Geerat Vermeij, a paleoecologist and evolutionary biologist, talks about power as a driving force in the history of life. He discusses how power has evolved in different organisms, the role of power in human history, and the need to curb our power. The podcast explores topics such as power dynamics, agency in evolution, and the perils of human power monopoly.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow are cephalopods like us, but also completely alien? How can they become so intelligent when they have such short lives? How do they coordinate a distributed set of brains?In this episode, we talk with Danna Staaf, a science communicator and marine biologist with a lifelong love of cephalopods. Danna earned a PhD from Stanford University studying baby squid, and she has written several cephalopod-themed books. Our conversation focuses on Danna’s most recent, The Lives of Octopuses and Their Relatives: A Natural History of Cephalopods, a beautiful exploration of the diversity of these wacky, wonderful creatures. We discuss cephalopod evolution, morphology, and reproduction, focusing on several fun facts that you can pull out at your next dinner party.Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comDoes biological plasticity have a cost? Are there evolutionary consequences of plasticity and of organisms acting on their environments?In this episode, we talk with Sonia Sultan, the Alan M. Dachs Professor of Science in the Department of Biology at Wesleyan University. Sonia has spent her career studying the interplay between organisms and their environment. Specifically, she studies how environmental conditions influence the development of organisms, and when and how these developmental trajectories can include niche construction. Sonia refers to this complexity as “entanglement,” genes and environments working together to alter phenotypic expression, but then variation in phenotypic expression feeds back on environments and genes to alter evolution. She put this perspective to the test in a recent paper she coauthored with Mike Wade in the Journal Evolution & Development. In it, Sonia and Mike took a new perspective on the Price equation, finding that niche construction and other forms of organismal agency can change evolutionary outcomes.Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow do small, founding populations establish and thrive in new places? What is biocontrol, and how is it carried out responsibly?In this episode, we talk with Ruth Hufbauer, a Professor of Applied Evolutionary Ecology at Colorado State University about the ways that organisms successfully establish new populations in new places. Ruth uses lab experiments on Tribolium flour beetles to understand how evolution facilitates or impedes the founding of populations. In our conversation with Ruth, we discuss range expansions, species invasions, and biocontrol among other topics. Biocontrol is of particular interest to Ruth, as it can be an effective way to control pests, but also comes with some risks that the control agents themselves get out of control. We also explore the genetic paradox of invasion, and talk about many potential mechanisms that could help populations to quickly spread to a new place.Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow do biologists categorize species? What’s the best and quickest way to describe millions of unknown species?On this episode, we talk with Michael Sharkey, an entomologist and taxonomist who spent much of his career at the University of Kentucky, and is now the director of the Hymenoptera Institute. Since its inception, taxonomy has relied on careful morphological analysis of specimens to delineate species. In the past few decades, the COI “barcode” region of the mitochondrial genome has become a key additional piece of genetic evidence used to characterize species. In a much-discussed 2021 paper, Michael and colleagues used barcoding to identify over 400 new species of braconid wasps. The backlash from scientists who adhere to traditional taxonomic methods was swift, and at times harsh, with critics claiming that relying primarily on COI to define species is simply unacceptable. Sharkey, however, remains convinced that taxonomy should embrace molecular tools, especially because millions of species are yet to be discovered and rates of extinction are ramping up. We talk with Michael about how many insect species there are, how barcoding can make taxonomy accessible to more scientists, and what the future of taxonomy might look like. Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bigbiology.substack.comHow do living things exert agency in a world of strict physical and chemical laws? Do humans have free will? In this episode, we talk with Kevin Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. The question of free will has been debated for decades by thinkers in physics, philosophy, psychology, and, more recently, biology. In his new book, Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will, Kevin argues that agency is a fundamental characteristic of living systems and is essential for survival. In the episode, we discuss how agency emerges despite constraints imposed by basic physical and chemical principles, and how agency confers on organisms the power to shape both themselves and their environments. We also discuss practical approaches to studying agency by leveraging new technologies and by seeing through underlying assumptions and traditional reductionism. Cover Art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

Professors Joan Strassmann and David Queller from Washington University discuss the evolution of cooperation and conflict. They focus on their work with the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, which helps understand the impact of relatedness on cooperation and the origins of multicellular organisms. They also touch on Joan's new book Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard.

Can we predict evolutionary outcomes if we know starting conditions? Do the products of evolution in nature differ from those studied in well-controlled lab experiments?On this episode, we talk to Katie Peichel, head of the Division of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Andrew Hendry, professor in the Department of Biology at McGill University, Canada. Katie and Andrew are part of a massive research team working on the evolution of threespine sticklebacks as they are reintroduced into lakes in Alaska. Sticklebacks have been a favorite species for evolutionary biologists since almost the origins of modern evolutionary theory. Traits like spine size and lateral plate armor evolve rapidly when populations colonize new habitats, leading populations to barely resemble one another. Unlike traditional evolutionary experiments, which try to infer what occurred in the past, the Alaska  project is tracking in unparalleled detail changes in the phenotypes and genotypes of fish that went into each lake population. We talk to Katie and Andrew about the origins of this incredible project, the pros and cons of different approaches to studying evolution, and the need for long-term experimental studies of evolution in the wild. This is the first of a series of episodes we will be doing on the Alaskan research project, so stay tuned!Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe

Alina Chan, postdoc at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, discusses the search for COVID's origin. The podcast explores the possibilities of zoonotic transfer and lab-leak theory. The lack of conclusive evidence and the co-opting of the investigation are also highlighted. The conversation delves into the implications for future pandemics and the importance of following the data.

Season 6 of Big Biology will kick off at the beginning of September - woohoo! Before then, we have a quick message to share:We’re looking for a new producer to join the Big Biology team! If you are a passionate team player with experience in podcast production, then please consider applying! The producer position is a part-time, remote position. Please send us an email at info@bigbiology.org to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com/subscribe