Screens of the Stone Age

Big news! An American biotech company announced this week that they have brought the dire wolf back from extinction! We’ve honoured this great achievement by watching the prophetic film Dire Wolf (2009), a gory werewolf movie in which an American biotech company brought back the dire wolf from extinction... to create a military bioweapon! We’ve got our eyes on you, Colossal Biosciences... Watch Dire Wolf (2009) on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/641656/dire-wolf The Dire Wolf (Aenocyon dirus): https://tarpits.org/stories/our-evolving-understanding-dire-wolves Bone Clones Dire Wolf Skull: https://boneclones.com/product/dire-wolf-skull-tarpit-finish-BC-020T Colossal Biosciences: https://colossal.com/ Colossal’s Dire Wolf preprint on BioRxiv: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.09.647074v1.abstract Perri et al. (2021) Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x Janczewski et al. (1992) Molecular phylogenetic inference from saber-toothed cat fossils of Rancho La Brea: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.89.20.9769 Hank Green – They Didn’t Make Dire Wolves, They Made Something...Else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar0zgedLyTw Beth Shapiro (2020) How to Clone a Mammoth: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691209005/how-to-clone-a-mammoth

Today we’re reviewing Lisa the Skeptic, a classic episode of The Simpsons in which Lisa discovers an apparent angel skeleton at an archaeological dig. In this episode we dig into hoaxes, the use of AI in academic writing, and the work of Stephen J. Gould. But in a larger sense, this episode will settle the age-old question of Science vs. Religion (spoiler alert: Capitalism wins). Visit our new website! https://screensofthestoneage.com Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: The Burgess Shale: https://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/ Stephen J. Gould: https://achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/ The Cardiff Giant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Giant AI in academic writing: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/generative-ai-in-academic-writing/ Operation Flagship: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnd0p192kn2o Operation Flagship on Stuff You Should Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYcGopqLvEs The Prophecy (1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PSZ7NDEgU Kenneth Copeland is evil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20y2Alkbc30 Christian Science reading rooms: https://apnews.com/article/christian-science-reading-rooms-religion-65a68fb88b7db958aa1c939e0d69719d Anomalocaris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalocaris Billy Beer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Beer

Today we’ve reached a milestone – 100 Episodes!! To celebrate, Josh is taking Kim and Ross on a trivia-based tour of some of the best and worst movies from our podcast’s prehistory. What have we learned after nearly four years of caveman movies? Let’s find out! Plus, a bonus review of Mastodons (1997). Visit our new website! https://screensofthestoneage.com Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] Watch Mastodons (1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXU3BC9Zie4 Part horn sound effect: “Party Horn Close 03” by Lucas_Schacht -- https://freesound.org/s/713658/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Mistress of the Apes (1979) tells the harrowing tale of Susan, an anthropologist who lost her pregnancy and learned of her husband’s murder in Congo Kenya in the same week. But she remained strong, without showing any visible signs of emotion whatsoever, until she learned to love again, in the arms of a Homo habilis her husband had discovered prior to his death (his murder was unrelated). Content warning: this movie contains multiple scenes involving sexual assault. Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Watch Mistress of the Apes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o9bYwBLBiU Homo habilis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_habilis Australopithecus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus Koko banga saka: https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&text=koko%20banga%20saka&op=translate African Genesis (1961) by Robert Ardrey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Genesis Congolian Rainforest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congolian_rainforests Jimmy Kimmel – Can you name a country? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRh1zXFKC_o Rick Mercer – Talking to Americans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUWas-yQSw Timbits: https://company.timhortons.com/ca/en/menu/timbits.php Writing systems: https://www.britannica.com/topic/writing/Types-of-writing-systems Ape sign language was a bunch of babbling nonsense: https://bigthink.com/life/ape-sign-language/

Curious George (2006) tells the tail of the beloved eponymous monkey (sic) and reimagines (and sanitizes) The Man in the Yellow Hat as an archaeologist. This movie sets up a thoughtful and nuanced take on archaeological ethics and neocolonialism, and then says “Fuck it, it belongs in museum after all.” But George is soooo cuuuute! Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: The History of Curious George: https://www.curiousgeorge.com/history/ Nicholas Wade (2007). In Lice, Clues to Human Origin and Attire. New York Times: https://cell2soul.typepad.com/cell2soul_blog/files/Lice.pdf Aiello and Wheeler (1995). The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis. Current Anthropology: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/204350 Richard Wrangham (2009). Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. Profile Books: https://dn790008.ca.archive.org/0/items/pdfy-DDoNCJJ_Wt0qOH7e/Catching%20Fire%20%5BHow%20Cooking%20Made%20Us%20Human%5D.pdf Ann Nicgorski (2006). Curious George’s Bad Example. Archaeology Magazine: https://archive.archaeology.org/online/reviews/curious.html Curious George and the Looted Idol (2006). Archaeology Magazine: https://archive.archaeology.org/0605/news/insider.html Alfred Russel Wallace: https://wallacefund.myspecies.info/content/biography-wallace Kirk Wallace Johnson (2018) The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century. Penguin Random House: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44153387-the-feather-thief Jim Corbett: https://www.corbettnationalpark.in/corbett-heritage.htm Clovis Culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_culture

Today we’re reviewing two films from a brutal, primitive time in humanity’s past, when both politics and romance were conducted through violence: the early 20th Century! His Prehistoric Past (1914) and Clubs are Trump (1917) follow suspiciously similar plots in which Silent Era stars Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Snub Pollard dream of a simpler time when they could commit violent assaults unimpeded and sexually harass women. Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Watch His Prehistoric Past (1914) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iOVyT2rz6c Watch Clubs are Trump (1917) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJWimG0AOI Victorian Calling Cards: https://hobancards.com/blogs/thoughts-and-curiosities/calling-cards-and-visiting-cards-brief-history The Truth about “Caveman Courtship”: https://daily.jstor.org/the-truth-about-caveman-courtship/ Timeline of Human Fossil Discoveries: https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/a-timeline-of-fossil-discoveries/ Piltdown Man: https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-problem-of-piltdown-man/ Archaeoraptor fossil hoax: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/fake-dino-bird-explained-1.274812 Cheetah fossil hoax: https://evolutionnews.org/2023/06/fossil-friday-the-oldest-cheetah-was-yet-another-fraud/ The scientific hoax that rocked Japan: https://spyscape.com/article/the-man-who-forged-ancient-artifacts The Hays Code: https://www.npr.org/2008/08/08/93301189/remembering-hollywoods-hays-code-40-years-on Winnipeg 1920 exhibit at the Manitoba Museum: https://manitobamuseum.ca/step-into-the-past-winnipeg-1920/

Adventures in Dinosaur City (1991) answers the age-old question: what if Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs and Honey I Shrunk the Kids had a baby, but it was put up for adoption and raised by the Ninja Turtles and The Flintstones, until it ran away from home and turned to sex work to survive? Kim insisted she loves this movie but then she got drunk and showed up late to the recording, and, honestly, that tells you everything you need to know. Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Watch Adventures in Dinosaur City on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zODUA2sTtLY Judge Whitey – Theft of Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtUfNtgawNY FATHER! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsriu6a_ukw Ceratopsian Dinosaurs: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/body-shape/ceratopsian/gallery.html Dinosaurs didn’t have a second brain in their butt: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-double-dinosaur-brain-myth-12155823/ Plural of “octopus”: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes Stegosaurus/Giraffe size comparison: https://www.bipbapbop.com/images/how-tall-is-a-stegosaurus.webp Facelift for T. rex: analysis suggests teeth were covered by thin lips: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00928-y 80s kids’ movies were traumatizing: https://collider.com/traumatizing-kids-movies-80s-ranked/ Roger Rabbit shoe dip scene (click at your own risk!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYk3LvHMPWM

Today we’re talking about Dr. Ross Geller, the best friend from NBC’s hit 1990s sitcom. Ross is probably the world’s best-known palaeontologist, except it’s not clear if he specializes in dinosaurs or Pleistocene mammals. And sometimes he seems to be doing palaeoanthropology… or geology. Anyway, we’re not on a break, so prepare to pivot and achieve a state of true unagi, because we have 18 pages of notes for this episode—front and back! Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Ross Palaeontology YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4rnE_UsfHM&list=PLzzOAyef3Dyo8xLTGP_E2aW_yZhA3PkXf Museums in Friends Blog: https://museumsinfriends.wordpress.com “Mastodon” means “breast tooth”: https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/mammoth-mastodon-differences Chambers and McCahey (2024) 1990s dinomania: Public and popular cultures of palaeontology from Jurassic Park to Friends: https://doi.org/10.1177/03080188241233121 Robert Bakker and the “Dinosaur Renaissance”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_renaissance Whom should we really call a “doctor”? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5973890/ T. rex and the Crater of Doom (1997) by Walter Alvarez: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691169668/t-rex-and-the-crater-of-doom Bruce Trigger Warning: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/5081017-bruce-trigger-warning?store_id=145043 Real palaeontologist Dr. David Schwimmer: https://www.columbusstate.edu/profiles/schwimmer-david Is it this Ted Rigby? http://rienco.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Ted-Rigby-CV-Updated-Sep-2015.pdf David Schwimmer didn’t steal beer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2pDsCk01F4 The Felidae of Rancho La Brea (1932) by John Merriam and Chester Stock: https://archive.org/details/felidofranchol4221932merr/page/12/mode/2up John C. Merriam, Palaeontologist: https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/about-ucmp/history-of-ucmp/john-c-merriam/ Ross Barnett on Ross Geller: https://twilightbeasts.org/2014/05/13/the-one-with-the-sabretooth/comment-page-1/ Why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other five? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-06ki92PyVY What is Chandler’s Job? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIpA9j1TVYo

Today we’re returning to L.A.’s famous tar pits for the pilot episode of La Brea (2021), the timey-wimey story of a family of Los Angelinos who fall into a sinkhole in Wilshire Boulevard and somehow end up in the Pleistocene. If you love ice age megafauna, this episode is for you! The show, maybe not so much. Get in touch with us: Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus): https://tarpits.org/stories/our-evolving-understanding-dire-wolves Smilodon: https://tarpits.org/stories/smilodon-saber-tooths-and-tigersoh-my Teratornis merriami: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-giant-bird.htm Megatherium: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-was-megatherium.html Marcus (1960) A Census of abundant large Pleistocene mammals from Rancho La Brea: https://web.archive.org/web/20220226104339id_/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/226856 Spencer et al. (2003) Taphonomic Analysis of Large Mammals Recovered from the Pleistocene Rancho La Brea Tar Seeps: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4096974.pdf La Brea Woman: http://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi02v.php

Happy Holidays! To celebrate the season we’re reviewing The Christmas Quest (2024), a brand-new Hallmark movie starring Lacey Chabert as an archaeologist searching for the lost treasure of Iceland’s Yule Lads. Josh regales us with stories of his Icelandic/Canadian heritage, from prune cake to giant classist cats to the witch living in his grandmother’s attic. Get in touch with us: Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Gryla and the Yule Lads: https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/the-icelandic-yule-lads-and-gryla Icelandic patronymic surnames: https://www.routesnorth.com/language-and-culture/icelandic-last-names-a-simple-guide/ Icelandic Runic Alphabets: https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/a-guide-to-icelandic-runes The Galdrabók (Icelandic Book of Magic): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galdrab%C3%B3k Necropants: https://guidetoiceland.is/connect-with-locals/aldasigmunds/the-necro-pants-revisited The Rosetta Stone: https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-rosetta-stone Geographic coordinate system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system Jólabókaflóðið: https://jolabokaflod.org/about/founding-story/ One in ten Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/444296-most-published-writers-per-capita Snowmance (2017) trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WeODKICqxA Hot Frosty (2024) trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmi794YO-0w Kilchurn Castle, Scotland: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/kilchurn-castle/ Kæstur hákarl (fermented shark): https://yourfriendinreykjavik.com/fermented-shark-iceland/ Harðfiskur (hard fish): https://grapevine.is/food-main/2016/06/30/food-of-the-week-hardfiskur/ Vinarterta: https://macleans.ca/society/life/dont-ask-icelanders-how-to-make-their-traditional-christmas-cake/ Pönnukökur: https://www.cietours.com/en-ca/blog/recipe-icelandic-pancakes Dimmuborgir: https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/dimmuborgir UK Escalator PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zirp59zm1qE