anthony: what about, what s his name? darren: the divine madman. anthony: maybe the guy was eating a lot of cordyceps. darren: exactly. getting hot in here. anthony: no, no it s not actually. it s you, man. what happens if you eat too many? woman: this is more than enough. what about him? let s do it. come on. this summer, add a new member to the family. at the mercedes-benz summer event. lease the glc300 for $429 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing.
nawang: she is in charge of the business and she makes the decisions for the family. in bhutan, women are the boss. women inherit whatever the parents own, not the sons. darren: always? all inheritance goes to the women? nawang: yes, women. anthony: what is this? nawang: this is ara, with some cordyceps in it. anthony: is that a cordycep? nawang: that is the cordycep. anthony: which is? nawang: essentially the cordycep is a fungus which infects the larvae of the ghost moths. anthony: a caterpillar that has been invaded by fungus? nawang: yes, it eventually takes over the whole larvae, kills it, sort of mummifies the whole thing. and then in the spring it protrudes out again. darren: is there any caterpillar left at the end or is it fossilized? nawang: it s just a fossilized thing. darren: meaning it s not meat. it is vegetarian. anthony: cordyceps are the new profit center for a culture that used to revolve almost entirely around the yak.
nawang: people are giving up. anthony: why? nawang: better opportunities, i suppose. yak herding is a difficult life. she herself has given up now. who have you given your yaks to? woman: to my sister. nawang: so she has given all of her yaks to her sisters, so she now, she has a shop. she s gone up the ladder. are you the head of the family? woman: yes, i am. nawang: she is in charge of the business and she makes the decisions for the family. in bhutan, women are the boss. women inherit whatever the parents own, not the sons. darren: always? all inheritance goes to the women? nawang: yes, women. anthony: what is this? nawang: this is ara, with some cordyceps in it. anthony: is that a cordycep? nawang: that is the cordycep. anthony: which is? nawang: essentially the cordycep is a fungus which infects the larvae of the ghost moths. anthony: a caterpillar that has been invaded by fungus? nawang: yes, it eventually takes over the whole larvae, kills it, s
and then in the spring it protrudes out again. darren: is there any caterpillar left at the end or is it fossilized? nawang: it s just a fossilized thing. darren: meaning it s not meat. it is vegetarian. anthony: cordyceps are the new profit center for a culture that used to revolve almost entirely around the yak. anthony: this stuff costs how much a kilo? nawang: on average it s about $20,000. anthony: $20,000? nawang: dollars. anthony: that s a lot. darren: may i? nawang: yes, please. anthony: what does this do for you? nawang: supposed to increase your virility, it s supposed to cure piles. you know, even hepatitis. anthony: really? nawang: yeah. anthony: piles, eh? darren: what is piles? anthony: hemorrhoids. darren: oh. nawang: and the chinese athletes have been taking it for quite some time. darren: so they re doping on nawang: they re doping. darren: it s pretty tasty. nawang: yeah, it also says that you produce more semen. i don