirrels. Graslie provides constant narration, which itself varies from informed commentary to “oh gross, look at that!”
If you’ve already heard of The Brain Scoop, it’s probably because of “Where’s My Ladies At?” a video in which Graslie discusses the gender gap in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines and highlights sexist YouTube comments she received. This episode — featured on Jezebel, The Huffington Post, Upworthy and NPR — has twice as many views as the channel’s next-most-watched video. Its popularity led to potential book deals and endorsement offers.
“Where’s My Ladies At?” is a great video and you should all see it; yet, I have mixed feelings on how its responsible for a surge in the channel’s popularity. People should be watching The Brain Scoop because it’s awesome, without the added perk of feminist solidarity. That said, I applaud Graslie for using her internet platform to call attention to an important social issue. Her advocacy gives another dimension to the show, pairing the scientific content with the realities of the society that produces it.
In all, The Brain Scoop is one of the best educational channels on YouTube, on par with (if not better than) the likes of CGP Grey and Vi Hart. For those of you who miss childhood visits to the zoo, hunting for bugs in the backyard or high school dissections, The Brain Scoop can help instill such wonder for the natural world once again.