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

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Can we study evolution in the wild? Are some species “super-evolvers”?

On the episode, we talk with Alison Derry, a professor of biology at the University of Quebec in Montreal, and Andrew Hendry, a professor in the Department of Biology at McGill University, Canada. This episode is the second we’ve done on the team’s work, and Andrew was also a guest on our first episode in the series. This conversation was recorded live in front of an audience at Kenai Peninsula College, in Soldotna, Alaska. 

The college is just a few miles from the lakes where Alison, Andrew, and many of their colleagues and students carry out experiments on threespine sticklebacks. We ask Alison and Andrew about their research on the rapid evolution of these fish, which were recently reintroduced to the lakes, and how the introduction of two distinct stickleback ecotypes are affecting the evolution of zooplankton in the lakes. We also discuss the central position of sticklebacks in the food web and how the sticklebacks are impacting the ecosystems now as well as how they likely impacted the lakes in the evolutionary past. 

Art by Keating Shahmehri. Audio from Hunter Morrison at KDLL. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

On this episode, we talk with Alina Chan, postdoc at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and co-author with Matt Ridley of Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 could have plausibly jumped into humans in Wuhan via one of two paths. The first is zoonotic transfer from wild bats to humans, possibly via an intermediate animal host. The second is some kind of lab accident: researchers working on a SARS-CoV-2-like virus accidentally became infected with it and then transmitted it to others in Wuhan. Although early discussions among virologists reached the consensus that the origin was almost surely zoonotic, more recent discussions have started to take the lab-leak theory seriously. Unfortunately, we still lack conclusive evidence in support of either hypothesis. And, as public leaders have co-opted the investigation for nonscientific reasons, the subject of COVID’s origin has become practically taboo.

Alina’s approach is to “follow the data,” leaving no stone unturned, and we believe that it is our responsibility as scientists to do the same. We talk to Alina about her book, as well as the many new things that have been revealed about COVID’s origins since its 2021 publication. Towards the end of the chat, we discuss the implications of what we’ve learned about SARS-CoV-2 for how we should prepare for and deal with future pandemics.

We hope that this episode inspires you to seek the best possible explanation of COVID origins. Please write to info@bigbiology.org and tell us what you think, and share with friends and family. 

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What’s the slimiest fish on Earth? Why are they so slimy? And can we leverage our understanding of slime to make better bioengineered materials?

In this episode we talk with Doug Fudge, an Associate Professor at Chapman University, about his research on hagfish slime. Over the past 20 years, Doug and his lab and collaborators have figured out how and why hagfish produce slime, how the slime’s remarkable properties emerge from its underlying chemistry, and whether the protein threads in slime can be used to make bio-inspired fabrics that are greener, better, and longer lasting.

A significant portion of Doug’s work has been published in Journal of Experimental Biology, including this 2005 paper on the composition and structure of hagfish slime and this 2006 paper testing a key hypothesis about how hagfish use slime to defend themselves from predators. Fudge’s lab published recent papers on how slime glands refill after they eject their slimy contents and how they chemically stabilize coiled threads inside the glands before they are ejected. Papers in other journals explore how slime threads can be used to make bio-inspired fabrics and how slime threads are constructed and mature inside slime glands.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What can we learn from animals by constantly tracking their movements with transmitters? How can we use information from collectives of animals to study and predict disease spread, earthquakes, and outbreaks of pests? How do you transform a massive, international scientific idea into a reality?

On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Martin Wikelski, the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior. Martin leads Project ICARUS, an international collaboration aiming to track thousands of tagged animals at once from space. We talked with him about the long road to getting the project off the ground and what will ultimately learn from this new and powerful tool.

Photo: © MPIAB Jacob Stierle

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why are amphibians across the world dying from a fungal infection? Where did the fungus come from? How does it kill and are populations adapting?

On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Craig Franklin, a biologist at the University of Queensland and the director of research for the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, about the history and distribution of the fungus, how it’s killing so many species, and what we can do to save them.

Cover photo by Brian Gratwicke.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Where did the new coronavirus come from? How can we be on the lookout for new diseases emerging from animals? Now that the coronavirus has infected humans, what’s the best path forward? In this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Andy Dobson, a disease ecologist at Princeton University who studies epidemics like the current COVID-19 outbreak. We talked with him about the possible animal origins of the virus, the best way to control its spread and strategies to avoid the next pandemic. Andy emphasizes that we shouldn’t blame wildlife for the coronavirus outbreak. It’s human behavior that led to this problem, and it’s human behavior that’s going to have to change to avoid the next ones. This episode is dedicated to Robert May,

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

We’re getting ready for season three next fall. We already have a bunch of great guests lined up to talk about the evolution of venom, insect intelligence and human evolution.

But we need your financial support to make that happen. Our goal is to raise at least $1,500 from listeners. If we aren’t able to accomplish that, we’ll need to drastically scale back production for season three.

We know this is a tough time to ask for your help, but if you’re able, we would really appreciate your financial support.

We know our listeners love Big Biology. If you want it to continue in its current format then go to our Patreon page Patreon.com/bigbio and make a recurring donation. You can also make a one time donation at our website: bigbiology.org.

This is a make or break moment for the podcast and we need our listeners to support us. You can make a donation at Patreon.com/bigbio and BigBiology.org.

Thanks so much for listening. We hope all of you are staying safe!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How do hormones like testosterone coordinate important activities in an animal’s life, and how might those activities tradeoff with one another? How do the microbial communities living on birds affect the scents they give off, and how do those scents influence the birds’ choices of mates?



In this episode, we talk with Ellen Ketterson, an evolutionary biologist at Indiana University, Bloomington, about her work on juncos in North America. We discuss Ellen’s early research on how testosterone modulates life history characteristics of male juncos. We also discuss her more recent work on bird microbiomes and their roles in bird olfaction and mating, and the physiological underpinnings of migratory behaviors. Finally, we talk about some big ideas about the philosophy of doing biology -- including the value of building scientific efforts around model versus natural systems, paths to integration in biology, and how to mentor students effectively.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How do animals construct tissues, organs, and limbs in the right places during development? How do some animals manage to regenerate missing body parts? On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Michael Levin, a biologist at Tufts University who studies how electric fields inside animals guide cells during development and regeneration. His work shows that electric fields play fundamental roles in structuring body plans and, in some species, can even be inherited across generations.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How is COVID-19 transmitted and how broad will the pandemic become? What can mathematical models of infectious disease tell us? What are steps we can take now to slow the spread?

On this episode of Big Biology, we speak with John Drake, the Director of the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia, who has been working with the CDC to understand the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak and to identify strategies for slowing its spread.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What forms of consciousness exist in the natural world? What roles did associative learning and episodic like memory play in its origins?  Does consciousness have a function, and is it an adaptation? On this episode of Big Biology, we speak with Eva Jablonka from the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv, and Moncy Ginsburg, a neurobiologist formerly from the Open University of Israel, about their book called "The Evolution of the Sensitive Soul." We discuss how Universal Associative Learning led to the evolution of consciousness. Cover art by Anna Zeligowski.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Is there a role for agency in evolution? Do organismal efforts to maintain homeostasis represent a form of biological intentionality? On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Scott Turner, a physiologist and emeritus professor of Biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Scott’s book, Purpose and Desire, discusses how holes in standard evolutionary theory might be productively filled by the concept of homeostasis. Scott argues that by attempting to maintain metabolism and exporting entropy to the environment, organisms manifest a form of agency that can affect the evolution of their lineages. His book and ideas have met with some criticism, and in the show, we confront him about whether his position is subtle intelligent design theory.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How can we reconcile the evolutionary problem of cooperation? What can social amoebae tell us about the origins of multicellularity?

In this episode, we talk to Joan Strassmann and David Queller, professors at Washington University in St. Louis, about the evolution of cooperation and conflict. From social insects to humans, we can find instances of individuals seemingly sacrificing fitness for the good of the group. But, truly altruistic behavior poses a problem for evolutionary biologists because it challenges the assumption that natural selection favors individuals over groups. We talk with Joan and David about their work with the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum. This species is known for its remarkable developmental cycle: when there is no more to eat, the starving amoebae aggregate into a slug-like organism, which then forms a fruiting body that releases spores in hopes of dispersing to a better place. The problem, evolutionarily, is that only a fraction of the cells in the fruiting body get to live on through offspring. This facultative lifestyle and the ability to combine genetically different cells makes D. discoideum a prime study species for understanding how relatedness impacts cooperation and conflict and the possible origins of multicellular organisms.

Towards the end of the episode, we also talk about Joan’s new book Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard.

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on ⁠our website⁠.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What led to a recent series of research paper retractions in behavioral ecology? How do scientists trust the data their collaborators share? Earlier this year, several journals retracted papers using data collected by the biologist, Jonathan Pruitt, data that upon inspection were found to have several problems. On this episode, we talk with Dan Bolnick, Editor-in-Chief of The American Naturalist, one of the journals involved in the retractions. We talked with Dan about how he and others discovered the problems, the current status of the investigation, and the consequences of the flawed data for other authors on the retracted papers and the field as a whole. Check out our website, bigbiology.org, for more resources on this topic. Episode art: Bernard Dupont (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What is sensory drive, and how has it affected the evolution of communication? How do surf perch and other animals sense and signal in noisy environments? On this episode of Big Biology, in front of a live audience at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, we talk with Molly Cummings, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin. We discuss the balance animals must strike between standing out and blending in to the places they live.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What is Maxwell's demon, and what is its role in biology? How do molecular demons underpin life? Does life really defy entropy? On this episode of Big Biology, we talk with Paul Davies, a cosmologist at Arizona State University and the Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. His recent book, "The Demon in the Machine," tackles Schrodinger's big question "What is life?," arguing that information is the key that distinguishes living from non-living things. You can learn more about Paul’s book as well as his other work on the role of information in biology via our website: bigbiology.org.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How is declining biodiversity affecting the occurrence and spread of Lyme disease? Is there a way to reduce the transmission of tick-borne diseases using ecological approaches? On this episode of Big Biology we talk with Felicia Keesing and Rick Ostfeld, two disease ecologists working at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. Felicia is a professor at Bard College, and Rick is a staff scientist at the Cary Institute. They study the ecology of tick-borne illnesses including a remarkable phenomenon called the dilution effect. In front of a live audience, we discussed the dilution effect, a term Felicia and Rick coined 20 years ago that is based on their study of ticks, mice and the causative agent of Lyme disease, a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. White-footed mice, which are common in the forests of the eastern and central U.S., are especially good at carrying Borrelia and are often responsible for passing it on to ticks. Felicia and Rick observed that biodiverse ecosystems tend to have fewer infected ticks and hence lower rates of Lyme infection. In other words, high host diversity dilutes the risk of disease.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

If natural selection is constantly ridding lineages of detrimental traits, why do all organisms wear down with age? Why does restricting the diet slow down the aging process?

On this episode of Big Biology we talk with Jenny Regan and Dan Nussey, scientists at the University of Edinburgh who study why some organisms age at different rates and what phenotypic plasticity might have to do with this with variation.

We discuss how aging happens, why species vary, and some of the major theories scientists use to explain it. We also discuss a paper that Jenny and Dan recently published in Functional Ecology, which proposes an evolutionary explanation for the life-extending effects of diet restriction. Their idea is that mechanisms that evolved to coordinate phenotypically plastic responses ultimately underpin aging.

Read Jenny and Dan’s recently published Functional Ecology paper that describes why diet restriction has anti-aging effects.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Make a donation to Big Biology through Patreon at Patreon.com/bigbio or at bigbiology.org

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What can direct-to-consumer genetic companies tell us about our health and ancestry? How do scientists figure out which genes affect particular traits? Is Art related to a Nigerian prince? Is Marty a Neanderthal? On this episode of Big Biology we talk with Samantha Esselmann and Ruth Tennen, product scientists at 23andMe, about how the company uses its massive trove of data to help people learn about the genetics of their ancestry and health. We talk about the accuracy of results and what the numbers in their reports say about us. Samantha and Ruth work closely with 23andMe’s population geneticists and content writers to develop engaging scientific content for 23andMe's health reports and educational initiatives. Samantha has a PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF. Ruth got her PhD in Cancer Biology from Stanford and served as a science policy fellow at the State Department.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How important are pathways other than DNA for transmitting traits from one generation to the next? On this episode of Big Biology, we talk to neuroscientist Frances Champagne from the University of Texas at Austin. Using rodents, Frances studies how early-life experiences affect epigenetic marks and how those marks are passed from one generation to the next. We asked her how those marks influence rat behaviors, why this mechanism alters modern evolutionary theory, and whether the growing interest in epigenetics is vindicating Lamarck’s old ideas about the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How do new species form? How long does it take for evolution to happen? What can hybrids tell us about the process of speciation?

On this episode we talk with Peter and Rosemary Grant, two Princeton biologists who spent decades studying finches on the Galapagos Islands. Their work on bird beaks provides some of the strongest evidence for how fast natural selection can occur and more recently the genes involved. Their newest work on hybridization could fundamentally change how we think about speciation in animals.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why did conventional thinking in aerodynamics fail to explain how insects fly? What can robots teach us about how insects do it? How do insect brains direct their incredible aerial feats and get around in the world? Michael Dickinson is a biologist at Caltech who uses robots to study how insects fly. More recently, he has focused on insect neurobiology and behavior. On this episode, Art and Marty talk with Michael about the mysteries of tiny insect flight, and how the presumably simple brains of such animals enable them to navigate sometimes vast distances.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

If the tape of life were replayed, how recognizable would today’s species and ecosystems be? How and why does power increase over evolutionary time? How have humans unleashed so much power, and what are the consequences of that power for life on Earth? 

In this episode, we talk with Geerat Vermeij, a paleoecologist and evolutionary biologist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Davis. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and has published over 200 papers and five books. Our conversation focuses on his most recent book: “The Evolution of Power: A New Understanding of the History of Life.” In it, he asserts that power, the amount of energy an organism can take up or expend per unit time, has increased steadily during the history of life on Earth. On the episode, we discuss the idea of power, how species evolve more power, and how humans have unleashed more power than any other species (and whether we need to work on curbing this power). 

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri. Find a transcript of this episode on our website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How does a tiny insect migrate thousands of miles from Canada to Mexico each year? What does the decline of monarch butterflies tell us about the ecological health of our continent? How are scientists using gene editing to understand how insects have evolved to tolerate poisonous plants? Anurag Agrawal is a biologist at Cornell University who studies plant-insect interactions, including monarch butterflies. He is the author of a new book called "Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution.” On this episode, Art and Marty talk with Anurag about the incredible migration of the monarch butterfly, the recent decline in population and a fascinating study where scientists edited the genomes of fruit flies to make them resistant to a poisonous plant that monarchs eat.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What does neuroscience have to say about morality, politics, and cross-cultural communication? How are neurobiology and philosophy connected? Pat Churchland is a neurobiologist and philosopher at UC San Diego, where she has spent years studying connections between mind and brain. Tune into this episode to hear Marty and Art discuss these questions as well as Pat's new book "Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition."

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why hasn’t natural selection eliminated human diseases? Are bad feelings like anxiety and depression adaptive? Can we use evolutionary biology to improve medicine? Randy Nesse is a doctor and a scientist at Arizona State University who uses evolutionary biology to inform the practice of medicine. In his latest book, “Good Reasons for Bad Feelings,” he discusses how natural and sexual selection may have shaped our psychological and emotional lives. On this episode Art and Marty talk to Randy about evolutionary psychiatry.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why are animals loud and conspicuous when that increases their risk from predators? How does noise pollution affect mating behaviors? How can robots help biologists study complex topics such as sexual selection and mate choice?

Gail Patricelli is a behavioral ecologist at UC Davis, where she studies how individual variation in animal signaling and communication affects mate choice and reproductive success. Gail uses robots to investigate the process of sexual selection in sage-grouse and other species with elaborate mating displays.

Tune into this episode to hear Marty and Art talk to Gail about these topics and more!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Season two of Big Biology starts on August 29. On this preview, Art and Marty talk about some of the guests they’ll be interviewing and some of the topics they’re most excited to discuss. This season we’ll be featuring scientists who study talking plants, consciousness and epigenetics, and much more! Hold on to your pipettes folks, Big Biology is back!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Is intelligence similar in humans and dolphins? Do dolphins and whales have their own culture and language? How do they perceive the world around them? Janet Mann is a biologist at Georgetown University, where she studies how dolphins form social groups, use tools, and communicate with one another. Tune into this episode to hear Marty and Art talk to Janet about these topics and Janet’s book, Deep Thinkers: Inside the minds of whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why do some rove beetles look like ants? Why do living things evolve similar solutions to common problems? Is there predictability within the evolutionary process? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with Joe Parker, an entomologist at Caltech. Joe has been collecting beetles since the age of 16, when he first became amazed by their incredible diversity. He now focuses on rove beetles and studies their evolutionary relationship with ants to understand how different species converge upon similar traits.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

In this episode, we've taken a break from our regular format to answer some of your questions such as what's the chance of human-like intelligence on another planet and if we had the technology, what organism would we want to bring back, Jurassic Park style? Tune in to this episode to hear Marty and Art answer questions like these and what goes into making our podcast! Have a question you want answered? Reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How does our indoor, modern lifestyle affect our microbiome? How does this novel microbiome affect our health? On this episode, Marty and Art talk with Rob Dunn, an applied ecologist at North Carolina State University. Rob studies the organisms that we come into contact with every day, from the microbes in our bodies to the insects in our homes. Tune into this episode to hear Marty and Art talk to Rob about the crazy diversity of microbes on our skin and its importance in our health and our food. Many of the ideas we discuss are from Rob’s most recent book, Never Home Alone.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How can cicadas eat nothing but tree sap for 17 years? How do endosymbiotic relationships evolve? What do bacteria-insect symbioses teach us about the evolution of mitochondria and chloroplasts? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with John McCutcheon, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Montana. John studies symbioses between bacteria and cicadas—exploring what each partner provides for the other, how cicadas transmit bacteria to their offspring, and what the consequences are for the evolution of bacterial genomes (hint: they are extreme!). This research raises basic questions about what an individual even is.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How 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 public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How did sex evolve? Why are there sexes at all? what are the evolutionary costs and benefits of sex? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with Hanna Kokko, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Zurich. Hanna studies the evolution of sex and the vast panoply of strategies that organisms use to reproduce. Check out this nice graphical illustration of her work on her website!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What role does one part of the federal government, the National Science Foundation, play in biological research in the US? How will their new funding initiative help us discover Rules of Life? On this episode, Art and Marty talk with two NSF directors, Joanne Tornow. the head of the Biological Sciences directorate, and Arthur “Skip” Lupia, the head of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Science directorate. They talked with them about one of NSF’s Big Ideas. One Idea, called Rules of Life, challenges scientists to study some of the same ‘big’ questions that we’ve addressed on this podcast, including how genotypes become phenotypes. They also asked how an agency dedicated to advancing science operates within an executive branch that has publicly criticized some major scientific conclusions.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How is climate change affecting the distribution of animals? How will these changes in species distribution affect us? Tune in to hear Marty and Art talk with physiological ecologist Jenn Sunday about how climate change is affecting the distribution of life on Earth. Jenn is a professor at McGill University who attempts to answer these questions at a global scale.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Does plasticity always help organisms adapt? What happens if it doesn't? Could it speed up evolution Tune in to hear Art and Marty talk with evolutionary ecologist Cameron Ghalambor about the role of non-adaptive plasticity in evolution. Cam is a professor at Colorado State University who tackles these questions by studying guppies. We interviewed Cam at a bar in Tampa, FL during a conference for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Do single genes cause variation in traits or are gene effects more complex than that? How do genes interact with one another, and how do those interactions alter the pace and direction of evolution? Do those interactions constrain or facilitate evolution? Tune in to hear Art and Marty talk with Mihaela Pavlicev about these questions and more! Mihaela is a geneticist at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she studies big new ideas about links between genes and traits.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Will cancer ever become just another chronic but manageable disease? What can a squirrel biologist teach us about treating cancer? In this episode, Marty and Art talk with Joel Brown about how to contain cancer using basic ideas from ecology and evolution. To Joel, cells in tumors are like organisms in ecosystems, and fighting cancer means using what we know about species in nature to tilt the playing field against the worst kinds of cancer cells. He and his team at the Moffit Cancer Research Center in Tampa, Florida, are starting to have some remarkable success treating different kinds of cancer. We interviewed Joel in front of a live audience at Circa 1949 in Tampa, FL—our first live event! We had a great time interacting with the audience and plan to do more events like this in the next few months. If you’d like to host a Big Biology event, please email us at info@bigbiology.org!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why do some animals have weird genitalia? Why is there conflict between males and females when it comes to producing offspring? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with Patty Brennan about how sex in the animal kingdom is not always about love and cooperation; often it's also about conflict. And, this conflict can lead to some pretty crazy genitalia. Patty is an evolutionary biologist at Mount Holyoke College. Her research shows that the birds and the bees aren't so simple for the birds (or, as it turns out, for most other animals). Follow Patty on Twitter: @sexinnature

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Why do some animals have weird genitalia? Why is there conflict between males and females when it comes to producing offspring? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with Patty Brennan about how sex in the animal kingdom is not always about love and cooperation; often it's also about conflict. And, this conflict can lead to some pretty crazy genitalia. Patty is an evolutionary biologist at Mount Holyoke College. Her research shows that the birds and the bees aren't so simple for the birds (or, as it turns out, for most other animals). Follow Patty on Twitter: @sexinnature

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

How has the Tree of Life changed since Darwin? How do genes jump from one species to another? Why do we have viral genes in our DNA? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with David Quammen about his new book “The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life.” In this podcast, they discuss how recent advances in genetics has changed our way of thinking about evolution and the relatedness of plants, animals, and microbes. They also discuss David's methods to his madness as he chooses the topics for each of his books. David is an award winning science writer and journalist. He has published over 15 books and written numerous articles for National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Book Review.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What is life? How did life arise from non-life? What did life look like at its origin? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with Sara Walker, an expert in astrobiology and theoretical physics at Arizona State University. They discuss how life might have arisen on Earth and why biologists and physicists should work together to find a theory of life. Her ideas could help decide what to do about artificial intelligence (SPOILER: The robots will take over, but it’s going to be OK). They might also help us find life on other planets.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Does 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 public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

What is life? How did life arise from non-life? What did life look like at its origin? Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk with Sara Walker, an expert in astrobiology and theoretical physics at Arizona State University. They discuss how life might have arisen on Earth and why biologists and physicists should work together to find a theory of life. Her ideas could help decide what to do about artificial intelligence (SPOILER: The robots will take over, but it’s going to be OK). They might also help us find life on other planets.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Is there a constant battle between our immune system and pathogens? Does the fighting ever end? Does the immune system do more than just provide defense against pathogens?

Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk to Fred Tauber, a professor emeritus of medicine and philosophy at Boston University, about how the immune system does more than just protect our bodies from pathogens.

Fred has published a number of books on immunity and philosophy. Including his most recent book, "Immunity: the Evolution of an Idea," where he explores the ideas he discusses here in greater detail.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com

Is there a constant battle between our immune system and pathogens? Does the fighting ever end? Does the immune system do more than just provide defense against pathogens?

Tune into this podcast to hear Art and Marty talk to Fred Tauber, a professor emeritus of medicine and philosophy at Boston University, about how the immune system does more than just protect our bodies from pathogens.

Fred has published a number of books on immunity and philosophy. Including his most recent book, "Immunity: the Evolution of an Idea," where he explores the ideas he discusses here in greater detail.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bigbiology.substack.com