Best Tony Santore Podcasts (2024)

1
Death Valley Botany with Matt Berger 2:00:47

2d ago2:00:47

2:00:47

In this episode we talk with Botanist Matt Berger about Death Valley Plants, discovering new species, Limestone endemic plants, Dune Beetles, Desert Shrimp, specifist.ecology and more.By Tony Santore

1
The Other 99% of Life on Planet Earth : Couch Microscopy with Dr. Julia van Etten 2:20:17

9d ago2:20:17

2:20:17

This conversation will make you want to buy a microscope and will make you rethink the way you envision the Tree of Life, where animals, plants and fungi are just a tiny speck on the overall tree of life. Dr. Julia Van Etten (of the @Couch Microscopy Instagram page) talks about what the hell a Protist is and where you can find them (everywhere). We…

1
Western Railroading, Sobriety, & Male Archetypes 2:13:42

9d ago2:13:42

2:13:42

In this episode we take a break from botany-related content to talk with my friend and fellow former locomotive engineer and railroader Lance Jenkins about railroading, sobriety, sad male archetypes in the US, stealing overtime, precision scheduled railroading and how it's responsible for the wreck in East Palestine Ohio, "The Sun Train", and a who…

1
Diatomaceous Earth, Horse Cripplers & Leaf Blowers 1:23:24

13d ago1:23:24

1:23:24

South Texas Sandsheet, Uvalde County Botany, Using a Leafblower & Diatomaceous Earth to rid yourself of crabs, what the sh*t is a Heterokont aka Stramenophile, Texas Men Will Be Able to Admit Having Feelings in 2028, and moreBy Tony Santore

1
Hunter Martinez aka Cactus Quest 1:44:41

20d ago1:44:41

1:44:41

In this episode we talk with Hunter Martinez of the Cactus Quest YouTube Channel about how he got into growing cacti from seed and lurking on them in habitat. We discuss the spirituality of loving plants and deserts, the pros and cons of the collector habit common among this family of plants, why so many cacti grow on limestone geology, and the ben…

1
Riding Trains in Mexico, Contagious Native Plant Gardens,etc 1:18:46

1M ago1:18:46

1:18:46

A series of extended rants about "F*ck the Honeybees", trying to settle beefs between friends, Male Primate Rivalry, Riding Trains in Mexico in 2005 & Brakemen with gold fronts, spreading the cult of native plant gardening via demonstration by example and killing lawns.By Tony Santore

1
Instagram Drug Bros & Cactus Poaching 1:06:56

1M ago1:06:56

1:06:56

A long-winded rant about the social media phenomenon known as Instagram Drug Bros™️ and trying to encourage them to seek spiritual refuge (como se dice nice) in education about plant ecology and evolution rather than just the hoarding and collecting of plants that may have been sourced through somewhat unethical means. Why is plant habitat just as,…

1
Desert Ferns with Dr. Michael Windham 2:03:32

2M ago2:03:32

2:03:32

This is a science-heavy episode with Dr. Michael Windham, specialist in Cheilanthoid Ferns curator at Duke Herbarium. Even if you're not interested in this group, they're a great case study in numerous fascinating phenomena including convergent evolution, biogeography (dispersal vs. vicariance), why DNA sequencing is important to taxonomy, self-clo…

1
An Undescribed Psilocybin sp. in the Desert 1:04:42

2M ago1:04:42

1:04:42

This episode consists of a rant about code-switching and friendship/cordiality through friction and being a pain in the ass, along with why dissecting flowers (and not just taking them at face value) with a razorblade or knife is important for understanding evolution, plant breeding systems and pollination ecology, what being "protogynous" is and w…

1
Fighting Invasive Buffelgrass in Arizona & Restoring Desert Ecosytems 1:32:12

2M ago1:32:12

1:32:12

A conversation with Tony Figueroa, Senior Manager for the Invasive Plant Program at the Tucson Audubon Society (no affiliation with the National Org) about preventing Buffelgrass and Stinknet from smothering fragile Desert Ecosystems in Arizona. We also discuss why some in the "online permaculture community" (oh gahd) have such an aversion to any a…

1
The Closing of Duke Herbarium 1:37:19

2M ago1:37:19

1:37:19

A conversation with Dr. Kathleen Pryer (Director, Duke University Herbarium) and Dr. Michael Windham, (Curator of Vascular Plants, Duke University Herbarium) about the University's Decision to cut costs by closing the herbarium as well as the general trend in modern US Academia of failing to recognize the importance of Botany in society as a whole …

1
Baja Buckwheats, Railroad Stories & Prosopidastrum 1:16:06

2M ago1:16:06

1:16:06

Rants about encountering a cool new legume species in the fog deserts and giant cactus landscapes of Baja California, the diversity of perennial raaaaagweeds in the deserts, Gabbro soils, a buckwheat that produces flowers along the ground, Arugula acting invasive as hell in the Arizona Desert, escaping the cultural disease of Southern California, t…

1
Annotated, Profanity-laden Dichotomous Keys & the Fungal Ecology of Baja Chaparral 1:31:04

2M ago1:31:04

1:31:04

A long, disjointed rant about using and writing Dichotomous Keys and why it's sometimes a process of grasping for straws or throwing a bunch of stuff to a wall to see what sticks, what an ideal floral key might look like if it were written by a neurotic, rambling schmuck fixated on ecology and biogeography. Other subjects include the gradation betw…

1
Javelina Mngmnt, Restoration, & Peyote Vultures 1:19:06

3M ago1:19:06

1:19:06

More Deranged Rants, this time about Javelina Management, Getting City Approval for Cactus Restoration and Street Trees, growing endangered plants from seed, Eocene Sandstone, growing xeric ferns from spore, working the Ozol Local and running freight trains along San Francisco Bay and much moreBy Tony Santore

1
Limestone Desert Ferns, Montezuma Cypress on the Border 1:04:47

3M ago1:04:47

1:04:47

Rants about Montezuma Cypress on the Rio Grande, Cool Desert Ferns in West Texas and the Subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the fern family Pteridaceae, DEA permits for Peyote, Mountain Lions vs. Auodads, kind Caucasian Birders behaving at the Mexican border, funding the research station in South Texas with the nice bathroom, and more.…

1
Watering Before a Freeze, Goliad Gravels 1:13:21

4M ago1:13:21

1:13:21

Rants about South Texas Geology, Geologic Timeline Apps for your D@mn phone, why its better to water before a freeze, being dragged by a freight train leaving Ft. Worth Texas, how much self-hate someone must have in order to lower themselves to the point of patronizing Subway Sandwich shops, and more.…

1
Tucson Again, Agaves, Freezing in NM 1:33:05

4M ago1:33:05

1:33:05

Rants about freezing while trying to sleep in the back of a truck in Lordsburg, New Mexico, why Agaves are monocarpic, the importance of having a "target list" should you ever get diagnosed with a terminal illness, fruit dispersal in Frankenia johnstonii, how rhyolite is just like Satan's play-doh, the biogeography of peyote gourds (Lagenaria sp.),…

1
The Flower That Looks Like a Bird (especially if you're high) & other rants 1:21:50

5M ago1:21:50

1:21:50

A roughly 77 minute rant about how an Australian plant in the legume Family named Crotalaria cunninghamii "looks a like a bird" but only to humans who have smoked copious amounts of weed and certainly not as a product of natural selection, how glyphosate works and why it's the lesser of two evils when used for restoration and invasive plant managem…

1
How Do Chollas Bang 2:04:06

5M ago2:04:06

2:04:06

Michelle Cloud-Hughes is a Cactus researcher, botanist and Desert Rat who specializes in one of my favorite cactus genera - Cylindropuntia: the genus of the dreaded Chollas. She has described a new species of Cholla, Cylindropuntia chuckwallensis, and spent 2 decades trudging up mountains and rockscapes of the Mojave, Sonoran and Baja Desert. In th…

1
Plant Anatomy with Jim Mauseth 1:34:16

5M ago1:34:16

1:34:16

Jim Mauseth is a wizard with a microscope and a retired professor of plant anatomy at UT Austin, where he taught for 30+ years. Jim is an expert in Plant Anatomy with an emphasis on Cacti. In this podcast we talk about anatomical adaptations of cacti and why palms are not true trees.By Tony Santore

1
Going to Jail for Botany 1:59:22

5M ago1:59:22

1:59:22

Dr. Peter Breslin is a Botanist out of Tucson Arizona specializing in Cacti, and recently did time in Brewster County Jail for "trespassing" to photograph some rare endemics that only grow on Novaculite (ancient biogenic silica) soils in West Texas. He also helped elucidate some of the evolutionary relationships between species that were formerly c…

1
A Conversation About Peyote with Leo Mercado 1:20:28

5M ago1:20:28

1:20:28

A discussion about Peyote conservation being done by Morningstar Conservancy in Tucson, Arizona and the ethnobotany of the Peyote Meeting, as well as what it means to "listen to the plant".By Tony Santore

1
Dallas Plant Rescue & West Texas Dunes 1:37:36

5M ago1:37:36

1:37:36

In this episode we rant about : Rescuing and digging thin-soiled limestone prairie plants from a soon-to-be-destroyed site in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area weeks before the bulldozers come by to erect a data center or some other obscenity. Moth pollination in deserts, the chemistry and familiar smell of moth-pollinated flowers. West Texas sand dunes Li…

1
Nuevo León & Tamaulipas Cactus Blitz 1:09:52

6M ago1:09:52

1:09:52

Jeremy Spath (owner of Hidden Agave nursery @hiddenagave) and Kevin Krucher (@crazy4cactus) talk about a recent trip through the states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Coahuila to document and explore desert plants and their ecology, including tons of rare species like Lophophora williamsii, Stenocactus phyllacanthus, Astrophytum asterias, Obregonia …

1
Poison Ivy Doesn't Wanna Hurt You 1:28:25

6M ago1:28:25

1:28:25

This entire podcast is about the Poison Ivy & Mango Family, Anacardiaceae. Susan Pell , Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden & John Mitchell from the New York Botanic Garden both specialize in the systematics and phytochemistry of this incredible family of plants. In this episode we talk about the active compound in Poison Ivy, Urushiol, a…

1
The Conspiracy to Drain The Great Salt Lake 1:37:13

6M ago1:37:13

1:37:13

In this episode we talk with Zach Frankl from www Utahrivers.org about the (intentional ) crisis afflicting the Great Salt Lake and why one of the largest inland bodies of water in the world may soon cease to exist, all to enrich lobbyists and feed a sprawling mass of suburban lawns and Alfalfa. More info at : www.4200GSL.org and www.UtahRivers.org…

1
A Conversation with Doug Tallamy 1:06:37

6M ago1:06:37

1:06:37

Doug Tallamy is an entomologist, professor, and the author of a number of books, including "Bringing Nature Home" & "The Nature of Oaks". He has been instrumental in educating people about Native Plants and why removing lawn to plant native plants and restore habitat is essential to mitigating ecological - and civilizational - collapse. Check out w…

1
Make Your Own Soil & KILL YOUR LAWN 1:30:50

6M ago1:30:50

1:30:50

Jeremy Tidd runs Bona Terra Nursery, a native plant nursery in the DC area that grows native plants and also does native landscape installations for people looking to kill their lawns. In this episode we talk about making your own potting soil and fertilizer, using local native ecotypes, regional ecology and the native plant movement in the DC area…

1
DC Botany, Ghost Plant Seeds, Invasion Bio, etc 1:53:50

6M ago1:53:50

1:53:50

In this episode we rant about DC / Baltimore area botany, filming kill your lawn season 2, the glory of Texas leaf cutter ants, the seeds of ghost plant and the whole friggin' phylogeny really, invasion biology and why it's stupid to say "humans are invasive" and more.By Tony Santore

1
Kill Your Lawn Recap 1:05:59

6M ago1:05:59

1:05:59

Very little botany-related content in this session with Al Scorch during an interim during the shooting of Kill Your Lawn Season 2 in College Park, MarylandBy Tony Santore

1
Native Bee Ecology with Sam Droege 2:00:03

7M ago2:00:03

2:00:03

Sam Droege is a scientist who studies bees and bee behavior based out of Maryland. In this episode we talk bee ecology, how to attract them to your yard, their nesting and habitat requirements, why the honey bees are the least of our concerns, what are the kinds of bees that pollinate Peyote, and why our solitary native bees deserve the most attent…

1
KILL YOUR LAWN... & MAKE IT THE LAW. 1:03:17

7M ago1:03:17

1:03:17

This episode is an interview with Jeff & Janet Crouch, who sued their Maryland HOA in 2019 and ended up changing state law. Legislation that was enacted in 2021 now makes it illegal for HOAs in the state of Maryland to force people to have lawns or remove native plant and pollinator gardens in their front yard.…

1
Ethnobotany & Plants You've Never Heard of w/ Anthony Basil Rodriguez 2:04:49

7M ago2:04:49

2:04:49

Anthony Basil Rodriguez is an ethnobotanist from the Bronx, New York that has traveled the world studying wild bananas. In this episode we talked about his travels all over the world and other notable and incredible plants he has encountered, as well as the people that utilize them.By Tony Santore

1
Butterflies and Border Walls 1:47:59

7M ago1:47:59

1:47:59

Marianna Wright is the director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, which provides critical habitat for wildlife in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. The National Butterfly Center was targeted by extreme right-wing activists and conspiracy theorists in 2019/2020, including two of the now-convicted fraudsters behind the private b…

1
Cornell Herbarium, Brooklyn Cactus, VA Buckwheat 1:34:45

7M ago1:34:45

1:34:45

This episode consists of a 90 minute rant about the wonders of Cornell University Herbarium (1 million specimens you schmuck), how a cactus came to grow in Brooklyn, Botanizing a filthy industrial creek in Queens New York, the enigmatic Appalachian shale buckwheat (Eriogonum allenii) of Virginia, giving a talk on plant evolution in lower Manhattan,…

1
Floral Scents & Pollination Systems w/ Dr. Rob Rugoso, Cornell University 1:52:10

7M ago1:52:10

1:52:10

In this episode with Dr. Rob Rugoso from Cornell University we discuss the chemistry of floral scents, how scent evolves (ie Clarkia breweri), night pollination, flowers that trap their pollinators, floral mimicry & more.By Tony Santore

1
Prairie Rants & the Herbaceous Perennial Habit 57:02

8M ago57:02

57:02

A rant about how prairie soils get built, what exactly a "herbaceous perennial" is and why this habit is so relevant and important to remember when talking about the prairie, how important prairie grasses like big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) are to building rich top soil (hunt: it's the roots), etc. Other in…

1
Setting Fire to Suburbia w/ Gerould Wilhelm 2:30:07

8M ago2:30:07

2:30:07

Gerould Wilhelm is one of the two authors of Flora of the Chicago Region - A Floristic & Ecological Synthesis. In this episode we talk about a number of topics, from prairie hydrology, native American belief systems, civilizational ethos and how he sets fire to his suburban yard every year in order to facilitate the diversity of prairie plant commu…

1
Paleobotany with Fabiany Herrera 1:06:39

8M ago1:06:39

1:06:39

Fabiany Herrera is a paleobotanist specializing on a diverse array of time periods and paleofloras, including the Mazon Creek Flora from the Carboniferous when Lycopods were friggin' trees, as well as the utterly bizarre Jurassic and early Cretaceous Bennettitales & Corystospermaceae from the excellently preserved Mesozoic lignite of Mongolia. Many…

1
CHICAGO CONFLICT & GLACIAL TILL SUMMER BASH 1:01:11

8M ago1:01:11

1:01:11

A one hour rant about Glacial Till, Kankakee Mallow, Sand Prairies, Stiff Designs for Native Plant Landscapes, Emulating the "Beautiful Chaos" of the prairie, etc.By Tony Santore

1
How Ancient Glaciers Affect Peyote - a Conversation with Keeper Trout from Cactus Conservation Institute 2:27:25

8M ago2:27:25

2:27:25

Keeper Trout is one of the founding members of Cactus Conservation Institute and a research scientist who - along with Dr. Martin Terry - has studied a number of the cactus species in South Texas for 3 decades in an understudied and underappreciated habitat known as Tamaulipan Thornscrub. In this episode we talk about a broad range of subjects from…

1
Philippines Botany, East Texas Yucca Pollination, etc w/Adam Black 1:27:46

9M ago1:27:46

1:27:46

In this episode we talk about the botany of the Philippines (influenced by a remarkable tectonic setting), volcanic activity, ultramafic soil, "ant-plants" like Myrmecodia (Rubiaceae), Dipterocarpaceae, cloud forests and lowland rainforest) , the psychedelic lichen #Dictyonema , as well as Yucca Pollination on the other side of the globe in East Te…

1
Fighting with City Hall, Star Cactus Mortality, et 1:26:10

9M ago1:26:10

1:26:10

Rants about Fighting with City Hall over Native Plant Gardens & Tree Planting, Creepy New Age "Healers", mortality in Star Cactus (Astrophytum asterias) from the recent drought and heat, Loving-Kindness-Meditations-and-what-the-sh*t, Nasally Belched Vowels in the Chicago Dialect and much more.By Tony Santore

1
New Age Massage Parlors, Philosophical Coping, etc 1:02:20

9M ago1:02:20

1:02:20

Rants about New Age Massage Parlors, Philosophically coping with "the human tumor" & habitat destruction, acid abstinence & 40 year old virgins, black nectar in the genus Melianthus, etc.By Tony Santore

1
A Conversation About Cactus Poaching with Jared Margulies 1:49:32

9M ago1:49:32

1:49:32

Listen to this podcast ad-free on the Patreon at : https://www.patreon.com/CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt Jared Margulies is the author of the upcoming book "The Cactus Hunters", a book focusing on cactus and succulent poaching around the world using a number of case studies from different regions and species. His book is available for pre-order in Septe…

1
Catching up with Kyle Lybarger of The Native Habitat Project 1:35:05

10M ago1:35:05

1:35:05

In this episode we catch up with Kyle Lybarger of the wildly popular Native Habitat Project and talk about seed-collecting, lawn-killing, burn regimes, the benefits and necessity of hunting and much more.By Tony Santore

1
A Conversation About Tabernanthe iboga 1:52:07

10M ago1:52:07

1:52:07

Intro ends at 8:00. Reminder all episodes can be listened to ad-free by subscribing to the Crime Pays Patreon at : https://www.patreon.com/CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt This 1 hour and 40 minute episode covers the ethnobotany, pharmacology, & phylogeny of this psychoactive, potentially-therapeutic member of the Apocynaceae which has recently gained atte…

1
Brazil Atlantic Forest & Cerrado Vegetation Rants 1:35:16

10M ago1:35:16

1:35:16

First 30 minutes occur on a winded, 900 meter elevation-gain hike. A more thorough, less distracted rant starts at 30:00. Rants about Brazilian Atlantic Forests and Cerrado (Seh-Haddo) vegetation, seasonal dryness caused by the ITCZ and Earth's Axis of rotation, converge traits of sclerophyll leaves among unrelated plants families, bizarre members …

1
Geologic German Chocolate Summer Bash & Basalt Flows with Nick Zentner 1:34:46

11M ago1:34:46

1:34:46

Intro ends at 6:30 Nick Zentner is a professor of geology at Central Washington University and host of a in-the-field geology YouTube Channel. He has numerous lectures available online at www.NickZentner.com and is based out of Ellensberg Washington.By Tony Santore

1
Some Notable Remarks On New Zealand's Flora 1:40:39

11M ago1:40:39

1:40:39

This episode is basically a 90 minute rambling rant about New Zealand plants & plant ecology, where by a repeated fascination and fixation is expressed with the evolutionary selection pressures produced by a flora that co-evolved with 9 species of giant, flightless now-extinct birds called Moas. We also touch on new Zealand's tectonic forces, the p…

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Tony Santore Podcasts

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