Sausage of Science

This week we continue our series featuring book excerpts read by previous podcast guests. In this episode, Dr. Rob Ruck, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, reads a section from his book entitled “The Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL”. We then rebroadcast his original interview (SoS 37, aired in April 2019), in which Dr. Ruck discusses the...

Next up in our summer book series, Dr. Agustin Fuentes, an anthropologist now at Princeton University, will read a section from his latest book entitled “Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being”. We then rebroadcast his original interview (SoS 48, aired in August 2019), in which Dr. Fuentes discusses returning from the field. You can learn more about Dr. Fuentes' work by visiting his...

We are still away on our summer break, but to tide you over this week we will continue our series featuring book excerpts read by previous podcast guests. This week Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty, an ichthyologist from LSU, will read a section from his upcoming book entitled “Explaining Evolution and Understanding Why it Matters More than Ever”. We then rebroadcast his original interview (SoS 28, aired...

This episode is the first in our special summer series which features author readings from recent books. Hear Dr. Lesley Jo Weaver read a chapter from her book “Sugar and Tension: Diabetes and Gender in Modern India.” After her reading, we re-air her original interview from one year ago. In that interview, Dr. Weaver shares stories of wire cutting and wisdom that range from the process of moving c...

This week Chris and Cara chat with Dr. Michael Gurven on a variety of topics, ranging from advice on finding a field site that matches your research interests, the long and challenging process of establishing a successful longitudinal study, the importance of true collaborative work with indigenous populations (especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), and the need to move beyond “WEIRD” p...

This week, Chris and Cara chat with Drs. Athena Aktipis, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, and Lee Cronk, Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University, to discuss their research with the Human Generosity Project. As always, we get to hear about their research journies, interests, and collaborative efforts. Additionally, we get a sneak preview on their latest researc...

In this episode, Drs. Lance Gravlee and Connie Mulligan join Chris and Cara to discuss the research that led to their article, "Shortened telomere length is associated with unfair treatment attributed to race in African Americans living in Tallahassee, Florida". The article was selected as the special feature in Volume 32 Issue 3 of the American Journal of Human Biology. Drs. Gravlee and Mulligan...

In this episode, Dr. Zaneta Thayer joins Chris and Cara to discuss her many projects examining the intergenerational effects of stressful experiences during pregnancy. Dr. Thayer works primarily in New Zealand, where her research has documented links between experienced discrimination and poor birth outcomes. She also discusses her recent clinical brief examining the health effects of psychosocial...

In this episode of the Sausage of Science, Cara and Chris talk with Drs. Jesús Rodriguez & Ana Mateos, scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) in Burgos, Spain. Drs. Rodriguez and Mateos highlight the amazing work going on at the center at the forefront of human evolution research. They also discuss their AJHB editor’s choice article entitled “No sex d...

This week, dive into one of our most meta-episodes yet: the podcast about a podcast featuring the amazing researchers behind the Anthrolactology blog and podcast! This interview features not one, but three cutting-edge anthropologists working at the intersections of anthropology, human lactation, and society. Dr. EA Quinn is an associate professor of biological anthropology at Washington Universit...

In this episode we bring you a cross-over with the podcast “With a Side of Knowledge”, hosted by Ted Fox from the University of Notre Dame’s Provost Office. This interview features our own Dr. Cara Ocobock discussing her work over brunch. Enjoy this fascinating conversation about extreme cold adaptations, Neanderthals, the anthropology of sports, and (of course) powerlifting. Check out other episo...

This week, we're bringing you a cross-promotion with the awesome "The Arch & Anth Podcast", hosted by Dr. Michael Rivera. A bonus: this episode features our very own Dr. Chris Lynn! We hope that you enjoy hearing more about Chris' work on tattooing, immune response, and communication. Be sure to check out Dr. Rivera's other podcast episodes at: http://archandanth.com/. This interview originally ai...

This week on the Sausage of Science, Cara and Chris talk with Dr. Barry Bogin, a "big wig" in the field and Emeritus Professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Loughborough University. Dr. Bogin discusses his work life-long work on human growth and development, along with the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on birth weight outcomes. Check out his latest blog piece on the topic...

This week on the Sausage of Science, Cara and Chris talk with Dr. Aaron Blackwell, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University. In this far-ranging conversation, Dr. Blackwell discusses his work quantifying life history tradeoffs and his multi-inheritance approach to human behavioral ecology. He also shares some tips for using existing datasets and working remotely to sup...

In this episode of the Sausage of Science, Cara and Chris talk with Dr. Pablo Nepomnaschy, an Associate Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Nepomnaschy discusses his transformation into a researcher who focuses on involving participant communities at all phases of project planning and execution. He also shares his experience advising international students, as someone who...

This week's episode features a myriad of topics including niche construction, semiotics, hats ravaged by monkeys, and meaning-making between humans and dogs- all courtesy of Dr. Jeffrey Peterson. Dr. Peterson is a postdoctoral fellow in the anthropology department at Notre Dame. His research addresses the interplay between intra- and inter-group social relationships, as well as the impact of inter...

This week on the Sausage of Science, Cara and Chris talk with Dr. Sam Urlacher, an assistant professor at Baylor University. Dr. Urlacher discusses his work examining life history tradeoffs and energetic constraints among Shuar children of Amazonian Ecuador. In addition, he answers questions about possible links between COVID-19 and child development patterns, and also gives some advice on startin...

In this episode, Dr. Tanya Lurhmann joins Chris and Cara to discuss her life's work as an "anthropologist of the human relationship with invisible others". Dr. Lurhmann is the Watkins University Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and many other publications. She is the author of When God...

This week Cara and Chris chat with Dr. Eileen Hebets, a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Hebets discusses her research on spider communication and how these same techniques can be applied to better understand communication in humans and other animals. Follow Dr. Hebets on twitter @hebets_lab, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eileen.hebets, and chec...

In this installment of our #Hackademics series, Dr. Kate Clancy, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, shares her work on the SAFE13 project and provides advice for dealing with harassment in academia. Dr. Clancy's work has had significant policy ramifications, exemplified by her Congressional testimony and co-authorship on a National Academies report on sexual harassm...

Dr. Rebecca Gibson, a visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame, shares her fascinating research on the history of corsets in this week’s episode. Dr. Gibson’s primary research examines changes in the skeletal structure of women who wore corsets between 1700-1900 CE. She also discusses her work exploring the romantic and sexual entanglements of AI and robotics in science-fiction...

"We can talk about the good side of science, but what about the underbelly of science" This week on the Sausage of Science, Chris and Cara chat with Dr. Jon Marks, a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Marks discusses his path from genetic to anthropology, his passion for book reviews, and his research. They also discuss a few topics fr...

This week on the Sausage of Science, Chris and Cara chat with Dr. Alice Yao, an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. They discuss Dr. Yao's archaeological work exploring how genetic markers have been (mis)applied to assess the evolution of lactase persistence. This work has important implications for how lactase persistence is talked about in the curr...

In this episode of the Sausage of Science we explore issues surrounding mental health in academia with Dr. Rebecca Lester. Dr. Lester is interested in how people understand and experience existential distress, as well as the institutions and practices that arise to address this distress. Here she shares her insights for ways mentors can better support the well-being of graduate students. Follow Dr...

In this week’s episode Dr. Maria Nieves-Colón, an anthropological geneticist, discusses how she uses both ancient DNA and modern genomics tools to examine human population history in the Caribbean and Latin America. Dr. Nieves-Colón is affiliated with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University and works as Senior Scientist with Claret Bioscience in Santa Cruz, CA....