A Life In Ruins

On this episode of a Life in Ruins Podcast, Connoe is joined by Dr. Alex Garcia-Putnam and Christine Halling to talk all things bioarcheology. We start off by delving into Christine's career in archaeology/anthropology and take about how her and Alex met. We then dive into their jobs, what they do and how buried remains can move miles or so during natural disasters in Louisiana. We finish out our conversation talking about the basics of bioarchaeology and some of the research both Christine...

In this episode, Carlton and David are joined by six-time veteran guest Stefan Milo to discuss the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The lads talk about the controversy surrounding the existence of the monarchy, the global political quagmire of removing the Royal Family from leadership, and their general reactions to the news of the Queen's passing. If you have left a review of the podcast on iTunes or Spotify, please email us at alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com so we can get shipping...

On this episode of the podcast, Connor and David sit down and chat with veteran guests Drs. Jesse Tune and Shane Miller to discuss the recent LSE mounds paper. They first dive into how Jesse and Shane have been on the show multiple times, and that they always have an educated and constructive conversation. Beginning with an overview of Southeastern archaeology and mound history, they then dive into the mounds. The hosts and guests discuss how the paper was published by geologists in a...

In this episode, Carlton is joined by Chance Ward, an M.A. student in Museum and Field Studies at CU Boulder and a Tribal Citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The two start the episode with a discussion on how Chance got into Anthropology at Fort Lewis College. We then delve into his post-undergrad career in CRM and working for the Southern Ute Tribe. Carlton investigates why Chance chose CU Boulder and they get into a dialogue about how Chance's grad school experiences have shaped the...

In this episode, Connor and David take the reins while Carlton settles into his new position at in Bloomington. After establishing Connor hasn’t seen Amazon’s “The Rings of Power” yet, they decide to delve into the topic of “how to not be offended by bad science.” The two spend the 3 segments discussing how the media inaccurately advertises scientific research, and how that affects scientists Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Zencastr makes it really easy!...

ENCORE: To kick off the new year, the boys invite Dr. Shane Miller (Mississippi State University; Ep. #21) and his friend Dr. Jesse Tune (Fort Lewis College) to investigate the controversy surrounding the Cerutti Mastodon Site. The conversation is a holistic discussion from different perspectives about evidence, ethics, Indigenous Sovereignty, and good science. Guest Contacts Dr. Shane Miller, Twitter: @TheDurtyTowel Contact Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com Instagram:...

On this episode, we are back with new content! We talk with Beth Potter, who is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. We talk about Beth first's archaeological conference at age 13 and her experience there. Beth then describes her experience going to a small state-school called Harvard University. We delve into her experience in French Canada and what brought her there. She then deep dives into her scientific research and how one gets aDNA from stone...

In this episode of A Life in Ruins, we provide information about undergraduate and graduate school. We start off joking about our favorite episodes (all of them are our favorite) and then dive into things to consider when applying to undergraduate and graduate programs. We talk about our differing experiences in undergrad and the positives and negatives of each of our experiences. Importantly, we dive into how to research graduate programs, and factors surrounding how to choose a school are...

On this episode of A Life in Ruins Podcast, we interview Dr. Maddy McAllister, a maritime archaelogist with the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Dr. McAllister is known for her educational Instagram account, @shipwreckmermaid. As Dr. McAllister is an Aussie, we naturally first have a conversation about the differences between our endemic wildlife and the hazards of working in the wild. This is followed by a discussion of how Dr. McAllister, and other underwater archaeologists, plan out their...

ENCORE: Something's afoot. There is, yet again, another controversial preclovis find. This time, away from the West Coast and in New Mexico. The controversy surrounds human footprints found in White Sands National Park that are dated between 23 and 21 kya. To discuss these possible pre-Clovis footprints, we invited Dr. Jesse Tune and Dr. Shane Miller on the show to contextualize the data. We begin with an open discussion about the recent published report and try to understand what the...

On this episode, we are taking our first vacation. We are going to leave you with a classic episode of ours. Enjoy! On Episode 27 of A Life in Ruins Podcast, we interview Dr. Robert L. Kelly. Dr. Kelly was all the cohosts thesis advisor at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Robert L. Kelly wrote the book, The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum, on hunter-gatherer archaeology and the mathematical proofs behind it. He was involved in early research at Gatecliff Rockshelter and...

**This podcast contains spoilers about the movie Top Gun: Maverick, you have been warned! On this chaotic and unscripted episode of A Life in Ruins Podcast, we chat with our resident military anthropologist Georgia Butcher. We discuss the movie Top Gun (which David has not seen) and Top Gun: Maverick (which David has also not seen). We delve into the process of using military vehicles in movies and the film review process by the military. We then take a deep dive into the propaganda and...

On this episode of A Life in Ruins Podcast, Carlton is back! Connor and Carlton sit down and discuss his wild and crazy summer in the field. They do a deep dive into where he was, what type of site he worked at, and the atmosphere of Lynch, Nebraska. Carlton then describes the early history of the site, his new gig as a bartender, and what it is like to be a senior graduate teaching assistant at a field school. Connor and Carlton finish discussing the next couple of months and Carlton's...

Connor and David discuss the highs and woes of CRM archaeology. They start out discussing #bus and #vanlife and the issues that David is having with his bus. They then take a deep dive into the bad and less fun elements of CRM archaeology. They discuss hotels, shovel tests, depression and existential crises. Connor and David then play good cop and tell success stories about their experiences in CRM. Give it a listen! If you have left a review of the podcast on iTunes or Spotify, please email...

In this episode of A Life In Ruins podcast, Connor and David chat with Vincent Battista, a Postdoctoral Researcher specializing in genetics. Vincent got his PhD at the University of Michigan where he studied under Milford Wolpoff, who is also the teacher of Dr. Jim Ahern, Connor and David‘s biological anthropology teacher. Connor and David chat with Vincent about his Italian ancestry, and how that formulated his interest in culture and anthropology, and they later get into his early...

On this episode of A Life in Ruins Podcast, we get the best pirate scholar, Dr. Jamie L. H. Goodall, back on the show. We discuss how she has been since we last talked and discuss what she actually does at her current job. Carlton and Connor then pepper her with questions about her new book, "Pirates and Privateers from Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay" which was released in May 2022. She details the differences in pirating between the Chesapeake Bay and the more northern bays/sounds. She...

On this episode we bring back Dr. Devin Pettigrew to discuss a paper that came out in 2021. The name of that paper is "On the efficacy of Clovis fluted points for hunting proboscideans" by Eren et. al. Dr. Pettigrew is an experimental archaeologist and together we discuss the pitfalls/successes of this study. We really dive deep into the article and the data they are using to summarize their argument. Dr. Pettigrew also gives us a background in the ballistics of atlatls as well as...

On this episode, we talk with Evan Albright about his book "The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World". This book (published in 2015), tells the story of Edward H. Thompson, an American who once owned the property on which Chichen Itza sits. We go through the history of this property and talk about guides, hotels, trains and what the future looks like for Chichen Itza. If you have left a review of the podcast on iTunes or Spotify, please email us at alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com so we can get...

On this episode of A Life in Ruins podcast, we have back on one of our favorite guests Dr. David S. Anderson. We start out with a huge announcement (listen to this episode, we will not spoil it here). We then hit the when, where, what and why of the Maya. Dr. Anderson explains how we know that the Maya city-states "collapsed" and also talks about issues with the ideas around the word "Collapse". We finish talking about Carlton's experience at Chichen Itza and cultural tourism as a whole. If...

In this episode, Carlton interviews Dr. Anna Goldfield from The Dirt Podcast to talk about Dr. Goldfield's inspiration in becoming a zooarchaeologist, how the The Dirt Podcast started, and the importance of experimental archaeology. This a fun and interested one on one conversation between two seasoned podcast hosts. Definitely check out The Dirt Podcast if you haven't already! If you have left a review of the podcast on iTunes or Spotify, please email us at alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com so...