If you’re interested in podcasts related to geoscience, check out The Dollop. The Dollop is a history podcast hosted by two comedians where they discuss some odd topic, event, or person from history. Most of the episodes are about 40-70 minutes in length with a few that are longer. A few episodes relate to Earth science (with a brief synopsis):
- #60 – The Comet Panic
Many terrible “scientific” studies and sensationalized news headlines caused some people to fear the return of Halley’s Comet in 1910. - #80 – Hollow Earth
The bizarre pseduoscientific belief that the Earth is hollow was promoted by a guy named John Cleves Symmes Jr. in the early 1800s. - #132 – The Bone Wars
The bitter and longstanding feud between paleontologists Prof. Marsh and Prof. Cope during the 1870s to 1880s. - #151 – The Oil Boomtowns of Texas
The wild booms and busts of the late 1800s to early 1900s and the fight between private industry and government regulation. - #235 – The Great Diamond Hoax
One of the strangest scams I have heard. In 1871-1872, a couple of guys scammed investors from California to London, as well as two US Generals, a US Representative (also a retired General), and Charles Lewis Tiffany (founder of the famous Tiffany & Co. glass and jewelry company) for the development of a non-existent diamond mine. - #339 – John Wesley Powell
The adventures of the 2nd director of the US Geological Survey who lost his right arm in the Civil War.
Check out these podcast episodes here (some not safe for work language). For more podcasts, search the ‘Podcasts’ tag for more posts.