Podcast

Weird & Dead

Earth Sciences, Science

A podcast about evolution's most embarrassing and bizarre stories as told by two very gossipy paleontologists. Amy and Meaghan happily dish the details on everything from fossilized dinosaur butts to the secret drama behind naming new species. Time for the hottest tea from prehistory!

Earth Sciences chart
#74
Episodes
45
Releases
Every two weeks
Typical length
48 min
On air since
2024
Latest episode
3 weeks ago

Episodes

45 episodes, newest first

  1. Silly Scaly Trees (Butt Rot Part 1)

    Season 4, Episode 9

    Show notes

    In this episode Meaghan dives deep into her latest obsession: modelling 300 million year old plants for the bit. Join us for part 1 of a 2 part episode on wood, rotten and otherwise!

    Images on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/WeirdandDeadPodcast

    CW: Cursing, horrifying baby Lepidodendrons, animals shedding skins, bog people

    44 min
  2. Evolution of the Beaver Butt

    Season 4, Episode 8

    Show notes

    Rodents have stinky butts too y’know - it’s just we seem to be into that smell a lot more than we are skunk. Let’s once again revisit Amy’s cloaca envy and talk about waterproofing butt goop flavored ice cream shall we?

    CW: all things that come out of a cloaca, cursing, animal death, eating of unpleasant things.

    44 min
  3. Evolution of the Skunk Butt

    Show notes

    When did skunks get their characteristic butts? How does skunk spraying work and how do you get rid of it? We dig into the whys and wherefores of the skunk stank butt and watch a video so disgusting that Amy couldn't even relisten to herself reacting to it. (Images and video are on Patreon!)

    CW: cursing, butt nipples, animal death, skunk spray and its results, use of skunk spray against protestors and Palestinians

    46 min
  4. Clam Jam

    Season 4, Episode 6

    Show notes

    There's a clam called Vulvaceramus. Or Volviceramus, if you are no fun. Let's talk about giant clams, pearls, and how Amy overidentifies with certain minerals.

    CW: Vagina jokes, obviously. Cursing. Gossip.

    48 min
  5. Skin Teeth

    Season 4, Episode 5

    Show notes

    Teeth evolved to be sensitive first, thank you very much - the whole “use for eating” thing was actually an evolutionary afterthought. And whatever ratfish are doing with them is… not correct.

    CW: tenaculums & triggering medical procedures, cursing, dick shaped objects, trypophobia & odontophobia

    51 min
  6. Fossil Unicorns

    Season 4, Episode 4

    Show notes

    We narrow down the closest fossil candidate for that virgin-loving legend, the Unicorn, as Meaghan finds yet another excuse to talk about how cool artiodactyls are. Photos on Patreon!

    CW: Cursing, animal experiments, dildo discussion, the pitfalls of intelligent design

    55 min
  7. Clever Hurl

    Show notes

    Filter-feeding pterosaurs and the dinosaurs that ate them and then threw them back up - a love story?

    CW: Vomit, Vomit eating (for romance), Scavenging (also for romance), Crop milk (platonic), Dinosaur slander, and of course... cursing.

    58 min
  8. Exploding Fossil Frogs

    Show notes

    Some frogs are explosive breeders. Some frogs just explode. Both have somehow been preserved in lakes in Europe... a lot.

    CW: Frog death, frogs drowning each other during mating, frog researchers forgetting key feminist frog facts, bloat & float & explode as a concept, cursing

    Images for this episode are available for everyone on Patreon!

    47 min
  9. The Evolution of Scrotums

    Season 4, Episode 1

    Show notes

    What makes a scrotum a scrotum, why do they exist, and why is Meaghan so good at answering quiz questions about them?

    CW: Testicles & mockery thereof, animal castration, hernias, cursing

    52 min
  10. The Epstein Files and Paleontology

    Show notes

    This episode is a little different than our normal content. There are several paleontologists mentioned in the latest release of the Epstein files, and the official response to that has been... underwhelming. In this episode we tell you about the facts within the files, the paleo people identified, some important context, and the reasons that events like this concern us and negatively affect paleontology as a field.

    CW: sexual assault, sexual harassment, Epstein's convictions for sexual assault of a minor, PTSD symptoms, eugenics

    1 hr 33 min
  11. Bonus: Turtle Mouth Madness Bonus

    Season 3

    Show notes

    At least one soft-shelled turtle pees mostly out of its mouth. This Patreon exclusive episode takes you down winding pathway from throat stalactites to shark dissection to vegan gardening practices (it's related, we promise). Images and a whole season of full-length exclusive episodes are on Patreon!

    CW: Urine, dissection of sharks, experimentation on turtles , teasing of vegans, pre-eclampsia and birth, turtles just being generally bad

    56 min
  12. Bonus Episode: Giant Lemurs

    Show notes

    Happy holidays! Here’s a bonus episode we’re releasing to the public as a holiday gift for you, all about Amy’s favorite: Lemurs! And specifically, how they used to be enormous and maybe interested in crushing birds. Art (and a whole season worth of exclusive episodes) is available on our Patreon.

    CW: Cursing, discussion of the crushing of said bird, the general concept of Aye-Ayes.

    48 min
  13. Megatherium the Stabber

    Season 3, Episode 9

    Show notes

    From carnivorous armadillos to the serial stabbing experiments of a self-described 70 kg male with no special training in any sporting discipline but who seems to have a very vicious cat, this episode is a wild, wild ride. But would you truly expect any different from xenarthrans?

    CW: Cursing, drug testing, the vegan police, a man stabbing meat and facing off against cats, sloth baby murder

    44 min
  14. Freaky Fingers, the Return

    Season 3, Episode 7

    Show notes

    Evolution continues to be disgusting as we dive into the multipurpose functionality of Aye Aye and Striped Possum fingers.

    CW: Boogers, Aye Ayes just generally, cursing, and somehow puppy play (you know, the kink that Google apparently thinks Meaghan has)

    38 min
  15. Freaky Fingers Pt 1

    Season 3, Episode 9

    Show notes

    Sometimes evolution isn’t just weird, it’s weirdly indecisive. Let’s talk about the multipurpose mishaps that led to Iguanodon’s hoof-knife-tentacle combo and the extending butterknife palms of Pandas. Now with fixed audio featuring also Amy!

    CW: jokes about dildos, sex acts, and rude hand gestures. Cursing. Discussion and mockery of Meaghan’s current ganglion cyst. We do call extra fingers weird or freaky, but this is specific to animals and does not cover polydactyly or humans.

    52 min
  16. Worms & Dead

    Season 3, Episode 7

    Show notes

    There is a worm that has fins and an Elizabethan collar of venomous fangs. It looks like someone glued false lashes to a tiny translucent manatee, and it might be the reason that clams are starting to kill people. Let's talk about arrow worms!

    CW: Swearing. Jokes about penises. Impacts of modern climate change.

    49 min
  17. Birds That Make Milk

    Show notes

    Some birds (and thus, dinosaurs) make milk in a special part of their throat called the crop. Let's talk crop milk, crop cheese, shrimp smoothies, and why pterosaurs were pink.

    CW: a befowling of milk and cheese as concepts. Gagging noises. Eating of roadkill (theoretical). Swearing.

    46 min
  18. Fossil Rodents of Unusual Size

    Show notes

    Or rather, unusually interesting size. To some. Let's talk giant beavers and the biggest rodent of all time, Josephoartigasia.

    CW: Body shaming of big rodents (not us!), cursing, statistics.

    51 min
  19. The Glory of Gonopods

    Season 3, Episode 4

    Show notes

    From crazy three-legged millipede fossils to the sexy club hands of spiders, this episode is all about where arthropods put their genitals. Specifically, their chins and feet. Videos and images are on our website weirdanddead.com!

    CW: Spiders and other arthropods. Cursing. Sex acts only a millipede could dream up.

    49 min
  20. Radioactive Dinos

    Season 3, Episode 3

    Show notes

    Dinosaurs and horses and Amy loudly shouting out radioactive elements to antagonize her husband, oh my! This episode covers the perils lurking behind locked and poorly ventilated cabin doors - specifically, radioactive bones.

    CW: Cursing, cancer and theoretical nastiness caused by radioactive poisoning, Chernobyl, Meaghan's stuffed up nose

    45 min