Joe Terwilliger: Tuba, Genetics, and North Korea
KEY MOMENTS
0:00 – Intro: Joe Terwilliger, the most interesting man
3:47 – Why the tuba?
7:03 – Electronic music and the value of live arts
9:38 – Dick Cavett, Satchel Paige, and Salvador Dalí
12:30 – Trapping raccoons to buy a tuba
16:43 – What is mathematical genetics?
20:29 – Zika virus findings and studying isolated populations
24:41 – Eating clean and getting sick at restaurants
28:41 – Sourdough at home and lamb in Iceland
32:56 – Working in Finland and its rare disease genes
36:41 – Dutch surnames and Icelandic naming
39:27 – How language shapes the way you think
42:02 – How Joe got into North Korea
45:44 – Teaching at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology
49:27 – Teaching under the regime
52:13 – North Korea's relationship with China and Russia
56:19 – Dinner at Kim Jong Un's house
58:59 – Kim Jong Un, Obama, and Trump
1:01:51 – Biden's silent treatment and why North Korea wants nukes
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Joe Terwilliger plays tuba professionally and studies mathematical genetics, researching isolated populations in countries like Finland, Venezuela, and North Korea. He's also the man who put together Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea. He joins Lou to talk about tuba, genetics, and what North Korea is really like.
We also get into the stand-up gig in Syracuse where Joe fact-checked one of Lou's anti-tuba bits during the bit (the only heckle Lou has ever enjoyed), why Lou's real beef is with the sousaphone, how Joe's North Korean work extends beyond the genome into foreign policy, and why the Happiness Index might be bullshit.