Vikram Baliga, PhD

Planthropology

Science EN ↓ 155 episodes

If you're on this planet, plants have a HUGE impact on your life. Whether you're a vegan, a carnivore, or somewhere in between, plants are the basis of the food you eat, the clothes your wear, and the air you breathe. We don't intend just to teach you plant facts (though we'll do plenty of that), but to give you some insight into the cool people who work with them. From the soil to the plate to the climate, dive into the anthropology of plants (get it?) and learn a little more about why you should care about the world around you from the people who care about it the most.

Author

Vikram Baliga, PhD

Category

Science

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

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Episodes

60. Breaking Bat, Eating Fruits, and Tweeting the Pope w/ Nate Marshall 05.10.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up bat people? I mean plant people. I don't know what I mean. Hey, have you every Tweeted at the Pope? No? Me neither, but Nate Marshall of Give Bats a Break sure has! Host of the brand, spanking new Give Bats a Podcast podcast, Nate is a long-time bat-enthusiast turned bat-apologist. Give Bats a Break and Give Bats a Podcast seek to educate people about our flyin...

59. Plants in World Traditions- Find Some Shade 29.09.2021

Send us Fan Mail ****************************************************** As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! Also, check out Planthropology on our website and various social media pages, all listed below. As an added bonus, if you review Planthropology on App...

58. Hops, the Science of Podcasting, and the Cult of Productivity w/ Julija Cubins 22.09.2021

Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! As a bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and send me a screenshot of it, I'll send you an awesome sticker pack! Planthropology is written, hosted, and produced...

57. Bats, Bonsai, and the History of Gardens w/ Natalie Sabin 07.09.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up Plant People? For today's episode, we're going across the pond and back in time to talk with Natalie Sabin, host of the absolutely brilliant Across the Ages Podcast, about the history of gardens! Natalie is an ecologist, podcaster, computer scientist, and Very Good Human (TM). She's witty, funny, very smart, and such a wonderful person to chat with. J...

Origin Stories, Collaborations, and Growing Over Time w/ Dr. David Mendes 28.08.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up Plant People? Planthropology recently passed 50,000 downloads, which it totally mind boggling! It turns out that a good friend and fellow podcaster, Dr. David Mendes, also passed this big milestone the same week with his show The Papa PhD Podcast. To celebrate, we got together to do a live stream where we talked about our shows, celebrated the past couple of years o...

56. Top Tier Teas w/ Dr. Yanas Kisten 24.08.2021

Send us Fan Mail ************************* As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! Also, check out Planthropology on our website and various social media pages, all listed below. As an added bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and...

Reviews, SEO, and Christmas w/ Dave Keine of Podchaser 20.08.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up, Plant People? I have a special bonus episode for you today! I talked with Dave Keine, Head of Product and Marketing for Podchaser, about reviews, podcast marketing, podcast listening habits, and about what a wonderful resource Podchaser is for creators and listeners alike. It was a really fun, fascinating conversation and I think you're really going to dig it!...

55. Invasive Species, Biological Control, and Shill Bots w/ Emily Bell 17.08.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up Plant People? Todays episode is another one I've been looking forward to for a long time! Emily Bell and I have been twitter friends for a little while and I've thought for a long time that she'd be a perfect guest for Planthropology. Emily is an anthropologist, an ecologist, a public educator, an avid outdoor enthusiast, a photographer, and so much m...

54. Helicopter Seeds, Really Smart Fish, and Science Fame w/ Dagmar der Weduwen 03.08.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up plant people? How do you feel about fish? Don't be silly, you love them! Today's guest, Dagmar der Weduwen is a PhD student studying archerfish, an ecologist, and an award winning science communicator! She's studied everything from birds, to seed dispersal, to fish, and has lived such an interesting and diverse life. We've become friends via Twit...

Deep Roots: Remembering a Good Man- Replay 29.07.2021

Send us Fan Mail Hey Plant People! Today's episode is a little different as it's the 1 year anniversary of my Grandfather passing away. If you've listened for a while you've definitely heard me talk about him before. In lieu of what I had planned, I decided to repost the short episode I did about him last year. I hope it means something to you, because it means a lot to me. As...

53. Plant Tips- Millions of Peaches, Etc., Etc. 21.07.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up, Plant People? Hey, let's talk peach and fruit production. As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! Also, check out Planthropology on our website and various social media pages, all listed below. As an added bonus, if you revi...

52. International Agriculture, Immigration, and Diverse Stories w/ Danni Reches 06.07.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up plant people? Have you ever wondered how human migration, policy , "national gatekeeping," and old newspaper clippings influenced agriculture and food supplies? Have you thought about the ways in which people all over the world very immigration? Are you curious about what life in graduate school is like? Do you like flowers and avocados? My friends, this i...

51. Plant Tips- What's in a Label? 22.06.2021

Send us Fan Mail In today's installment of Plant Tips, we're going to talk about some different kinds of labels commonly seen at the garden center! From seed packets to herbicides, it's important to know what you're dealing with and how best to use the thing you're buying. Knowing how to read the label correctly will help you make.the best choices! As always, thanks so muc...

50. Plant Tips- Surviving the Summer 15.06.2021

Send us Fan Mail Hey Plant People! I've decided to take a little break from releasing interviews while I get a few of them recorded, and wanted to give you some new content! I'm going to start making occasional Plant Tips episodes about whatever happens to be going on at the time. It's definitely summer here where I live in Texas, so I thought I'd do an episode throwing out som...

49. Dendrochronology, Mental Health, and Bailing on Engineering w/ Joe Buck (in Nature) 02.06.2021

Send us Fan Mail Twitter: @JoeBuckInNature Website: www. JoeBuckInNature.com Check out our Podcast Partners (Podners?): Local LBK Facebook: @LocalLBK Instagram: @LocalLBK Twitter: @Local_LBK TikTok: @LocalLBK Website: www.locallbk.com Follow the link below to sign up to be a member of Local LBK for just $5/month and get access to dozens of great deals and discounts from businesses around Lubbock,...

48. Science, Humanities, and The Lost Apples w/ Dr. Bryan Giemza 18.05.2021

Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! As a bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and send me a screenshot of it, I'll send you an awesome sticker pack! Planthropology is written, hosted, and produced...

Just the Zoo of Us, Farmer Animals, and Man Eating Plants w/ Ellen Weatherford- Replay 04.05.2021

Send us Fan Mail Hey everyone! It's finals time and I'm buried in grading papers and other end-of-semester shenanigans, so today's episode is a replay of another one of my favorites from the back catalogue! Ellen Weatherford is the host of the Just the Zoo of Us podcast and a dear friend who has been such a huge inspiration in my podcast journey. Check out this replay of Episode 10-...

47. Women in Agriculture, Vulnerability, and Corn Dudes w/ Kristyn Dickey 20.04.2021

Send us Fan Mail Hey there, Plant People! Do you like corn? How about the farm life and agriculture?  What about really smart women tackling male-dominated industries? Don't be silly, of course you love all those things! Check out today's episode with Kristyn Dickey, farmer, seed salesperson, and brilliant ag-communicator. We talk making it as a woman in agriculture, growing corn, being...

46. Chasing Storms, Predicting the Future, and the Most Popular Professor w/ Justin Weaver 06.04.2021

Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, thanks so much for listening! Subscribe, rate, and review Planthropology on your favorite podcast app. It helps the show keep growing and reaching more people! As a bonus, if you review Planthropology on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser and send me a screenshot of it, I'll send you an awesome sticker pack! Planthropology is written, hosted, and produced...

45. Plants in World Traditions- Welcoming Spring 03.04.2021

Send us Fan Mail Happy Spring, Plant People! Our latest installment of this year's Plants in World Traditions is a look into how different cultures have welcomed spring all over the world! As always, this IS NOT a complete list of amazing traditions, just a few that I pulled out and could cover in less than an hour. If you didn't hear your favorite represented or if I messed something up...

Operation Switcheroo 2021: Better Than Human Podcast- Tardigrades! 01.04.2021

Send us Fan Mail It's time for Operation Switcheroo, 2021! Participating podcasts swap episodes for a day so that YOU can be exposed to some great new content! This year, I swapped with the Better Than Human podcast and you get to hear an EXCELLENT episode about everyone's favorite swimming survivor, the tardigrade! The show notes from their original episode are copied below in case you&...

44. Deep Dive- Old Growth Forests w/ Joe Vaughn 23.03.2021

Send us Fan Mail Old growth forests. The phrase probably stirs up a lot of images an emotions in your mind, but do you really know what makes a tree an old growth tree or a forest an old growth forest? One of our fan favorites, Joe Vaughn, was kind enough to come back on the show for a 3rd time to do a deep dive into the ins and outs of old growth and what it means for ecological systems and the t...

43. Olive Trees, PhDs, and Underwhelming Sinkholes w/ Stephen Janak 16.03.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up, plant people? Today's episode is one that's close to my heart for so many reasons. My friend and guest, Stephen Janak, is a fellow Texas A&M grad, works for AgriLife Extension, and an olive researcher! He's smart, articulate, funny, and an excellent storyteller. I learned a lot from him and really enjoyed our conversation. I think you will to! St...

State of the Podcast- March 2021 09.03.2021

Send us Fan Mail Check out our Podcast Partners (Podners?): Local LBK Facebook: @LocalLBK Instagram: @LocalLBK Twitter: @Local_LBK TikTok: @LocalLBK Website: www.locallbk.com Follow the link below to sign up to be a member of Local LBK for just $5/month and get access to dozens of great deals and discounts from businesses around Lubbock, TX! Sign-up for Local LBK Rewards! As always, thanks so much...

42. Big Searchlights, Being Fieldwork Ready, and Kansas Summers w/ Dr. Sara Vero 02.03.2021

Send us Fan Mail What's up, plant people?? Y'all, today's episode has been a long time in the making! Join me as I chat with Dr. Sara Vero ( @saraevevero89 ) about getting ready for fieldwork, navigating research, how to be an effective human, the heat and humidity of a Kansas summer, and so many other awesome things. Be sure and go check out her book, Fieldwork Ready, and enjoy epi...

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