Jason Bittel is a wild animal most closely related to chimpanzees and bonobos. He is also a seasoned science journalist and author of numerous science books. His latest release is GRIZZLED: Love Letters to 50 of North America's Least Understood Animals for National Geographic Books (2026). When he isn’t professing his love for cockroaches or sniffing sloth turds, Bittel is probably howling at the moon with his wife and three kiddos in the woods outside of Pittsburgh. He also loves to cook and makes a mean cicada scampi, but the next batch won’t be ready until 2036.