Dr. David Orton of the University of York joins the show to discuss how he uses zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains in archaeological contexts) to understand the how rat and human populations interacted and affected each other over time in Europe. He gets into the spread of rats, the plague, using ancient DNA and isotopic analysis to analyze rats, and what rats can tell us about historic events. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Orton'...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 61
Dr. Henry Erlich, Researcher Emeritus at Benioff UCSF Children's Hospital, joins the show to discuss his book, Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution . We chatted about what it was like to pioneer PCR tests along with how PCR testing works, its applications (including medicine, understanding human evolution, and forensics), and some of the ethical dilemmas around DNA testing more generally. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful ...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 60
Dr. Christopher Schmitt of Boston University joins the show to talk about how he uses life history theory and epigenetics as a lens for his work with vervets and woolly monkeys. We also chatted about the highs of fieldwork, along with understanding how identity can affect an individual's experience of the field. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Schmitt's personal website Dr. Schmitt's faculty profile at Boston University Schmitt, C., Service,...
Apr 30, 2025•56 min•Ep. 59
Dr. Kate Clancy of Illinois State University Urbana-Champaign joins the show to talk about her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation . We touch on what periods are, why humans might menstruate, factors that affect menstruation, the study of women's health in general, and a few things to keep in when doing research. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Clancy, K. (2023). Period: The Real Story of Menstruation . Princeton University Press. ( Aud...
Mar 27, 2025•45 min•Ep. 58
Dr. Rebecca Gilmour of Mount Royal University talks about bones, their mechanics, and how we can use both to understand humans' lives in the past -- especially around her main focus of disability and care in ancient Rome. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Ed. CS Hirst, RJ Gilmour, FA Cardoso, KA Plomp. (2023). Behaviour in our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology . Elsevier. Gilmour, Rebecca & Plomp, Kimberly. (2022). The ...
Feb 26, 2025•54 min•Ep. 57
Dr. Jesse Goliath of Mississippi State University joins the show to talk about forensic anthropology, including how he ended up in forensic anthropology and how he developed the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons. We also talk about the complicated relationship between race and forensic anthropology, along with the importance of bringing diverse perspectives to the field. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Goliath's per...
Jan 15, 2025•56 min•Ep. 56
Dr. Christine Drea of Duke University joined the show to talk about mechanisms of female dominance, which is when females of a species are more dominant in groups than males. Dr. Drea looks at how genetics, hormones, and social dynamics interact with each other to result in female dominance in hyenas, meerkats, and lemurs. Content warning: We talk about animal genitalia and hyenas' traumatic birthing process. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. ...
Dec 04, 2024•55 min•Ep. 55
Dr. Lauren Butaric of University of Florida joined the show to talk about sinuses - what they are, why we have them, how they can be used in forensic contexts, and what they can tell us about people. I personally love these anatomy-based discussions. It's just so exciting to do a deep dive into these dark cavities. Here are some of the articles I found helpful while prepping for this episode: Campbell, Jessica & Butaric, Lauren. (2022). Technical Modifications for the Application of the Tota...
Oct 16, 2024•49 min•Ep. 54
Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug from the University of North Carolina - Greebsboro discusses some of the projects her lab is working on, including skeletal and dental pathology in past populations and istopic analysis of human remains. She also touches on the importance of integrating biological anthropology into climate change and global health policies. These two articles are great examples of how bio anthro could inform policymaking: G. Robbins Schug, S. E. Halcrow, Building a bioarchaeology of pandem...
Aug 01, 2024•51 min•Ep. 53
Dr. Sholts of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History joins the show to discuss her new book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs . Dr. Sholts uses an anthropological lens to understand epidemics. She touches on One Health, historical and current epidemics, the role misinformation plays in the spread of disease, and science communication. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode: Sholts, S. (2024). The Human Disease: How We Create Pan...
Jun 13, 2024•56 min•Ep. 53
Dr. Griffin of San Francisco State University joins the show to discuss dental caries and toothwear in pre-contact Native American groups. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode: Griffin, MC. (2014). Biocultural implication of oral pathology in an ancient central California population . Am J Phys Anthropol, 154(2), 171-188. Griffin, MC. (2018). The End of Prehistory in the Land of Coosa: Oral Health in a Late Mississippian Village . In S Chappell Hodge & KA Shuler Bioarchaeolog...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 51
Dr. Wescott of Texas State University joins the show to discuss the Texas State body farm (Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State - FACTS) and the forensic research carried out there. Books, articles, and selected people mentioned in this episode: Dr. Wescott's ResearchGate profile Haglund & Sorg, Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory, and Archeological Perspectives DO Carter, D Yellowlees, M Tibbett “Cadaver decomposition in terrestrial ecology” , Science of Nature 94(1), 2007...
May 23, 2024•44 min•Ep. 50
Dr. Goodson (Cambridge University) and Dr. Trombley (Augustana University) join forces on the show to discuss their bioarchaeological-historical collaboration to understand the Medieval mouth. Books, articles, and selected people mentioned in this episode: Medieval Mouths in Context: Biocultural and MultiScalar Considerations of the Mouth and the Case of Late-Medieval Villamagna, Italy Dr. Roberta Gilchrist, Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course Dr. Virginia Burruss, Earthquakes and Gar...
Apr 25, 2024•57 min•Ep. 49
Dr. Trent Trombley of Augustana University joins the show to talk about his research at Villamagna, a medieval settlement outside of Rome. He uses macroscopic analysis of teeth along with a few other methods to understand life in the past. Links mentioned in the show: Dr. Trombley's ResearchGate profile Making Sense of Medieval Mouths: Investigating Sex Differences of Dental Pathological Lesions in a Late Medieval Italian Community Growing up at Villamagna: Sex, Gender, and Stress During Growth ...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 48
Dr. Clark Spencer Larsen of Ohio State joins the show to discuss his history in the field, bioarchaeology, and how we can use biological anthropology to understand human health in the past. Links mentioned in the show: Dr. Larsen's faculty page The past 12,000 years of behavior, adaptation, population and evolution shaped who we are today (2023 PNAS article - opens as a website) Paleosyndemics: A bioarchaeological and biosocial approach to study infectious diseases in the past (2022 Centaurus ar...
Feb 24, 2024•41 min•Ep. 47
Dr. Daniel Benyshek of UNLV joins the show to discuss plancentophagy. Check out his lab page for more info on placentophagy. Note: There is a special addition at the end of this episode. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 46
Dr. Jeremy DeSilva of Dartmouth joins the show to discuss bipedalism -- why anthropologists are obsessed with it and how it might have come to be. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Jul 22, 2023•44 min•Ep. 45
Rhianna Drummond-Clarke, PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute (Dept. of Human Origins), joins the show to discuss her most recent article examining how environments affect chimp locomotion. She also chat about her time in the field. See her article here: https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.add9752 Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com....
Mar 24, 2023•49 min•Ep. 44
Dr. Kirsty Graham from the University of St. Andrews discusses how bonobos use gestures to communicate, which winds into a chat about what that means for ape communication generally -- especially humans. They also have some insights into field research. Check out the article about humans understanding nonhuman ape gestures here: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001939 Listener discretion advised: Bonobo behavior is discussed in this episode, which includes s...
Jan 30, 2023•48 min•Ep. 43
Dr. James Cole from the University of Brighton joins the show to talk about how studying stone tools can reveal insights about the evolution of cognition in humans. Along the way, we touch on brain size, theory of mind, and social groups. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 42
Rick Coste, host of the Evolution Talk podcast, talks about his new book ( Evolution Talk ) and how he became interested in science. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Nov 28, 2022•44 min•Ep. 41
Dr. Agustin Fuentes of Princeton and Dr. Barbara King joined the show to discuss the scientific community's responsibility for animals used in research. Should it be done? Is it possible to carry out ethical research involving animals? Want to learn more? Read the article the episode is based on: "Towards an Anti-Maleficent Research Agenda" Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology....
Nov 01, 2022•53 min•Ep. 40
Dr. Christian Crowder from the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office joins the show to talk about his experiences in forensic anthropology, using histology for forensic cases, and how anthropologists are a crucial component of the response team for mass fatality events. Dr. Crowder also talks about his work on the editorial boards of peer-reviewed publications like the Journal of Forensic Anthropology . Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram a...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 39
Dr. John Lindo of Emory talks about ancient DNA -- how it works, what you can understand from it, and why it's important. He explains how he's using ancient DNA to understand the biological diversity of pre-contact indigenous groups in the Americas. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
Jul 20, 2022•37 min•Ep. 38
Dr. Nicole Iturriaga of UC - Irvine joined the show to talk about her book: Exhuming Violent Histories: Forensics, Memory, and Rewriting Spain’s Past . In this episode, we discuss the history of the Spanish Civil War, how forensics can help change perceptions and heal communities, and how the general public perceives forensic anthropology. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiol...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 37
Dr. Julia Boughner of the University of Saskatchewan talks about the evolution of human teeth. Why do adults have ~32 teeth? Are our jaws shrinking? What's the deal with wisdom teeth? Does modern dentistry change our evolutionary path? Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gaby.lapera@anthrobiology.com.
May 18, 2022•44 min•Ep. 36
Ms. Selina Carlhoff, PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, talks about the basics of DNA, what you should know about ancient DNA, and some of the ethical complexities that come with studying prehistoric populations. She also fills us in on her article in Nature , "Genome of a middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea. " Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology. Email the host at gab...
Apr 20, 2022•46 min•Ep. 35
Dr. David Braun of George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology in the Anthropology Department chats about the cycles of tool use and niche construction. We talk about how one affects the other and vice versa in cycles, plus the interplay of greater environmental and climate change. Dr. Braun also discusses how we can look into the near and deep past to figure out environmental change. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the s...
Mar 25, 2022•40 min•Ep. 34
Dr. Jonathan Marks of the University of North Carolina - Charlotte joins the show to talk about his book, Why Are There Still Creationists? Human Evolution and the Ancestors. We chat about one of the toughest conversations everyone who deals with evolution faces: Speaking with creationists. In the episode, Marks talks about theology and the surprising history between scientists and creationists. Check out the book here . Jon Marks' website is here. Find links to articles, books, and pics at Anth...
Feb 23, 2022•45 min•Ep. 33
Dr. Bill Schutt, zoologist and author, joins the show to talk about his latest book, Pump: A Natural History of the Heart . We chat about the evolution of hearts, how people learned about how hearts work, and science writing. Check out his book here. Find links to articles, books, and pics at AnthroBiology.com . Find the show on Instagram and Twitter @AnthroBiology.
Nov 11, 2021•35 min•Ep. 32
