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Reporter and Radiolab producer Matthew Kielty and musician Chad Matheny (AKA Emperor X) were both part of a 2014 episode of the 99% Invisible podcast called Ten Thousand Years that asked the same question we did in our Talking to the Future episode: how do we communicate warnings about nuclear waste to humans ten thousand years in the future when language, symbols, and familiar technologies have all fallen away? Matt was a contributor to the episode, helping bring the strange story to a much larger audience while Emperor X created a folk song containing lore about the Ray Cat (that biologically edited feline who would turn colors when getting too close to radiation). Could a catchy earworm stay stuck in the collective American head for ten thousand years to help warn future generations? We\u2019ll discuss their experiences with nuclear semiotics, the rise of the Ray Cat and the associated public response, as well as how these thought experiments can be vital to imagining and creating a more hopeful future.\n\nFollow @EmperorX on Instagram or check out his website\nFollow Matthew Kielty on Twitter @Matt_Kielty\nCheck out Ten Thousand Years from 99% Invisible\n\nBecome a Patron to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content\nOr subscribe to American Hysteria on Apple Podcasts\nHead to americanhysteria.com to get merch and leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline\n\nProducer and Editor: Miranda Zickler\nAssociate Producer: Riley Swedelius-Smith\nHosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices