Last Born In The Wilderness

The guest on this episode answers the question: Why do we tend to have so many issues with our teeth and jaws? How many of us have had teeth pulled, such as our wisdom teeth, and have had braces that align our crooked teeth? If we look at other mammals, we don't see these issues at all. We can even look to our closest relatives, the chimp and the bonobo, and we see that there are very few issues that arise in the development of their teeth and jaws. To figure this out, I spoke with Peter Ungar, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Environmental Dynamics Program at the University of Arkansas, and author of Evolution's Bite: A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins. Peter has spent years studying the Hadza of Tanzania, the last traditional small band foragers in Africa. He has spent most of his career studying the remains and diets of our prehistoric ancestors. It turns out our diets play a significant role in how our jaws develop, and as a result, how our teeth grow in. There are evolutionary reasons why our jaws develop the way they do. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/peter-ungar // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Darcia Narvaez is a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, where she studies flourishing and compassionate moral development and ecological attachment in children and adults. She is the author or editor of dozens of books, chapters and articles. Her recent book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, won the William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association and from the American Education Research Association’s Moral Development and Education SIG. She writes a popular blog for Psychology Today, Moral Landscapes. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/darcia-narvaez // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Perri Gardner, instructor of Political Science at the College of Southern Idaho, speaks with me about the US political system and government in the age of Trump. We discuss the cognitive dissonance political leaders have regarding Big Government vs. Limited Government, the decline and disintegration of the Great American Experiment, the recent British election, and the "Oh, shit" moment. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/perri-gardner // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

This episode features a conversation with Danielle Billing, teacher at the Idaho School of the Deaf and Blind. At first, we begin discussing our love for pets, and our revulsion regarding the breeding practices of dogs, the anthropomorphizing of animals, and then the conversation moves into our education system and teaching in our contemporary society. Eventually, we get to the crux of the conversation: What is work? How does it serve us to work in our modern economy? What is branding, and how does that fit into our contemporary work in the age of social media? // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/danielle-billing-2 // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

In this episode, I talk with Brandon Scott Tesch. Brandon is known for a few things (such as being a fantastic hairdresser), but has more recently been making a name for himself as Ursula, his Drag Queen persona, in local theater productions that have only become more successful as the months and years have gone by. We discuss the challenges of growing up and coming out in this area, embracing his Drag persona, and the expanding popularity of the productions he is a part of. We both are very excited to see what is happening in this community, and look forward to seeing what vibrant individuals here have to offer in the coming years. Things are changing, and we are ready. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/brandon-scott-tesch // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

We start this episode off with Danielle Billing, a teacher at the Idaho School For The Deaf And Blind, relaying a story about providing basic sex education for her students. We go on to discuss sexuality more broadly, covering such subjects as Freud, Puritanical guilt, growing up with anxiety and depression, coming out, as well as the Dietrich High School court case. *The opinions expressed in this episode in no way represent the views and positions of the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind.* // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/danielle-billing // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

Liyah Babayon is an Armenian refugee, activist, entrepreneur, and business owner of Ooh La La consignment boutique in Twin Falls, Idaho. I first became familiar with Liyah after she was featured in a Slate article that explored the upsurge of anti-refugee activism in the city of Twin Falls, Idaho. I approached her to do a podcast with me, and what resulted was an in-depth and fascinating discussion into her personal history as a refugee, of starting a business during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the Armenian Genocide, the geopolitical chess game being played between the United States and Russia in Syria and the greater Middle East, her personal experience with the xenophobic anti-refugee activism that has grown in this community, and living in this place and time during the great experiment that is America, as well as many other fascinating subjects. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/liyah-babayan // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast