The Meandering Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

How much do you know about protists? How much do you know about their behaviour and intelligence? I’m gonna guess very little, as that’s where I was not that long ago. The world of these obscure creatures is incredibly complex and fascinating, as they interact with their environment and make decisions and weigh up risks. 

In this episode, I interview researcher Alid Al-Asmar about slime moulds (the “blob”) ciliates (unicellular beings with eyelashes) and his personal favourite - nematodes (little round worms).

Dom joins me for the end for a comparison of his intelligence to that of protists. Brutal, but demonstrates my point. 

Below are the articles I cite in the show.

Does being multi-headed make you better at solving problems?

ScienceDirect.comhttps://www.sciencedirect.comDoes being multi-headed make you better at solving problems? A survey of ...

A ciliate memorises the geometry of a swimming area

royalsocietypublishing.orghttps://royalsocietypublishing.orgA ciliate memorizes the geometry of a swimming arena | The Royal Society

C. Elegant transfers across a gap under an electric field as dispersal behaviour

National Institutes of Health (.gov)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govCaenorhabditis elegans transfers across a gap under an electric field as ...

Maze-solving by an amoeboid organism

Naturehttps://www.nature.comMaze-solving by an amoeboid organism

Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design

Science | AAAShttps://www.science.orgRules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design

Geometrical preference of anchoring sites in the unicellular organism Stentor coeruleus

PNAShttps://www.pnas.orgGeometrical preference of anchoring sites in the unicellular organism ...

Join Dom, Lotta and special guest Sharran as they talk all about snow and how it’s changing. How is changing snow affecting the skiing world? The Winter Olympics? Plants, animals, and humans who reply on snow and snowmelt? And what can we do about all this scary change? 

Join along for this important discussion and learn how winters are changing, and how we can protect them. 

And definitely check out Jonica Newby’s BEYOND CLIMATE GRIEF for all the feels and how to deals. 

Laos has the unenviable title of being the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.

In this episode, we’ll be unpacking why, as well as the dangerous legacy of unexploded ordinances (UXOs) left in the lives of everyday Laotian people.

Join Bec this week as she interviews two representatives from Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Bella and Ben, about the history, ramifications and ongoing work related to UXOs in Laos.

The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a global humanitarian and advocacy organisation that finds, removes and destroys landmines, cluster munitions and unexploded bombs from places affected by conflict. MAG has been working in Laos since 1994 clearing unexploded bombs and providing explosive ordnance risk education, helping families safely farm, build, and live without fear.

Our guests from MAG Laos:

• Mathida Khattiyavong (Ben), Communications Officer
• Isabelle Urumath (Bella), Grants and Communications Manager

Ways to support MAG Laos and stay engaged in their work:

• Website for donations
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Vientiane Visitor Centre
• Xieng Khouang Visitor Centre

Sources for extra reading:

• Obama's 2016 remarks in Laos (mentioned during interview)
• Collateral Damage: The Legacy of the Secret War on Laos (peer-reviewed study from 2024 published in The Economic Journal)

Damning the Mekong - Can we call hydropower clean energy? Whilst certainly renewable, hydropower can’t claim to have clean hands on the Mekong River, where it is causing widespread ecological and social damage, across many national borders. Despite the damning evidence and widespread impacts, many more dams are in the pipeline, and are getting constructed with enthusiasm from those who profit. 

Join Dom and Lotta as they discuss the many facets of hydropower, and explain how damming the river changes the hydrology, ecology, and geomorphology of the river, and how its impacting the millions who rely upon a healthy river. 

Sources: 

Basin-Wide Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Hydropower Production. Mekong River Commission. 2018 

The Political Ecology of Large Hydropower Dams in the Mekong Basin: A Comprehensive Review. Carl Middleton. 2022 

Impacts of Mainstream Hydropower Development on Fisheries and Human Nutrition in the Lower Mekong. Christopher D. Golden et al. 2019

Understanding the impact of hydropower developments in the context of upstream-downstream relations in the Mekong River basin, Claudia kuenzer et al. 2012

Various ways hydro are impacting the Mekong Delta:

https://www.mekongeye.com/2022/02/11/floods-and-migrants-of-vietnams-mekong-delta-25-lessons-from-the-data

Piece by the BBC recommended by Lotta:

https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0gsp9q4

Cam takes a meander through Thai political history, including how Thailand avoided colonisation, why they keep fighting with Cambodia and how they continue as a stable, prosperous country despite having a military coup roughly every eight years.

Apologies for my pronunciation of Thai names.

Join Lotta and Dom as they dive deep into the floodwaters that hit South East Asia last year - and swim through the nuanced and shocking currents of human’s relationships with floods from the past into the future. We also do a bit of a nerd out about the climate - if you’ve decided to skip that section, jump to 13:25!

Some papers , books and other resources I recommend checking out if you’re curious!

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-021-00199-z - the article which links ENSO to climate change

In Praise of Floods by James C. Scott - a different view of rivers, that tries to decenter humans within the river ecosystem

https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/9/105.8996/20.8793/?theme=sea_level_rise&map_type=year&basemap=roadmap&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&forecast_year=2050&pathway=ssp3rcp70&percentile=p50&refresh=true&return_level=return_level_1&rl_model=coast_rp&slr_model=ipcc_2021_med - a map with projected sea level rises worldwide. Interactive, fun and sobering

Amphibious Anthropologies, Living in Wet Environments - a super cool collection of writings of people living in changing wet environments I’m dying to read! 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181129-the-underground-cathedral-protecting-tokyo-from-floods - Tokyo’s flood cathedral

What a spicy group episode! Spanning two birthdays, Christmas and the lovely addition of our friend Blair for three weeks of adventure. Join us as we take overnight trains, learn how to make papaya salad for Bec’s birthday, push bikes up endless and steep hills, learn a couple of words of Karen and embark on our (long) path to enlightenment with the help of Buddhist teachings. 

We also have a shallow dive for you on the mysteries and subterfuge of the Golden Triangle - the Special Economic Zone where China, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. 

This episode is a bit different as logistics and fun got in the way of a fully fledged episode - but worry not! There is enough to make you gasp, laugh and cringe, nonetheless. 

As we explore different forms of travel and slightly different itineraries, you can expect some changes in the group episodes this year, we’ll take it as it comes! Deep dives will still be going strong as we obsess about random topics in each country we visit. 

Book recommendations for this episode:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (megaaaa classicccc that Dom and Blair were obsessing over)

On the Shadow Tracks: A Journey Through Occupied Myanmar by Clare Hammond (fantastic journalism and insight into Myanmar you didn’t know you needed)

Juice by Tim Winton (recommended before, recommended again no that Dom has finished it: get on it beans)

Thanks for listening! Subscribe, share, like… all that jazz. Love you guys!

Over our travels we have crossed one of the heartland countries for the controversial palm oil industry – Malaysia.

In today's deep dive, Bec and Lotta discuss the environmental and ethical issues levelled at Big Oil Palm, trying to answer the question of whether palm oil can ever be a truly sustainable product.

We also have the privilege of hearing from renowned Malaysian economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram on this episode. Bec interviews him about the colonial roots of the rubber and oil palm industries.

Enjoy listening!

Full bio for Professor Jomo:

Jomo Kwame Sundaram is a Research Adviser, Khazanah Research Institute, Fellow, Academy of Science, Malaysia, and Emeritus Professor, University of Malaya. He was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Assistant Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Founder-Chair, International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) and President, Malaysian Social Science Association. Jomo has authored and edited over a hundred books, written many academic papers and media articles, besides translating 12 volumes. He has received the 2007 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, several honorary doctorates and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award in Social Sciences for 2026.

Important links:

• Sites of Displacement photo essay by Australian academic Christine Horn

Another group episode beans! Here, you will be updated on our journeys through Malaysia and how we reunited in Thailand.

Listen for food highlights, a shallow dive on LGBTQIA+ rights in Malaysia and, of course, BRICK #1! Including who won it last time after we left the choice to you guys…

Sick advocacy groups working in Malaysia you should totally follow on your socials and check out in general:

https://www.instagram.com/jejakaorg/?hl=en

https://justiceforsisters.org/en/

https://www.planetromeofoundation.org/pelangi-campaign/

If you want to donate for Thai flood relief in the wake of the floods that Hat Yai and other cities under water, donate here:

https://www.donationhub.or.th/project/106/detail/EN

Our fave books from recently!

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown

Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koeh

Sugarbread by Balli Kaur Jaswal

In this episode Cam talks to Alex Au from Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), an NGO that advocates for migrant workers in Singapore.

Links:

• Donate to TWC2 here

• The report I wrote with Kael for TWC2