Just the Zoo of Us

Join Ellen & special guest comedian, writer, and nature enthusiast Vinny Thomas for a review of some of the furry, feathered, and scaly neighbors making themselves at home right in our very own cities. We discuss domestication, dogs with human feet, inflatable snoods, ostriches for self-defense, kaiju battles at the park, life in a shipwreck, and so much more. Links: Follow Vinny on Instagram , Th...

Ellen gives the Tasmanian devil his due. We discuss mythbusters, cranial real estate, the masculine urge to bite your fingers off, which came first: the chicken or the egg, dump stats, contagious cancer, and so much more.  Works Cited: "Too hot for the devil? Did climate change cause the mid-Holocene extinction of the Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii from mainland Australia?" - Shane D. Morris...

Join Ellen & special guest, wildlife educator and zookeeper Jungle Jordan, as we round up his top 3 friend-shaped carnivores, all the cutest critters that could absolutely wreck you. We discuss hidden mickeys, toxic friend groups, modern-day sabertooths, delicious hair, an unlikely pair of woodland best friends, and so much more. Links: Learn more about Jordan's work at his website: https://www.ju...

Ellen gets into the festive spirit with sea angels. We discuss Christian's beachfront disaster, secret tentacles, teeny titan battles, undismissable companions, Hello Kitty merch, and so much more. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support...

Joined Ellen & special guest wildlife ambassador and care specialist Marco Wendt from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for a review of the towering birds that are ready to literally rumble: cassowaries. We discuss short kings and feminine rage, a secret bird language humans can’t hear, nature’s best dads, getting a modern dinosaur to be brave for his shots, and so much more. Links: Cassowary rumble a...

Ellen irons out the kinkajous. We discuss Thomas Jefferson's giant moose sidequest, the dessert hypothesis, bad pets, who the real Frankenstein monster is,  and so much more. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content!...

Join Ellen & host of Bizarre Beasts Sarah Suta for a lineup of some animals she’d like to see get a second chance, whether they’re species we’ve already lost or ones that might still have a shot. We discuss foreign exchange student accents, the ecological impact of the invention of the telegraph, bird call sheet music, the scientific fumble of the century, bison where you least expect them, and so...

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from November of 2022, Ellen goes on an odyssey through history with the wild turkey. We discuss their path alongside humans for thousands of years, from prehistoric America to praise from Benjamin Franklin, the brink of extinction and nets fired out of cannons.   Further viewing: Rocket Netting Turkeys , a video demonstration by the LSU AgCenter  Paul Kel...

Ellen has a bone to pick with turkey vultures. We discuss aura farming, our gripes with the pH scale, a check-in with our resident Dragon Ball Z correspodent, screaming inside your heart, laser harassment campaigns, and so much more. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on...

Join Ellen & special guest from the world of wildlife rehabilitation Emma Ratway for a review of the chompy rogues lurking at the bottom of ponds all over the country: snapping turtles. We discuss working with wildlife and getting to raise and release baby snapping turtles, a jury of one’s deers, a cat named Crunch Wrap Supreme, butt breathing, magnets, simple English wikipedia, eating board game...

Ellen comes clean about the bluestreak cleaner wrasse. We discuss trust, cheating, fish patriarchy, manipulation, deception, game theory, the prisoner's dilemma, marketing, the mirror test, the horrors of self-awareness, and so much more. Christian drinks a Capri-Sun.  Works Cited: “Testing the Low-density Hypothesis for Reversed Sex Change in Polygynous Fish: Experiments in Labroides dimidiatus”...

Join Ellen & special guest, zoology and science communication powerhouse Lindsay Nikole, for a review of some of the animal kingdom’s greatest hits throughout the history of the Earth. We discuss ecological gossip, mass extinctions, the Cambrian explosion and evolution’s “experimental” phase, swimming potatoes with googly eyes, giant bugs, bizarre prehistoric sharks, imaginary friend lore, and so...

Ellen gets her claws out for the hairy frog. We discuss what the tooth fairy dispatch system is doing with all those teeth, frog gigging, Wolverine lore, the scariest horror of all: Chytridiomycosis, and so much more. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on BlueSky ! Help...

Join Ellen & special guest, writer and science journalist Cara Giaimo, for a highlight reel of some of the animal kingdom’s biggest surprises. We discuss Lego trebuchets, the scifi potential of a projectile-based language, endangered relationships, biofluorescence, the great pacific garbage patch’s number 1 fan, and so much more.  Links: Find Atlas Obscura: Wild Life and Leaving the Ocean Was a Mi...

Ellen jumps to conclusions about jack jumper ants. We discuss Metazooa, is it cake, a menace to public health, lime in the Coke, gamergate, casual abductions, learning walks, and so much more.  Links: Play Metazooa: https://metazooa.com/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Bl...

Join Ellen & special guest artist and science communicator behind Nature Disturbed for an appropriate kickoff to the month of all things wretched with a review of disgust. We talk about phobias and ways that we can relate and empathize with even our most feared animals, why we might want to move in to a termite colony, anatomical surprises, the uncanny valley, how to make a slime meringue, and so...

Ellen comes along for the ride with Galápagos tortoises. We discuss how giant tortoises crossed 600 miles of ocean, the superpowers built into their DNA that let them live for over a century, extinction and restoration, Charles Darwin's boat snacks, Kung Fu Panda lore, and so much more. Links: Follow Poison Oak and find more of her work on Instagram: @poison.oak.nyc For more information about us &...

Join Ellen & special guest, primatologist and author Dr. Keriann McGoogan, for primatology storytime! Our guest shares experiences from her time working with lemurs in Madagascar and howler monkeys in Belize, like kind gestures from people helping out their local monkeys after a hurricane. She also brings us some truly juicy tales from the study of primates, like a true crime thriller involving mi...

Join Ellen & birder and science communicator Jason Hall for a review of a little bird full of big surprises: the American dipper.  We discuss birding pre-smartphone, Philadelphia’s role in ornithological history, the wild physiological adaptations that let this tiny songbird brave mountain rapids, smooth dance moves, aura farming, and so much more. Links: Follow Jason on Instagram: @thebirdingbear...

Ellen demystifies the deep sea-dwelling bigfin squid. We discuss hunting for shipwrecks, life in the trenches, spaghetti noodle fingers, unintentional cinematography, and so much more.  Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on BlueSky ! Sound Credit: Ted Floyd, XC460525. Ac...

Join Ellen & special guest, wildlife veterinarian, filmmaker and science communicator Dr César Puechmarin, for a review of Australia’s masters of song: the lyrebird.  We discuss birdwatching drama, the ancient origins of songbirds, vocal anatomy, secret passwords, oral history and cultural memory passed down through generations and the ghosts remembered in birdsong, and so much more. Links: Learn...

Ellen & Christian team up as a coyote and badger in a cozy duet TTRPG adventure. When a family of skunks accuse a reclusive bobcat of disturbing their peaceful home, the woodland's finest pair of peacekeepers are on the case. We use the Badger + Coyote game system by Pandion Games to improvise a collaborative story of mystery, fire, a waterfall cave, legend of stalking predators in the night, devi...

Ellen gives the mysterious wing-clapping nightjars a round of applause. We discuss Pliny the Elder, bird whiskers, what it really means to "raise one's standards," ecologically accurate sound effects in The Legend of Zelda , an acoustic mystery, El Chupacabra, and so much more.  Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on  BlueSky , F...

Join Ellen & returning guest, science communicator and comedy writer Katie Goldin, for a roundup of her 3 weirdest facts about sharks. We discuss cage-free uranium, possible mermaid configurations, why sometimes people poop themselves when they’re scared, how fomo can conquer phobia, eye teeth, and so much more.  Heads up: part of this episode’s conversation is about cocaine. When it comes up I wi...

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from September of 2022, Ellen lets Pallas's cat out of the bag & Christian probes into the world of the sensitive kiwi. We discuss grumpy cats, spawncamping, chilly beans, buff legs and giant eggs. Links: Check out Benjamin Lancer's paper on dragonfly attention in Nature ! Watch Wildlife Instincts: Pallas's Cat - Master of the Plains on YouTube ! Learn mor...