In which Joe Madison discusses new avenues of research on the role of microbes in metazoan macroevolution

In which Max revisits Goethe’s weird claim about America lacking basalt with some expert help

In which Max considers the history of the expression “Cambrian explosion” and asks whether it’s here to stay

In which Max asks why Goethe once said in a poem that America has no basalt (huh?)

In which Corey Dethier explores the meaning of scientific graphs and revisits the John Christy climate controversy

In which Max considers the suggestion that archeology is distinctive in its frequent use of arguments from absence, and finds it wanting