Podcast
Just the Zoo of Us
Hosted by Ellen & Christian Weatherford · EN
Join us, Ellen and Christian Weatherford, while we review your favorite species of animals and rate them out of ten in the categories of effectiveness, ingenuity and aesthetics.
More information can be found at justthezooofus.com 😊
Got a species you want us to review? Submit your animal friend to us at ellen@justthezooofus.com and when we review your animal we'll give you a shoutout! 😊
Cover art by Mrs. Brainbow (Taylor Gordon-Wood). Theme music by Louie Zong.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
337: Tree Kangaroos w/ Lisa Dabek!
2w ago00:59:49Tap to summarizeJoin Ellen & special guest, senior conservation scientist at Woodland Park Zoo and founder of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Lisa Dabek, as we celebrate World Tree Kangaroo Day by putting these charming ghosts of the forest in the well-deserved spotlight. We discuss the diversity of Papua New Guinea’s cloud forests where dinosaurs still have the run of the place, life as a joey in the towering treetops, a look at what went into designing a tree kangaroo habitat in Woodland Park Zoo’s new Forest Trailhead exhibit, and so much more. Links: Learn more about the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program at their website: https://treekangaroo.org/ Learn more about the SAFE Program: https://www.aza.org/safe-species Check out the Woodland Park Zoo's new Forest Trailhead exhibit: https://zoo.org/foresttrailhead/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →336: Crawfish w/ Jack Koch!
2w ago00:46:22Tap to summarizeJoin Ellen & special guest, technobiologist and professor Jack Koch, for a review of the iconic crustacean known and loved by many names: the crawfish. We discuss sea hare ink, a genetically modified super-soldier kaiju battle, the taxonomic classifications of rocks, bugs and squishy bags, the perils of growing up under the tail of a cannibal mom, and so much more. Links: Learn more about Jack's work at the Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center Follow LSU Research on Instagram! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →335: Sand Cat
4w ago00:58:27Tap to summarizeEllen lets the sand cat out of the bag. We discuss dangerously approaching Hey Arnold, refusal to poop on unfamiliar toilets, blood gushers, a myth of dirty underwear, Cat Premium, and so much more. Works Cited: “The Carnivores of West Africa” - Donovan Reginald Rosevear, 1974. Page 396 “Mammalian ear specializations in arid habitats: structural and functional evidence from sand cat (Felis margarita)” - G. T. Huang et al, Journal of Comparative Physiology A, June 2002 “Sand cat in Iran - present status, distribution and conservation challenges” - Taher Ghadirian et al., CATnews (newsletter of the IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group), 2016 "Sand Cat" - International Society of Endangered Cats (ISEC) Canada “Home ranges of African sand cats (Felis margarita margarita)” - Alexander Sliwa et al., Journal of Arid Environments, March 2023 “Isabelline” - Paul Anthony Jones, HaggardHawks.com IUCN Red List: Sand Cat (Felis margarita) "DOMESTIC X SAND CAT AND PALLAS'S CAT HYBRIDS" - Sarah Hartwell, messybeast.com Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →Bonus Content Free Samples! (2026)
Apr 3000:55:12Tap to summarizeCurious about the exclusive bonus content for Maximum Fun members? Enjoy some free samples from special episodes: "All Fun and Games with Isaac," "Just the Two of Us," and Let's Learn Everything's "Frogs! II A Royal Rescue" If you like what you hear, head over to https://maximumfun.org/join and sign up to get access to the entire bonus content library and SO much more! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →334: Animals in Space w/ Let's Learn Everything!
Apr 2901:08:54Tap to summarizeEllen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let’s Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →333: Great White Shark
Apr 2301:23:57Tap to summarizeEllen jaws away about the great white shark. We discuss making our own planetary rings, performance-enhancing Speedos, how sharks sleep, the White Shark Café, IRL baby shark, and so much more. Works Cited: “Shark evolution: a 450 million year timeline” - Josh Davis, Natural History Museum “SPEEDO FASTSKIN – A HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST SWIMSUITS” - SwimSwam.com, November 2023 “White Shark Bite Kinematics — Preliminary Exploration of a New Aspect” - R. Aidan Martin, ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research “An electrophysiological correlate of sleep in a shark” - John A. Lesku et al., Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology, July 2024 “For five days in 1980, a great white shark named Sandy lived in Golden Gate Park” - Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, June 2024 “The Great White Way” - Pete Thomas, Los Angeles Times, September 2006 “White Shark Café: The mysterious meeting spot for great whites in the middle of the Pacific Ocean” – Sascha Pare, LiveScience, September 2024 “First-ever sighting of a live newborn great white” - Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside, February 2024 “Shark Management Laws” - NOAA Fisheries Links: Support our podcast by joining the Maximum Fun network at maximumfun.org/join For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →
Casters on Casters: Teylor Smirl and Ellen Weatherford
Apr 2000:22:43Tap to summarizeIt's MaxFunDrive. And here, for the first time, we give you an exclusive look (well, listen) at the craft of podcasting: presenting Casters on Casters. In this episode, Teylor Smirl (Still Buffering) and Ellen Weatherford (Just the Zoo of Us) bond over the media they consumed that shaped who they are today, and how that media informs their perspectives on their shows. Plus, each host reveals their dream guest. If this glamorous, in-depth journey into what makes your favorite hosts tick inspires you, support them by joining as a member at maximumfun.org/join. Edited by Laura Swisher and Produced by Hannah Muroz for Maximum Fun. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →332: Asian Elephants w/ Kartick Satyanarayan!
Apr 1600:50:40Tap to summarizeJoin Ellen & special guest, co-founder and CEO of conservation organization Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan, for a review of Asian elephants. We discuss the harm caused by wildlife exploitation, how they protect animals by uplifting human communities, how education can help tourists make more ethical choices, and of course our guest shares some stories of what it’s like living and working alongside these beautiful giants. He’s got feel-good conservation success stories, workplace comedy, an adorable baby elephant, truly what more could you want from a podcast episode? Links: Learn more about Wildlife SOS's work on their website! See Baby Bani and more on Wildlife SOS's YouTube channel! Learn more about ethical tourism on RefuseToRide.org For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →331: Jackrabbits
Apr 1001:03:44Tap to summarizeFollow Ellen down the jackrabbit hole. We discuss facial tilt, satellite dish ears, evolutionary ghosts of predators past, touchdown dances, jackalopes, Easter, and so much more. Works Cited: "A Field Guide to Jackrabbits" - Matthew L. Miller, The Nature Conservancy, Nov 2022 “Ecological correlates to cranial morphology in Leporids (Mammalia, Lagomorpha)” - Brian Kraatz et al., PeerJ, Dec 2014 "Jackrabbit Gets a Touchdown!" - YouTube “Celebrating Easter, Christmas and their associated alien fauna” – Malene Lauritsen et al., World Archaeology, Oct 2018 “The Shifting Baselines of the British Hare Goddess” - Luke John Murphy & Carly Ameen, Open Archaeology, August 2020 “What Do Eggs Have To Do With Easter?” - Encyclopedia Britannica "Meet Jack" - City of Douglas, Wyoming's website Links: Check out your local MaxFun Meetup Day - Ellen will be at the Seattle meetup! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →330: Cryptids w/ the Cryptonaturalist, Jarod K. Anderson!
Apr 201:13:49Tap to summarizeJoin Ellen & the Cryptonaturalist (Jarod K. Anderson) to talk about the ways that nature and wildlife can inspire our creativity and shape our stories, particularly the enticingly unknowable cryptids. We discuss being raised by a witch, the natural poetry in scientific facts about starfish, the value of enthusiasm, caked up Mothman and the tragic Squonk, getting emoted on by skunks, the surprisingly complicated history of dandelions, a vulture named Potato, and so much more. Links: Learn more about Jarod's work on his website Find Strange Animals and Jarod's other books on his Bookshop Follow Jarod as The Cryptonaturalist on Instagram Follow Jarod on Bluesky or Substack Check out The CryptoNaturalist Podcast For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo
Transcribe →