Dr. Henry Erlich, Researcher Emeritus at Benioff UCSF Children's Hospital, joins the show to discuss his book, Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. We chatted about what it was like to pioneer PCR tests along with how PCR testing works, its applications (including medicine, understanding human evolution, and forensics), and some of the ethical dilemmas around DNA testing more generally.

• Dr. Erlich's personal website
• Dr. Erlich's Medium profile
• Erlich, H. (2023). Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press.
• Ed. H Erlich, E Stover, TJ White. (2020). Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters. Oxford University Press.
• Wulf, A. (2016). The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World. Knopf - Vintage.

Dr. Christopher Schmitt of Boston University joins the show to talk about how he uses life history theory and epigenetics as a lens for his work with vervets and woolly monkeys. We also chatted about the highs of fieldwork, along with understanding how identity can affect an individual's experience of the field.

• Dr. Schmitt's personal website
• Dr. Schmitt's faculty profile at Boston University
• Schmitt, C., Service, S., Jasinska, A. et al. Obesity and obesogenic growth are both highly heritable and modified by diet in a nonhuman primate model, the African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus). Int J Obes 42, 765–774 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.301
• Carrey, N. (2011). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance.
• Stearns, S.C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press.
• Turner, T. R., Schmitt, C. A., & Cramer, J. D. (2019). Savanna Monkeys: The Genus Chlorocebus. Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Kate Clancy of Illinois State University Urbana-Champaign joins the show to talk about her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. We touch on what periods are, why humans might menstruate, factors that affect menstruation, the study of women's health in general, and a few things to keep in when doing research.

• Clancy, K. (2023). Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. Princeton University Press. (Audiobook version)
• Dr. Clancy's website
• Dr. Clancy's faculty profile at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Dr. Clancy's Bluesky profile
• Dr. Clancy's Buttondown profile
• Ellison, P.T. (2003). On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction. Harvard University Press.
• Van Der Sijpt, E. (2018). Wasted Wombs: Navigating Reproductive Interruptions in Cameroon. Vanderbilt University Press.
• Nguyen, M. (2024). The Promise of Beauty. Duke University Press.
• Gladstone, M. (2012). Three Parts Dead. Tor Books.