What on Earth?!
What On Earth?! is a podcast about the planet we live on - and the many questions it raises. From fossils and volcanoes to rocks, landscapes, and the forces shaping Earth beneath our feet, each episode breaks down an Earth science topic in a clear and engaging way.
No prior knowledge required: we focus on the ideas, stories, and discoveries that help you understand how Earth works and why it matters. If you’ve ever looked at a rock, a map, or the ground beneath you and thought “what on Earth is going on here?” - this podcast is for you.
What on Earth?!
What on Earth are rocks and minerals?!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In our second episode of What on Earth, we dive into the building blocks of our planet - minerals and rocks - and clear up some of the most common confusions right from the start.
We begin by asking a deceptively simple question: what exactly is a mineral? From there, we walk through the key criteria a substance needs to meet to earn that title - naturally occurring, solid, ordered, and chemical (yes, science does love its rules).
Once the minerals are sorted, we zoom out and talk about rocks: what makes them different, how minerals come together to form them, and why not every solid thing you find on the ground qualifies as either. We explore the three main rock families - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic - and how each tells a different story about Earth’s history.
We also explain how geologists actually describe rocks: from texture and grain size to structure and composition, turning what looks like “just a stone” into a record of pressure, temperature, and time.
By the end of the episode, the ground beneath your feet feels a little less ordinary - and you might never look at a rock the same way again.