The Primordial Soup Pot

Let's Explore the Arctic! Rustin and Aaron cover two of the fascinating animals up north. Rustin starts us off with reindeer and their unique adaptions including their cigarette lighter nostrils and keen eyes for yellow snow. Aaron follows with the natural history of the Greenland shark, its bizarre eye parasites, and why Hakarl has yet to become a popular dish worldwide.

Time to talk about invasive species! Aaron opens up with the invasive Hippos of Colombia (which descended from Pablo Escobar's escaped pet hippos) and how they are affecting the environment. Rustin follows with his very strong opinions on Mute Swans in North America. Lots of bleeping ahead.

What's that? A bonus episode! Rustin and Aaron are joined by a special guest, Arwen Pare. Join us for a talk on the insular lobe, animal intelligence, and how long you can survive without a head.

The Brain Episode! Aaron opens up with the bizarre little proteins known as prions and their effect on the brain. then follows with a brief history of mad cow disease and Kuru. Rustin follows up afterward with the fascinating biology of octopuses (not octopi) and their strange brain adaptations.

Good ol' Maryland. Rustin and Aaron cover their beloved home state in two very different ways. Rustin starts off with a brief history of the Megalodon (and why they are 100% definitely extinct) and how their fossils relate to the old line state. Aaron follows up with an argument for why the spotted salamander should be the state's amphibian.

It's the Island episode! Rustin starts us off with an overview of barrier islands and the important roles they play in habitats, breeding grounds, and protection of coastlines (and why they are not the best place for real estate). Following this, Aaron broadens the definition of islands and presents the Devil's Hole, a geological wonder over a thousand feet deep in the middle of the desert, and the critically endangered fish that reside inside it.

P.S. Always keep an eye out for the elusive banana pepper rings

It's spooky season! celebrate Halloween with tales of monsters of both fiction and reality! Aaron opens up with the legend of the Beast of Gevaudan (a french cryptid that has actually killed) and speculates on what animal was actually responsible for the attacks. Rustin follows with a more realistic topic and discusses the fascinating biology of vampire bats (and why twilight vampires are biologically unfeasible).

It's the courtship and mating ritual episode! Aaron opens up with a little appetizer of knowledge; the act of penis fencing in marine flatworms (psuedobiceros spp.) and how mating works differently in hermaphrodite animals. Following this Rustin gives an overlook at some of the incredible Bower Birds and their fascinating bachelor pads.

Get ready for a sobering tale of death and depression! Rustin starts off with the sad demise of passenger pigeons and how the once plentiful birds were hunted to extinction in a relatively short span. Aaron follows with the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locusts. The rare scenario where people were actively trying to make a species go extinct and yet couldn't figure out how exactly they made it happen.

An episode full of upsy wumbos! Rustin and Aaron discuss symbiotic relationships but somehow both end up talking about wasps. Aaron discusses the horrifying nature of the chest bursting parasitoids whereas Rustin talks about the much more gentle mutualistic fig diddler pollinators.

*Editor's Note* if any of the audio sounds like a fork in the garbage disposal blame Rustin cause he left his microphone unplugged