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Recent Episodes

From Steppe to Stable (Ep 143)

DEC 11, 2025

From Steppe to Stable (Ep 143)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://bigbiology.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">bigbiology.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>How and when did humans domesticate the horse? How did horses shape our language, culture, and history?</p><p>On this episode, we talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://cagt.cnrs.fr/orlando-ludovic/">Dr. Ludovic Orlando</a>, a research director for the French National Center for Scientific Research and founding director of the Centre for Anthropobiology & Genomics of Toulouse. Ludovic is also the author of the new book <a target="_blank" href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691264127/horses">Hor…</a></p>

38 MIN

Doctors by Nature (Ep 142)

NOV 20, 2025

Doctors by Nature (Ep 142)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://bigbiology.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">bigbiology.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>How do animals use medication and can humans learn from them? What are the evolutionary consequences of animal self-medication?</p><p>In this episode, we talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jaapderoode.com/">Jaap de Roode</a>, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Biology at Emory University and author of the book <a target="_blank" href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691239248/doctors-by-nature">Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves</a>. Jaap’s research on monar…</p>

30 MIN

Vulnerability in science and in genomes (Ep 141)

OCT 30, 2025

Vulnerability in science and in genomes (Ep 141)

<p>What impact has the Trump administration had on biology and the scientific community? How do scientists study genomic adaptation and vulnerability?</p><p>On this episode we talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://cos.northeastern.edu/people/katie-lotterhos/">Dr. Katie Lotterhos</a>, Associate Professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University. Katie is also the Secretary for the American Society of Naturalists, and she helped to coordinate and implement <a target="_blank" href="https://sites.google.com/view/scientiststoriesfederalimpacts/home?authuser=0">a survey of scientists</a> to understand the impacts of the Trump administration’s policies on ecology, evolution, marine science and environmental science. In the first half of the episode, we talk with Katie about carrying out this survey, discuss some of the main themes of the results, and how the results can be used in the future. Then, we talk about Katie’s research where she uses oysters as a study system to understand the genomic basis of local adaptation and genomic vulnerability of populations to environmental change.</p><p>Cover art by Brianna Longo.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe</a>

84 MIN

Biology outside the box (Ep 140)

OCT 9, 2025

Biology outside the box (Ep 140)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://bigbiology.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">bigbiology.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>What’s the value of risk-taking in research? How is studying the mechanisms of transgenerational inheritance in <em>C. elegans </em>unorthodox and insightful? How can AI help improve aspects of biology, namely the peer review process?</p><p>In this episode, we talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://english.tau.ac.il/profile/odedrech">Oded Rechavi</a>, professor in the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel …</p>

30 MIN

Evolution across scales (Ep 139)

SEP 17, 2025

Evolution across scales (Ep 139)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit <a href="https://bigbiology.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7">bigbiology.substack.com</a><br/><br/><p>How do non-adaptive processes shape biological diversity and complexity? What is effective population size and what important role does it play in evolution?</p><p>On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with <a target="_blank" href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/3175331">Dr Mike Lynch</a>, Regents Professor and the Director of the Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution at Arizona State University. We talk with Mike abou…</p>

35 MIN