Adapt or Die! The Evolutionary Biology of Pop Culture

Darwin did not expect to have "his" theory applied to pixelated creatures...this is payback for taking the limelight over Wallace. On Adapt or Die, Austin (a PhD candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) explores topics in popular culture that can be dissected with evolutionary theories and ideas. We will ask questions like "Does Pokémon evolution work like actual evolution?" or "How would evolution inform what lives and what dies after nuclear fallout". Combining peer-reviewed science, humour, and a smidge of speculation we will adapt our understanding of pop culture together.

Contributors

Host

Austin Ashbaugh

Austin Ashbaugh is an award-winning podcaster. His work in podcasting debuted with the archived podcast "Putting the queer in queery" which was awarded the 2023 science communication award from the Canadian Society of Zoologists. He has obtained his B.Sc. in Zoology and his M.Sc. in Ecology and Evolutionary biology from the University of Calgary. He is currently working on his Ph.D as a candidate with a focus on the evolution of dental complexity in hoofed mammals and carnivorans at the University of Calgary. Austin has experience teaching a wide variety of organismal biology courses ranging from human anatomy, through evolutionary biology, to vertebrate and invertebrate zoology.