About this podcast
Hosts Nora and Aly explore the fascinating science of plants and the ways they intersect with our daily lives.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 28 episodes
- S2 Episode 12 - Plants vs Fossils · 1 h 1 min · Episode 27We love plants, and we love fossils! But the two don’t always play well together. This episode, Aly explains why living plants are bad for fossils and how paleontologists deal…
- S2 Episode 11 - A History of Plant Collecting · 46 min · Episode 26If you’re reading this, you probably like plants! Well, you’re not alone – people have been bringing plants into their homes for ages. In this episode, Aly takes us through a…
- S2 Episode 10 - Can You Pepper-Spray an Angry Bird? · 53 min · Episode 25Plants have devised many chemical defenses to ward off trouble, but they don’t always work as intended. Some animals are immune to those defenses, and some strange species even…
- S2 Episode 9 - Grafting: When Two Become One · 53 min · Episode 24*There were some issues with the original upload of this episode. Those have been fixed! Sometimes, you can just tape two plants together and they’ll become one plant. How does…
- S2 Episode 8 - Australopithecus Salad: What Would Lucy Eat? · 45 min · Episode 23Last season, we had so much fun cooking up a Jurassic salad that we’re doing it again! Join Nora and Aly for another episode of speculative cooking (Cook-E!) as they plan out a…
- S2 Episode 7 – The Wood Wide Web · 52 min · Episode 22There’s a secret world beneath the soil, where networks of fungi connect plant roots to each other in a massive wood wide web. Just what sorts of materials and information are…
- S2 Episode 6 - Alpine Plants: Beyond the Tree Line · 51 min · Episode 21In the high Arctic and high mountains, plants get tiny and tough! This episode, Nora and Aly gush over the incredible adaptations that allow plants to survive the wind, cold, and…
- S2 Episode 5 - Acacias! · 36 min · Episode 20Acacias are Aly’s favorite plants! What are they? Where are they? Why does Aly love them so much? And can Aly convince Nora to love them, too? Listen in and find out! We’re doing…
- S2E4 - Rolling, Floating, and Exploding! · 43 min · Episode 19All plants need to send their seeds off into the world, but some do it rather energetically – or even explosively! This episode, we explore the various ways that plants bounce…
- S2E3 - What's Up With Weeds? · 46 min · Episode 18Sometimes there are plants where we don’t want them! What makes weeds so … weedy? Why do we dislike them so much? And is a weed truly in the eye of the beholder? We’re doing…
- S2E2 – Life Cycle of a Forest · 56 min · Episode 17Forests have age, and it’s not just about the age of the trees! What happens as a forest grows older? How is a young forest different from an old forest? Answers to these…
- S2E1 - What's a Berry Anyway? · 54 min · Episode 16Welcome to Season 2! To start off the season, Nora asks Aly to explain the complex and confusing science behind what is and isn’t a berry! Did you know bananas are berries? Also…
- Season 2 Trailer! · 2 min · Episode 15Season 2 is about to bloom! Episode 1 drops on May 7th! As always, please consider joining us on Patreon, Discord, Instagram, and Bluesky to keep updated and engage with our…
- Episode "0" - Christmas Plants · 30 min · Episode 14Back in January 2025, during the planning of Season 1, Nora and Aly sat down to record an “Episode 0” to get a feel for the process and decide if they really wanted to make a…
- Season 1 Mailbag · 1 h 24 min · Episode 13Nora and Aly wrap up Season 1 by answering a bunch of questions from fans! A huge thanks to all of our listeners and supporters for making this podcast happen. Stay tuned for…
- Episode 12 – The Geologic Time Scale According to Plants · 58 min · Episode 12Scientists organize the history of the Earth based on the experiences of animals. But what if the Geologic Time Scale was plant-centric? This episode, Aly presents Nora with her…
- Episode 11 - Flowers of the Night · 44 min · Episode 11Plants require sunlight to survive, but when night falls and the daytime-dwellers disappear, many varieties of flower come alive. This episode, Nora and Aly explore the allure of…
- Episode 10 – Plant Super-Organisms · 38 min · Episode 10Some plants get big – like, several acres big – like, an entire forest big – like, the largest living things on the planet big. This episode, Nora and Aly address some of the…
- Episode 9 - Roots in the Air · 37 min · Episode 9We all learned that roots are the below-ground part of a plant. Well, it turns out there are exceptions … a lot of them. This episode, Nora asks Aly to explain the many and…
- Episode 8 - What Makes Fruit Ripe? · 48 min · Episode 8Did you know that placing a banana next to an apple can help the banana ripen faster? Well that was news to some people! This episode, Nora and Aly discuss what exactly is going…
