Just the Zoo of Us

Ellen's thinking about those Mexican jumping beans & Christian takes things slow with the slow worm. We discuss bean details, the strategic value of random movement, hair pencils, the difference between snakes and legless lizards, autotomy, and so much more.

Links:

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, evolutionary biologist and herpetologist Dr. Mark D. Scherz, for a look through the magnifying glass at miniaturized animals. Our guest studies species who have shrunk down to incredibly small sizes, like frogs and chameleons who could gather on the tip of your finger, and he has some fascinating insights into why and how animals get so darn itty bitty and what could be stopping them from getting any itty bittier. We discuss silliness in scientific names, assuming a spherical frog in a vacuum, chameleons called B. nana, whether jawbones spark joy, how many brain cells...

Christian walks to the beat of the American woodcock & Ellen throws shade at camel spiders. We discuss peent, walking with rhythm to attract the worm, beak smooches, chain e-mails, girl dinner, ant massacres, and so much more. 

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, animal care educator and advocate Sarah Bessie (the "Hedge Chef") for a review of the prickly little roly polies: African pygmy hedgehogs. We discuss built-in hoodie strings, standing jeans, biomimicry in sports equipment, mobile charcuterie, what to do with your skirt when you gotta go fast, all the ways hedgehogs fail to beat the witchcraft allegations, and so much more.

Links:

Christian is up a creek without a paddlefish & an unusual deep-sea worm becomes the butt of Ellen's jokes. We discuss a previous guest getting electrocuted for shark science, hot takes on the whole direwolf de-extinction thing, the unexpected hybridization of the sturddlefish, why pigbutt worms are like that, statistically insignificant haters, and so much more. 

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, author Brooke Hartman, for a look at some of the animal kingdom’s most deceptively adorable assassins. We discuss evolutionary arms race, hot ones for mice, Mr. Yuck, an insect isekai, a toxic honeypot, and so much more. These cuties are slaying more than just their prey.

Links:

Ellen & Christian share stories, observations and inspiration from special guest: you! We discuss Benedict Cumberbatch's turkey gang, my squirrel mech grandma, Twitch plays deep sea ROV dives, hear me out cakes, smuggling budgies, house vultures, and more.

Links:

Ellen goes nuts for the eastern gray squirrel & a little bird told Christian about the budgerigar (AKA parakeet). We discuss the MaxFunDrive, Pikachu, the e-nut, squirrel crime, fluorescent feathers, spicy air, Bluey, and so much more. 

Links:

It’s not MaxFunDrive without a wild kickoff spectacular! Former real-life VJ and host of MTV's Spring Break 1999, Dave Holmes, takes your favorite MaxFun hosts through some wacky ‘90s- and Spring Break-themed mini games!!

Featuring: Dave Holmes, Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya, Dimitry Pompée, Hal Lublin, Tom Lum, Ellen Weatherford, Alex Schmidt, Brenda Snell, Drea Clark, Alonso Duralde, Dan McCoy, Jordan Morris, Manolo Moreno, Ella Hubber, Caroline Roper, Ella McLeod, John-Luke Roberts, Justin McElroy, Clint McElroy, Mike Cabellon, Sierra Katow, Hal Lublin, Danielle Radford, John Moe, Christian Dueñas, Christian Duguay.

Eurovision Dance Party Playlist on Spo...

In a continuation of our dinosaur double-feature, Ellen is joined by a paleoartist and marine biologist for a review of the ancient giants that towered over the late Jurassic world: Brachiosaurus.

We discuss bringing ancient dinosaurs to life with art, puking on company time, paleontology patch notes, the pros and cons of having an inflatable noggin, skibidi gorillas, and so much more.

Links:

Ellen & special guest, paleontology educator Christian Flores, review the towering icons of the dinosaur world: Tyrannosaurus rex. We discuss what we can learn about T. rex from the fossils they left behind and the similarities we can see in their modern dinosaur cousins, as well as bringing T. rex to life through art and narrative, Project Paleozoo, and so much more.

Links:

Christian gives a hoot about the owl-faced kākāpō & Ellen draws a line in the ocean over flying fish. We discuss ghosts of selection past, jug band beats, Pliny the Elder, pyramid eyeballs, Rihanna's nod to an international maritime dispute, and so much more. 

Links:

Join Ellen & marine biologist Jules Léon for a review of his top 3 favorite pinnipeds. We discuss galumphing, Prada eels, a species made up entirely of geminis, walkout songs, beachmasters, super weaners (don't worry, it makes SO much more sense in context) and so much more.

Links:

Love is literally in the air as Ellen locks in with albatrosses. We discuss aspect ratios, snot gutters, dynamic soaring, romance, divorce, 18th century poetry, Taylor Swift, and so much more.

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, bat biologist Dr. Alyson Brokaw, for an up-close look at some of the furry friends fluttering through our night skies. We discuss tortilla chip aroma, anatomically accurate Edward Cullen, screaming into the void, butt blankies, and so much more.

Links:

Christian takes to the skies with flying snakes. We discuss the beginning of the Year of the Snake, collapsible teeth, the physics of flight, Dragonology, and so much more.

Links:

Join Ellen & parasite ecologist Dr. Chelsea L. Wood for a review of some bizarre and fascinating creatures that, despite their tiny size, impact our world and even our very selves in more surprising ways than you might expect. We discuss Osmosis Jones, frogs with too many legs, disco-eyed snails, mind control, an existential crisis, a ghost from Cretaceous oceans, fossil poop, and so much more.

Links:

Ellen pulls no punches with the box jellyfish. We discuss jellyfish venom, kingslayers, emergency vinegar, what not to do when you get stung, Snell's window, learning, balance, ocean jellification, and so much more. 

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, ecologist and wildlife photographer Holly Daniels, for a review of a real small wonder: the hazel dormouse. This extra-cozy episode pairs well with curling up in a soft comfy nest as we discuss fluffy tails, treetop snoozing, charming little forest bridges, exploding nests, the joy of finding beauty in your own backyard, and so much more.

Links:

Christian leaves out milk and cookies for the Christmas Island red crab & Ellen goes for a silent night flight with elf owls. We discuss inside-out lungs, crab plows, yellow crazy ants, special eyes, silent feathers, TikTok trends, and so much more.

Links:

Join Ellen & sea turtle ecologist Rushan bin Abdul Rahman for a review of everyone’s favorite hamburger-shaped reptiles. We discuss the life of a sea turtle nurse at a beach resort in the Maldives, planes that shoot lasers for science, D&D character ideas, questionable parenting, turtle exorcism, cool scars, a surprise appearance from Kylo Ren, candy corn, and a great big compliment sandwich for sea turtles.

Links:

Ellen chills out with the wood frog & Christian goes ballistic with the titan triggerfish. We discuss cryostasis, the dark forest hypothesis, going Super Saiyan, a toxic mystery, and so much more.

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, behavioral zoologist and science communicator Thomas Green, for a look at some of the fascinating ways animals get close to each other. We’ll talk about the diversity of affections between animals, lessons we should learn from the way animals mate and some lessons we probably shouldn’t, bust some myths, make a REALLY good pun about cricket song frequencies, and so much more.

HEADS UP: This episode is about courtship and mating behaviors, so naturally a lot of this conversation is about sex. As usual for this podcast, the discussion isn’t graphi...

Ellen gets carried away by leafcutter ants. We discuss Disney mistakes, power scaling, farming, domestication, obligate symbiosis, air conditioning, existential crisis, and so much more.

Links:

In this week’s episode, we are joined by science communicator Fred the Orca Man for a review of the iconic wolves of the sea. We discuss whale taxonomy, menopause and motherhood, hunting strategies using fluid dynamics and straight-up lying, what’s up with the yacht thing, the dead fish fashion trend that’s taking the marine world by storm, and so much more.

Links:

Christian gets snippy with the American lobster.  We discuss New England, split colors, immortality, flirting with pee, big meaty claws, grocery store tanks, and so much more.

Links:

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from May of 2021, Ellen reviews the ocean's most adorable monsters, sea otters, & Christian rates the dazzling blue-ringed octopus.

Links:

Ellen is joined by biologist/paleontologist Meaghan Wetherell for a review of the slimiest breakdancers in the world: jumping slugs. We discuss science communication through video games, how slugs flirt, confusing Darwin, why a biologist’s fridge might be filled with mossy little salsa containers, and so much more. 

Links:

A free sample of October's bonus episode: a review of vampires!  Head over to https://maximumfun.org/join/ to sign up and get ALL of our bonus content!

Ellen gets a really good look at the ogre-faced spider & Christian gets cozy with Honduran white bats. In this festively themed episode, we discuss ephemeral eyes, hearing with legs, casting nets, rowing through the air, huddling under leaves, navigating with sound, and so much more.

Links:

In this week’s episode, we are joined by comedy podcasting and tabletop roleplaying legend Griffin McElroy for a review of the squishy pugs of the Antarctic seas: Ross seals. We discuss which ninja turtle we are, the Victorian era magnetic crusades, haunting siren calls below the ice, bagpipes, thick raptors, and so much more.

Links:

Christian gets toxic with strawberry poison dart frogs & Ellen just keeps swimming with clownfish. We discuss the final evolution of oof,  extreme motherhood, matching blue jeans, the conservation status of clowns, fact checking Finding Nemo, and so much more.

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, podcasting powerhouse Steven Ray Morris, for a long-anticipated review of those furry little predators that have inspired devotion and admiration for thousands of years: the cat. We discuss the history of humans’ relationship to cats, ancient Egypt, fluid dynamics, how they manipulate the laws of physics, the future of cats in space, what makes each cat special to us, and so much more.

Links:

Ellen fawns over the viral pygmy hippopotamus & Christian goes big with the harpy eagle. We discuss the evolution of hippos, blood sweat, poocoptering, Moo Deng, smooch breaks, sloth staredowns, and so much more.

Links:

Spider scientist Dr. Sebastian Echeverri returns to share with us his top 3 favorite spiders. We discuss spiders who go from moving like shadows to soaring through the air, spider cowboys with sick lasso moves, wife guy spiders who move in on the first date, how spiders appear in video games and movies and how they could be so much cooler, and of course so much more.

Links:

Christian hoots with siamangs & Ellen hollers with laughing kookaburras.  We discuss defying gravity, how screaming fits into any good morning routine, birds' double-barreled voices, the true identity behind the SpongeBob dolphin sound, and more.

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, science communicator Lucca of Lucca's  BioHub, for a look back on the half-a-billion year history of bugs. We discuss ancient millipedes as long as a horse, whether we’d rather fight 2 million ant-sized humans or one human-sized ant, the arms races and tiny empires and intertwined symbiotic relationships that have shaped the very planet into the world we know today, and so much more.

Links:

Ellen gets the ball rolling with dung beetles & Christian jaws away about the giant moray eel. We discuss tiny boots, field trips to the planetarium, The Mummy (1999), secret jaws, why moray eels make that face, teamwork on the reef, fact checking The Little Mermaid, and more.

Links:

We're out traveling this week! In the meantime, please enjoy this episode of Bugs Need Heroes, in which Ellen joined hosts Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman to settle a debate: are shrimps bugs? Are mantis shrimps shrimps? We discuss how they may or may not be turning into crabs and what they might think of sunsets. Tangents include Godzilla, weddings, pet store stories, internet memes, Sailor Moon and anime translations. Originally aired on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast on June 23, 2024.

Links:

Join Ellen & special guest, biodiversity champion Kai Gómez D'hers, for a journey through the skies of Argentina on some of the biggest wings in the world. We’re talking about the important role of scavengers as nature’s sanitation engineers, the cascading impacts of poison on entire ecosystems, how communities can work together to make ecological miracles happen, what’s up with the puppets, and so much more. 

Links: