Anthrospin Pedal Powered Anthropology

In this episode, Julie is our cohost for the first time and we talk with John White, a First Americans Archaeologist studying the earliest peopling of North America. He discusses how he found his way to his specific niche of the field, what questions he is trying to answer, some awesome and ingenious interdisciplinary techniques that help us understand ancient landscapes, a day in the life of a field archaeologist, and how to move yourself closer to getting involved in the field of archaeology. Lastly, he goes into details about some very exciting (but as yet unpublished) findings, teasing an upcoming publication.

In this episode we meet Taryn Johnson, a PhD student at Texas A&M University who specializes in isolating and extracting human DNA from paleofeces (real old poop). We talk about the different kinds of questions her research can answer, ancient DNA, specimen contamination, and where multidisciplinary perspectives can help.

In this episode I meet with Justin Soares, a Bronze Age archaeologist focusing on the Iberian Peninsula. In addition to his work in archaeology, we talk about creating more affordable access to field work, Eurocentrism and gatekeeping in academia, what we’re currently working on, and our own anthropological origin stories. Also you’ll get to listen to one of my dogs snoring for about an hour.

In this episode I Skype with PhD candidate Angie Achorn about her research on Sulawesi Crested Macaques. In addition to her research we talk about the cultural differences between Indonesia, Germany, and Kenya. If you’re interested in Angie’s Indonesian Escapades, check out her travel blog at perjalanandanprimata.travel.blog