---
title: The Body Is Weird and Gross! Wanna Talk About It?
description: The Body Is Weird and Gross! Wanna Talk About It?
image: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/download/id/350171/name/_
---

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# The Body Is Weird and Gross! Wanna Talk About It?

Posted by [Glendora](https://info.opfistula.org/blog/author/glendora) on Apr 2, 2013 1:52:51 PM

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In our office, no topic is off-limits. We are, after all, an organization that spends a good portion of every work day talking openly about urine and feces, and the number of times a week we say the word “vagina” would give gynecologists a run for their money.

So we are always delighted when we stumble upon kindred spirits of the “icky bodily functions are normal!” variety. Enter Mary Roach: researcher extraordinaire, ever-curious observer, and super-selling author of numerous tomes on the body and its quirks, who has just released her newest book, *Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal*.

![](http://www.sciencenews.org/view/download/id/350171/name/_)

Roach, who has been described by the *Washington Post* as “America’s funniest science writer,” uses her latest work to explore basically every question we never thought to ask about our own digestive system. No query is too taboo, no exploration too messy. She’s simply fascinated with the body’s self-governing processes and is tickled to share her findings with us, as is clear in her entertaining press interviews with the likes of [Jon Stewart](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-1-2013/exclusive---mary-roach-extended-interview-pt--1) and [Terry Gross](http://www.npr.org/2013/04/01/175381702/in-digestion-mary-roach-explains-what-happens-to-the-food-we-eat).

The body is an amazing operating system, no matter how queasy some intricacies of its functions make us. We’re grateful to people like Mary Roach who have found ways to talk openly to captivated audiences about it, and made our jobs seem more normal. Being vocal about awkward topics must always be our MO.

And seriously, the reviews for *Gulp* on [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach/dp/0393081575/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364931924&sr=1-1&keywords=mary+roach) are almost as deliciously funny as Roach’s own words. Just maybe don’t choose your lunch hour as the time to check it out. (There may or may not be something about putting a hand in a cow’s stomach.)

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