This podcast episode investigates the debate surrounding the naming of species after people, particularly focusing on the controversy of *Anophthalmos hitleri* ("Hitler's beetle"). The episode begins by describing the discovery of the beetle and its subsequent naming by a Nazi entomologist, then explores the broader practice of eponymy in taxonomy, highlighting both the historical context (Linnaeus's binomial system) and modern examples (millipedes named after Taylor Swift and the McElroy brothers). The central question revolves around whether offensive names should be changed, with differing viewpoints presented from scientists in zoology and botany. The episode concludes by noting the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature's reluctance to change names based solely on offensiveness, while the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants recently changed names containing a racial slur.
