A Journey to the Center of the Earth Reveals Mysterious Continent-size Blobs

Guest: Ed Garnero, Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University

Our traditional view of Earth’s interior as four clean layers of consistent materials is challenged by research revealing massive blob-like structures deep within Earth’s mantle.

The Sunken Bridge to England

Guest: Vince Gaffney, Anniversary Chair in Landscape Archaeology, Professor at the University of Bradford

Doggerland is an ancient sunken land that connected England to the rest of Europe. Its story has implications for how we can deal with rising coastlines. 

The History of the Great Carthaginian Warrior

Guest: Patrick Hunt, PhD; Professor of Archeology at Stanford University, Research Associate in Archeoethnobotany at the Institute for Ethnomedicine

Widely known as one of the most influential wartime leaders in history, Hannibal Barca was Rome’s most formidable enemy. At age 9, he swore an oath of hatred against the growing empire, vowing to protect his fellow Carthaginians. We spoke with author and archeologist Patrick Hunt about Hannibal’s lasting legacy.

Real Oliphants

Guest: Jacob Shell, Associate professor of global studies at Temple University, College of Liberal Arts, and author of “Transportation and Revolt: Pigeons, Mules, Canals, and the Vanishing Geographies of Subversive Mobility,” as well as his more recent book, “Giants of the Monsoon Forest: Living and Working with Elephants.”

The relationship between humans and elephants is unique among animals, and it used to (and just barely still does), include extraordinary military endeavors.