RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The things that scare us sometimes reveal a lot about who we are. Member station WNYC recently asked people to list their biggest fears, and we've been sharing a few of them. Today we hear from Janet Napolitano. She served as secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama. She is now president of the University of California system. Here are some of her fears.
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JANET NAPOLITANO: Being in the dentist's chair and listening to the drill. Did you ever see the movie "Marathon Man?" Yes? Remember the scene with the dentist? You know, is it safe? Is it safe? Ugh. Yeah. I think that's maybe the most chilling movie scene of any. (Laughter).
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NAPOLITANO: An incident of domestic terrorism. What I worry about is not so much that a 9/11-style attack could occur, but a plot where terrorists, for example, go into shopping malls. Maybe they're actually organized to do several cities all at once. And think about, you know, not only the possibility of death or injury to those who are out just shopping, but also then the damage to our economy and to our national psyche.
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NAPOLITANO: Snakes. And I'm talking a reptilian snake, not a human snake. I remember one time I was backpacking with some friends in New Mexico, and I was pitching my tent and I had pegged down the four corners. And I was laying out the mattress, and all of a sudden, I see this thing kind of squirming underneath the floor of the tent. And I had actually pitched it over a baby rattlesnake.
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NAPOLITANO: Having to eat broccoli. (Laughter). I can't stand broccoli. I've never been able to stand it. I'm probably offending every broccoli farmer in the United States today. But it's the one thing I think I share in common with George Bush. I'm just not in the broccoli fan club. You know, protocol and good manners require that you eat what's put in front of you so I'm pretty lucky that I like most foods.
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MARTIN: That was former secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. It's an excerpt from the new podcast 10 Things That Scare Me. It comes from WNYC studios. You can hear the rest of Napolitano's fears, and other episodes, wherever you listen to podcasts.