Summary

Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug from the University of North Carolina – Greebsboro discusses some of the projects her lab is working on, including skeletal and dental pathology in past populations and istopic analysis of human remains. She also touches on the importance of integrating biological anthropology into climate change and global health policies.

These two articles are great examples of how bio anthro could inform policymaking:

• G. Robbins Schug, S. E. Halcrow, Building a bioarchaeology of pandemic, epidemic, and syndemic diseases: Lessons for understanding COVID-19. Bioarchaeol. Int. 6, 179–200 (2022).
• G. Robbins Schug et al., Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (2023).

Honestly, we probably could have done an entire show on just one article. And I might do that in the future. For now, I encourage you to read the articles. They illustrate how answering questions about our past can help us build a better future.

Recommendations

• Dr. Robbins Schug’s faculty page at UNCG
• Robbins Schug Human Diversity Lab Website
• G. Robbins Schug, S. E. Halcrow, Building a bioarchaeology of pandemic, epidemic, and syndemic diseases: Lessons for understanding COVID-19. Bioarchaeol. Int. 6, 179–200 (2022).
• G. Robbins Schug et al., Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (2023).
• Grauer, A. (Ed.) (2015). A Companion to Paleopathology. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Buikstra, J. (Ed.) (2019). Ortner’s Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains (3rd edition). Academic Press.
• Resnick, D. (2001). Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders: 5-Volume Set. Saunders.
• Planetary Health Alliance
• Sholts, S. (2024). The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from our Bodies to Our Beliefs. MIT Press.
• For fun: Kayaking!

Summary

Dr. Sholts of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History joins the show to discuss her new book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs. Dr. Sholts uses an anthropological lens to understand epidemics. She touches on One Health, historical and current epidemics, the role misinformation plays in the spread of disease, and science communication.  

Recommendations

• Sholts, S. (2024). The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from our Bodies to Our Beliefs. MIT Press.
• Dr. Sholt’s Google Scholar profile
• Dr. Sholt’s NMNH profile
• Lieberman, D. (2014). The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease. Vintage Books.
• Garrett, L. (2020). The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. Picador USA.
• Villarosa, L. (2023). Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives. Anchor Books.
• Hatzfeld, J. (2006). Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak. Picador USA.
• Hatzfeld, J. (2007). Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak. Other Press.
• Hatzfeld, J. (2008). Into the Quick of Life: The Rwandan Genocide – The Survivors Speak. Serpent’s Tail.
• Hatzfeld, J. (2010). The Antelope’s Strategy: Living in Rwanda After the Genocide. St. Martin’s Press-3PL.
• Lachenal, G. & Thomas, G. (2023). Atlas historique des épidémies. Autrement.
• St John-Mandel, E. (2015). Station Eleven. Vintage Books.

Summary

Dr. Griffin of San Francisco State University joins the show to discuss dental caries and toothwear in pre-contact Native American groups. 

Recommendations

• Griffin, MC. (2014). Biocultural implication of oral pathology in an ancient central California population. Am J Phys Anthropol, 154(2), 171-188.
• Griffin, MC. (2018). The End of Prehistory in the Land of Coosa: Oral Health in a Late Mississippian Village. In S Chappell Hodge & KA Shuler Bioarchaeology of the American Southeast: Approaches to Bridging Health and Identity in the Past (1st ed., pp 69-91). University of Alabama Press.
• Ed Yong. (2016). I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. Ecco.
• Kathleen McAuliffe. (2016). This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society. Mariner Books.
• Clinical literature on auditory exostoses
• Cardinal (detective drama, currently on Hulu as of June 2024)
• MC Beaton, Agatha Raisin series (Books + TV series — I’ve only read the books, but I hear the show is great)
• cozy-mystery.com [My bad, y’all. I said the wrong URL on the show. There are like 5 sites that also do this, but this is the one I was thinking of. The clip art is perfect.]
• Sister Boniface Mysteries (Nun solves crimes in British countryside, currently on BritBox as of June 2024)
• Father Brown (Priest solves crimes in British countryside, currently on BritBox as of June 2024)
• Cadfael (Medieval monk solves crimes. Books + TV series)
• Grantchester (Anglican vicar solves crimes. Short stories + TV series)

Summary

Dr. Wescott of Texas State University joins the show to discuss the Texas State body farm (Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State – FACTS) and the forensic research carried out there.

Recommendations

• Dr. Wescott’s ResearchGate profile
• Haglund & Sorg, Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory, and Archeological Perspectives
• DO Carter, D Yellowlees, M Tibbett. Cadaver decomposition in terrestrial ecology. Science of Nature 94(1), 2007
• Lee Lyman, Vertebrate Taphonomy
• PS Barton, D Lindenmeyer, AD Manning, SA Cunningham, The role of carrion in maintaining biodiversity and ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Oecologia 171(4), 2012
• John Currey, Bones: Structure and Mechanics
• David Burr, Basic and Applied Bone Biology
• C Ruff, B Holt, E Trinkaus, Who’s afraid of the big bad Wolff?: Wolff’s Law and bone functional adaptation. Am J Phys Anthropol, 129(4), 2006
• P Capodaglio, et al. Effect of obesity on knee and ankle biomechanics while walking. Sensors (Basel), 21(21), 2021
• BA Sanford, et al. Hip, knee, and ankle joint forces in healthy weight, overweight, and obese individuals during walking. 2014
• Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5 Billion-Year History of the Human Body
• Ed Yong, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

Summary

Dr. Goodson (Cambridge University) and Dr. Trombley (Augustana University) join forces on the show to discuss their bioarchaeological-historical collaboration to understand the Medieval mouth. 

Recommendations

• Medieval Mouths in Context: Biocultural and MultiScalar Considerations of the Mouth and the Case of Late-Medieval Villamagna, Italy
• Dr. Roberta Gilchrist, Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course
• Dr. Virginia Burruss, Earthquakes and Gardens: Saint Hilarion’s Cyprus
• Dr. Karl Jacoby, The Strange Career of William Ellis: The Texas Slave Who Became a Mexican Millionaire
• Dr. Roberta Gilchrist, University of Reading
• Dr. Shannon Novak, Syracuse University
• Dr. Lauren Hosek, University of Colorado – Boulder
• Dr. Stephen Brookfield, Discussion as a Way of Teaching
• Adrian Miller, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue
• Jim Auchmutey, Smoke Lore: A Short History of Barbecue in America

Summary

Dr. Trent Trombley of Augustana University joins the show to talk about his research at Villamagna, a medieval settlement outside of Rome. He uses macroscopic analysis of teeth along with a few other methods to understand life in the past.

Recommendations

• Dr. Trombley’s ResearchGate profile
• Trombley TM, Agarwal SC, Beauchesne PD, Goodson C, Candilio F, Coppa A, Rubini M. Making Sense of Medieval Mouths: Investigating Sex Differences of Dental Pathological Lesions in a Late Medieval Italian Community. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2019 Jun;169(2):253-269. 
• Trombley, Trent & Beauchesne, Patrick & Agarwal, Sabrina & Kinkopf, Katherine & Goodson, Caroline & Candilio, Francesca & Coppa, Alfredo & Rubini, Mauro. (2023). Growing up at Villamagna: Sex, Gender, and Stress During Growth and Development in a Medieval Italian Community. Bioarchaeology International. 10.5744/bi.2022.0022.
• BioAnthropology News Facebook Group
• T Smith. (2018). The Tales Teeth Tell: Development, Evolution, Behavior. MIT Press.
• R Barnett. (2017). The Smile Stealers: The Fine and Foul Art of Dentistry. Thames & Hudson.
• Dr. Simon Hillson’s books on dental anthropology
• K Gannon. (2020). Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto. West Virginia University Press.
• A Fuentes. (2022). Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature. University of California Press.
• C Liu (translation J Martinsen). (2019). Ball Lightning. Tor Books.
• C Liu (translation J Martinsen & K Liu). (2019). The Three-Body Problem Series. Tor Books.
• D Simmons. (1990). Hyperion. Spectra Books.
• Becky Chambers books
• R Nayler. (2023). The Mountain in the Sea. Picador USA.

Summary

Dr. Clark Spencer Larsen of Ohio State joins the show to discuss his history in the field, bioarchaeology, and how we can use biological anthropology to understand human health in the past. 

Recommendations

• Dr. Larsen’s faculty page
• Dr. Larsen’s Google Scholar profile
• Clark Spencer Larsen Wikipedia page
• CS Larsen. (2023). The past 12,000 years of behavior, adaptation, population and evolution shaped who we are today PNAS.
• CS Larsen & F Crespo. (2022). Paleosyndemics: A bioarchaeological and biosocial approach to study infectious diseases in the past. Centaurus article [PDF]
• CS Larsen. (2015). Bioarchaeology: Interpreting Behavior from the Human Skeleton. Cambridge University Press.
• CS Larsen. (2018). Essentials of Biological Anthropology. W. W. Norton & Company.
• CS Larsen. (2019). Our Origins: Discovering Biological Anthropology. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Gunsmoke (TV series)

Summary

Dr. Daniel Benyshek of UNLV joins the show to discuss plancentophagy. Check out his lab page for more info on placentophagy.

Note: There is a special addition at the end of this episode.

Recommendations

• Dr. Benyshek’s faculty profile at UNLV
• Dr. Benyshek’s ResearchGate profile
• Benyshek, Daniel & Bovbjerg, Marit & Cheyney, Melissa. (2023). Comparison of placenta consumers’ and non-consumers’ postpartum depression screening results using EPDS in US community birth settings (n=6038): a propensity score analysis. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 23. 10.1186/s12884-023-05852-7.
• Johnson, Sophia & Pastuschek, Jana & Benyshek, Daniel & Heimann, Yvonne & Möller, Anne & Rödel, Jürgen & White, Jacob & Zöllkau, Janine & Groten, Tanja. (2022). Impact of tissue processing on microbiological colonization in the context of placentophagy. Scientific Reports. 12. 10.1038/s41598-022-09243-4.
• Young, Sharon & Gryder-Culver, Laura & Cross, Chad & Zava, David & Norris, Wendy & Benyshek, Daniel. (2019). Ingestion of Steamed and Dehydrated Placenta Capsules Does Not Affect Postpartum Plasma Prolactin Levels or Neonatal Weight Gain: Results from a Randomized, Double‐Bind, Placebo‐Controlled Pilot Study. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. 64. 10.1111/jmwh.12955.
• Benyshek, Daniel & Cheyney, Melissa & Brown, Jennifer & Bovbjerg, Marit. (2018). Placentophagy among women planning community births in the United States: Frequency, rationale, and associated neonatal outcomes. Birth. 45. 10.1111/birt.12354.
• Herlosky, Kristen & Benyshek, Daniel & Mabulla, Ibrahim & Pollom, Trevor & Crittenden, Alyssa. (2020). Postpartum Maternal Mood Among Hadza Foragers of Tanzania: A Mixed Methods Approach. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. 44. 10.1007/s11013-019-09655-4.
• Ed. by Gluckman, P & M Hanson. (2006). Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Cambridge University Press.
• Gluckman, P & M Hanson. (2019). Ingenious: The Unintended Consequences of Human Innovation. Harvard University Press.
• Dr. Michael Winkelman’s books
• For fun (original episode): Fly fishing, mountain biking
• Dr. Roland Griffiths on Making Sense with Sam Harris
• Samson, D. (2023). Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts Into a Force for Good. St. Martin’s Press.

Summary

Dr. Jeremy DeSilva of Dartmouth joins the show to discuss bipedalism — why anthropologists are obsessed with it and how it might have come to be. 

Recommendations

• Dr. DeSilva’s website
• DeSilva J. (2022). First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human. Harper Collins.
• Rhianna C. Drummond-Clarke et al. (2022). Wild chimpanzee behavior suggests that a savanna-mosaic habitat did not support the emergence of hominin terrestrial bipedalism. Sci. Adv. 8,eadd9752.
• DeSilva, J. (2022). Fossils Upend Conventional Wisdom about Evolution of Human Bipedalism. Sci Am. Nov 22.
• Saini, A. (2023). The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality. Beacon Press.
• Miller, L. (2021). Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life. Simon & Schuster.
• Ian Tattersall’s books
• American Association of Biological Anthropologists job board
• Saini, A. (2020). Superior: The Return of Race Science. Beacon Press.
• Saini, A. (2018). Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story. Beacon Press.

Summary

Rhianna Drummond-Clarke, PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute (Dept. of Human Origins), joins the show to discuss her most recent article examining how environments affect chimp locomotion. She also chat about her time in the field.

See her article here: https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.add9752 

Recommendations

• Rhianna Drummond-Clarke’s Max Planck Institute profile page
• Rhianna C. Drummond-Clarke et al. (2022). Wild chimpanzee behavior suggests that a savanna-mosaic habitat did not support the emergence of hominin terrestrial bipedalism. Sci. Adv. 8,eadd9752.
• Ed. by Muller MN, RW Wrangham, DR Pilbeam. (2017). Chimpanzees and Human Evolution. Belknap Press.
• DeSilva J. (2022). First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human. Harper Collins.
• Thorpe SK, Crompton RH. Orangutan positional behavior and the nature of arboreal locomotion in Hominoidea. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2006 Nov;131(3):384-401.
• The Infinite Monkey Cage (podcast)