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A cat runs for office with an honest one-word platform, “Crime,” and somehow that’s only the start. I’m Michael Over There, and I’m keeping The Anne Levine Show rolling with the same curious tone, a little grief in the background, and a lot of strange stories that might make you stop and say, wait, that’s real?

We start with animal mayors in Somerville, Massachusetts and Divide, Colorado, then zoom out to the surprisingly deep American tradition of “electing” pets to raise money, pull in tourists, and give communities a symbol they can agree on. If you think that’s odd, wait until you meet the legendary goat mayors of Lajitas, Texas and the Clay Henry saga that reads like folklore with newspaper receipts.

Then we hit two 100-meter world records that feel like dares made manifest: a barefoot sprint across 661 pounds of LEGO bricks, and a quadrupedal sprint record set by an athlete who studies animals to perfect running on all fours. From there the tone swings between internet-era weirdness (including questionable Florida “laws”) and true historical catastrophe with the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, a Boston disaster that changed building regulations and left the city sticky for months.

The back half gets speculative and a little philosophical: robot pets, Tamagotchi nostalgia, and whether AI could invent a religion built on curiosity and “holy” questions. We also ask what museums will collect from our era, from early smartphones to digital-only art, before closing out with strange-but-true tales, a quick Spider Noir review, and a very sincere love letter to Tillamook cheese and malted milk ice cream.

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Next Week - Silverlake!

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I’m back behind the mic after a long silence, and I’m doing it without Anne, the absolute love of my life. Losing her changes everything about how this show feels, but I still want a place where we can hang out, be curious, and talk about the strange world we’re building together even when life hurts.

We start with a story that sounds like science fiction but is already real: a household robot helping an older couple stay in their home after they lose a service dog. It prompts daily routines, nudges healthy habits, and even turns into an exercise coach. That kicks off the bigger questions I can’t stop thinking about: would you trust a caregiving robot with your parents, is robot companionship better than loneliness, and what happens when this tech gets cheap enough for everyone? Along the way I connect it to the subscription economy and why “help” is starting to look like another monthly fee.

Then we zoom out to the broader AI and technology moment. I look back at how people once feared elevators, telephones, and ATMs, and I lay out why I think physical robots will become as normal as microwave ovens, especially in warehouses and manufacturing. We also hit the upside of AI in science: NASA TESS data plus a new AI pipeline called Raven confirming exoplanets humans missed, and a James Webb Space Telescope deep dive into an unusual planet pairing. Finally, we take a hard left into history and mystery with an ancient Italian sanctuary uncovered during construction, treasure coins from the 1715 Spanish fleet, and the Whydah pirate wreck right here on Cape Cod.

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Prednisone is supposed to help, but what happens when it flips every switch in your body at once? We’re talking candidly about corticosteroid side effects and the real day-to-day fallout: a heart that won’t settle down, sleep that disappears, cravings that feel like a possession, and the weird emotional intensity that makes you buy “just one more” thing you do not need. If you’ve ever felt like your meds changed your personality, you’ll recognize the tension between relief and regret.

From there we slide into food anxiety with receipts. We break down the viral “bread washing” test, why some wheat bread is basically white bread with coloring, and how vague terms like natural flavors can hide a lot of processing. We also run through a list of American foods and additives restricted or banned elsewhere, including chlorine-washed chicken, ractopamine-treated pork, potassium bromate in bread, and preservative-heavy snacks. It’s not a lecture, it’s a nudge toward defensive shopping and clearer labels.

Then we let ourselves be ridiculous because the internet demanded it: yes, scientists investigated whether mayonnaise can be a musical instrument. We use that as a palate cleanser before jumping back to real life, including weight gain frustration, shout-outs, visitors arriving, a cleaner who has fully checked out, and the kind of strange news that makes you grateful you can still laugh.

If you like honest health talk, food label skepticism, and sharp humor from community radio, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. And if you can, support local broadcasting by donating at womr.org.

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