Race and Biological Anthropology with Dr. Rachel Watkins (131) - Ep 171

Recently, Anna and Amber sat down with Rachel Watkins, a biological anthropologist and scholar-activist whose research centers on social and biological histories of Black Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. Learn about the social history of biological anthropology, the exemplary case studies with which Dr. Watkins has worked, why you shouldn't discount the creepy things small children sometimes do, and so much more!

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Links

• Rachel Watkins Faculty Profile (American University)

• Rachel J. Watkins on ResearchGate

• The Mismeasure of Man (WW Norton)

• The Cobb Collection (W. Montague Cobb Research Laboratory)

• Watch Now! African Diasporic Activist Scholarship: Beyond the Enlightenment, Toward the Democratization of Science (Wenner-Gren Blog)

• Science and Freedom (Washington History)

Contact

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Neanderthalk with "Kindred" Author Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes (113) - Ep 170

We hope you enjoy this great interview from the archives. If you're doing cool research, and want to talk about it on the show, drop us a note at thedirtpodcast@gmail.com!

Anna and Amber sit down with Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes, Paleolithic archaeologist and author of the book "Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art." We talk about Rebecca's education and her love for all things ancient, and she resolves some common misconceptions about our Neanderthal cousins. "Kindred" just came out in the States, so pick up a copy of your very own for an amazing synthesis of current Neanderthal knowledge.

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Links

• Neanderthals Among Mammoths: Excavations at Lynford Quarry, Norfolk (via Archaeology Data Service)

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (European Commission)

• Trowelblazers

• Rebecca Wragg Sykes

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

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Kyle Jordan - Ep 162

Anna and Amber are joined by wonderful Special Guest, Kyle Jordan! Kyle is a disabled Egyptologist interested in themes of religion, magic and identity in the Egyptian world, with a specific focus on the appearance and interpretation of disability in Ancient Egypt and Egyptology as a discipline. We had a wonderful-- and long-- conversation with Kyle about how Egyptians viewed the embodiment of disability, how perception of disability in archaeology has changed (and how it still needs to change), and more.

Listener note, we mistakenly discuss the dialogue of a man and his ka, which was in fact between a man and his ba. This dialogue is on the subject of suicidal ideation, so please take care or skip forward at about [41:04.000].

Links

• Follow Kyle on Twitter!

• "Disability in Ancient Egypt - the Case of Geheset" (via YouTube)

• "Disability in Ancient Egyptian Myth and Literature" (via YouTube)

• Let That Be Your Last Battlefield: Tutankhamun and Disability (via Semantic Scholar)

• Dialogue of a Man with His Soul (Ethics of Suicide Digital Archive) (cn discussion of suicidal ideation)

• Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology

• Westcar Papyrus: Khufu and the Magician (Ancient Egypt Online)

• Human History Gets a Rewrite (The Atlantic)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

ArchPodNet

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Spooktober: Monster Mash - Ep 159

This week, we lift our spirits (oooOOOooo) with a round-up of monsters. We explore their origins and effects on us, with examples ranging from memories of very real things in the past to a hypothesis that doesn't quite have legs (unlike griffins).

Links

• Why we'll always be obsessed with – and afraid of – monsters (The Conversation)

• Why the scariest monsters look almost human (Wellcome Collection)

• Why We Still Need Monsters (Nautilus)

• Why Are So Many Monsters Hybrids? (Nautilus)

• A History of Monsters (Aeon)

• Why do we want to feel sorry for monsters that scare us? (Gizmodo)

• Why Frankenstein is the story that defines our fears (BBC)

• Neanderthals, Scandinavian trolls, and troglodytes (Norwegian American)

• Ōnamazu (Yokai.com)

• Namazu-e: Earthquake catfish prints (Pink Tentacle)

• Namazu (World History Encyclopedia)

• Giant catfish and a legacy of disaster in one of the world's most seismically active regions (Phys.org)

• Folklore and earthquakes: Native American oral traditions from Cascadia compared with written traditions from Japan (Geological Society, London, Special Publications via ResearchGate)

• Why Protoceratops almost certainly wasn't the inspiration for the griffin legend (Mark Witton)

• Griffin Bones (American Museum of Natural History)

• Andrewsarchus, "Superb Skull of a Gigantic Beast" (American Museum of Natural History)

• Jumbies of the West Indies (The Brown Geeks)

• Rare Book Library Summons Tales of World’s Oldest Monsters (Smithsonian)

• The evolution of monsters in children’s literature (Nature)

• A Visual History of Society’s Monsters (Hyperallergic)

• The Nazi Werewolves Who Terrorized Allied Soldiers at the End of WWII (Smithsonian)

• Doin’ The Mash (Tedium)

• The strange tale of ‘Monster Mash’, the graveyard smash that will never die (NME)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

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Spooktober: Homo lepidopteris - Ep 158

This week, we're taking a turn for the cryptid and spooking local with the legend of West Virginia native son, the Mothman. For a little over a year leading up to December 1967, sightings of a winged humanoid with glowing eyes were reported in and around Point Pleasant, WV. Since then, Mothman has evolved from evil omen to legend to meme. In this episode, we’ll explore the legend, collective memory, and the power of portents.

Links

• Paranormal Activity in West Virginia (Marshall University)

• Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend (West Virginia Book Company)

• Mothman myth rooted in Messenger reporter's work (Athens Messenger)

• Is the Mothman of West Virginia an Owl? (Audubon Society)

• Silver Bridge tragedy still haunts river city residents (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

• Tu-Endie-Wei State Park (WV State Parks)

• Point Pleasant, West Virginia: Making a Tourism Landscape in an Appalachian Town (Southeastern Geographer)

• West Virginian Urban Legends and Their Impact on Cultures Both Local and Abroad (Bowling Green State University)

• The Mothman and Other Strange Tales: Shaping Queer Appalachia Through Folkloric Discourse in Online Social Media Communities (University of Kentucky)

• UFOs Were Born Among America’s Cold War Fears (Foreign Policy)

• Welcome To The 'TNT Area,' Home Of The Mothman (NPR)

• Federal Facilities Restoration Program (WV Dept of Environmental Protection)

Contact

• Email the Dirt Podcast: thedirtpodcast@gmail.com

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