A Life In Ruins

Latest Episodes:

University of Sheffield Shutdown of the Archaeology Department - Ep 60 Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

In this special episode, we discuss the potential closing of the Archaeology Department at Sheffield University with Dr. Umberto Albarella and Helen Thompson. Dr. Albarella is faculty in the Archaeology Department and Helen is a Ph.D. student in the program. They fill us in on what's going at the University of Sheffield, the events leading up to this current controversy, and what we can do to help.

Please sign the petition in the description below. Let's do what we can to support our colleagues in the field of archaeology.

Contact For Guests:

Helen's Instagram: @_helenthompson
Helen's Twitter: @HelenThompson42
Dr. Albarella's Sheffield Department Page: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/archaeology/our-people/academic-staff/umberto-albarella
Dr. Albarella's Twitter: @UAlbarella
Dr. Albarella's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umberto.albarella.1

Save Sheffield

Save Sheffield Archaeology Instagram: @savesheffieldarchaeology
Save Sheffield Archaeology Petition: https://tinyurl.com/eanznsw
Save Sheffield Archaeology Website: https://sites.google.com/view/save-sheffield-archaeology/home

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

ArchPodNet

APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com
APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet
APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet
APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet
Tee Public Store

Affiliates

Ethnomusicology and Archaeomusicology with Dr. Mason Brown - Ep 59 Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Mason Brown, a guest assistant professor for Kathmandu University Department of Music and Affiliate Scholar for the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Asian Studies.

We delve into his early interests in ethnomusicology / Tibetan culture and get into the details of what ethnomusicology is.

Dr. Brown talks about music theory, pentatonic scales, and all the instruments he plays. We also talk about some evidence for the earliest musical instruments in the past and finish up with a discussion about the history of fiddle music.

Literature Recommendations

Guest Contact

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mason.brown.90/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqe2uJD26i7-4kjVbUvC7KA

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Affiliates

Pirates of the World with Dr. Jamie Goodall - Ep 58 May 31, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we are chatting with Dr. Jamie Goodall. Dr. Goodall is currently a staff historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History and has just released a book about pirates. Her new book is titled, Pirates of the Chesapeake: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars. We grapeshot her with questions about pirates and she enlightens us. So sharpen your sabers and load the muskets, and be prepared for this interview to be pirated across the internet.

Literature Recommendations

Why We Love Pirates: The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He Changed Piracy Forever by Rebecca Simon
Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570–1740 by Mark G. Hanna
National Geographic Pirates & Shipwrecks by Jamie L. Goodall

Guest Contact

Instagram and Twitter: @l_historienne
Website: jamiegoodall.com

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Links

Affiliates

Just The Boyz but it's Revolutionary - Ep 57 May 24, 2021

Show notes

For this episode of Just the Boyz, the hosts attempt to discuss the events leading up to the American Revolution and the first year of the fight for America's Independence from the English Crown.

Early on in this episode, you can tell that hosts have a lot to say without a really coherent plan as to how to say it. The guys are all over the place with this episode, but you can definitely get a sense of their passion for this topic.

And yes, Carlton did mix up King George III with King George V. He's been binging The Crown recently.

Literature recommendations:

1776 by David McCullough
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn
Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 by Mary Beth Norton
The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution: Forgotten Black Heroes by William Cooper Nell

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

APN Links

Affiliates

Our Ruined Lives with Morgan Kinney - Ep 56 May 17, 2021

Show notes

In this edition of Our Ruined Lives, Morgan Kinney, a graduate student at Adams State University, joins the hosts to talk about his career in cultural resources management. Morgan is pursuing an M.A. in CRM, which provided an opportunity for the hosts to discuss the differences between a CRM-based M.A. and a general Anthropology M.A.

We close the episode with a discussion on Morgan's experiences in Archaeology Sci-Comm through TikTok. Morgan's TikTok, archaeowolf, is one of the most engaged archaeology-centered accounts on the platform, and the hosts are curious about how Morgan combats against pseudo-science and how he addresses questions from the public. Also, Carlton goes on a tangent about Morgan's aircraft content.

Guest’s literature recommendations:

1) In Small Things Forgotten by James Deetz

2) JSTOR - Yup, just JSTOR

Guest Contact

Instagram: @archaeowolf

TikTok: @archaeowolf

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Archaeology Podcast Network:

Affiliates

The Cowboys of Science II: Dr. Spencer Pelton Returns - Ep 54 May 03, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Spencer Pelton returns to the show to chat with the hosts about becoming the Wyoming State Archaeologist. Dr. Pelton first appeared on the show as the featured guest for Episode 1, almost two years ago! We dive into the responsibilities of being the Wyoming State Archaeologist and how it differs from most other State Archaeology Offices. Following up on that conversation, we discuss Spencer's current research projects as the State Archaeologist, and some of the more interesting calls he receives from the Wyoming public. The episode concludes with a dialogue about the late Dr. George Frison. We talk about why he was so significant to the field of archaeology and his legacy at the University of Wyoming and Plains Archaeology.

Dr. Pelton's media recommendations:

Contact For Guest: (Twitter, email, etc.):

Google Dr. Spencer Pelton, Wyoming State Archaeologist

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Affiliates

SAA 86th Annual Conference: An Indigenous Response May 02, 2021

Show notes

In this special edition of the A Life in Ruins Podcast, Carlton co-hosts an episode with Emily Van Alst, Ash Boydston-Schmidt, and Kay Mattena. The four discuss the recent SAA controversy surrounding the "Curation, Repatriation, and Accessibility: Vital Ethical Conversations" session. Specifically, the “Has Creationism Crept Back into Archaeology?” presentation.

The four Indigenous scholars discuss their thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the content of the presentation, their disappointment in the SAA for platforming the talk, the future of the SAA, and how the society can improve its ethics and better support its Indigenous scholars.

Lastly, they discuss the fallout from the presentation and how some non-Indigenous scholars are taking advantage of Indigenous trauma to further their own careers, and how non-Indigenous scholars can truly be allies to Indigenous people.

Guest's literature recommendations:

Indigenous Archaeology by Joe Watkins
Archaeologies of the Heart edited by Kisha Supernant, Jane Eva Baxter, Natasha Lyons, and Sonya Atalay
R words by Tuck and Yang
Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai-Smith
Considering the Denigration and Destruction of Indigenous Heritage as Violence in Critical Global Perspectives on Cultural Memory and Heritage: Construction, Transformation and Destruction by George Nicholas and Claire Smith
We Are Dancing for You Native Feminisms and the Revitalization of Women’s Coming of Age Ceremonies by Cutcha Risling Baldy
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmer

List of scholars to search:

George Nicholas
Vine Deloria
Phil Deloria
Roger Echo-Hawk
Larry Zimmerman
Chip Colwell
Steve Silliman
Zoey Todd
Gloria Anzaldua

Guest Contact

Carlton Shield Chief Gover:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pawnee_archaeologist
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaniArchaeology
email: carlton.gover@colorado.edu
Kay Mattena
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oh_kay13
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MattenaKay
email: K.Mattena@umass.edu
Ash Boydston-Schmidt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashinthestars
Emily Van Alst
Emily Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/emilyvanawesome
Emily Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyvanawesome

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Affiliates

Just the Boyz: Clovis Organized Crime Syndicate (allegedly) - Ep 53 Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

The hosts discuss four hypotheses for the arrival of humans into the New World: Beringian Land Bridge, Coastal Highway, Solutrean, and Oceanic. They discuss the early Paleoindian site complexes such as Folsom and Clovis in which David (allegedly) reveals the existence of the Clovis Organized Crime Syndicate.

A large part of the episode centers around "pre-Clovis" sites and whether they would belong to the Coastal Highway or Solutrean hypotheses. According to Carlton, the Solutreans crossed the Atlantic to get that sweet, sweet Old Bay seasoning. #OldBayAllDay

We wrap up the show with a discussion about which hypotheses each host believes explains the archaeological record best.

Recommended Literature:

David J. Meltzer 2010: First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America
Dennis. J. Stanford, Bruce A. Bradley & Michael Collins 2013: Across Atlantic Ice: The Origin of America's Clovis Culture
Tom. D Dillehay 1997: Monte Verde: a Late Pleistocene settlement in Chile, Vol.2, The Archaeological Context and Interpretation
Jon M. Erlandson et al. 2007: The Kelp Highway Hypothesis: Marine Ecology, the Coastal Migration Theory, and the Peopling of the Americas

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Affiliates

Our Ruined Lives with Hip Hop M.D. - Ep 52 Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we are excited to chat with Maynard Okereke, who goes by the Science Communicator persona: Hip Hop M.D. Maynard is a Science Communicator, Entrepreneur, Engineer, and Digital Media Producer who tells us about his undergraduate journey at the University of Washington, his post-college career, and what inspired him to create Hip Hop Science.

Maynard is passionate about Science Communication and uses his knowledge of science to help inspire minorities and youth by bridging the gap between music, entertainment, and science - encouraging more diverse involvement in the S.T.E.M. fields.

Hip Hop Science website: https://www.hiphopscienceshow.com/

Instagram: @hiphopscienceshow

YouTube: Hip Hop Science

Contact

Email: alifeinruinspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @alifeinruinspodcast
Facebook: @alifeinruinspodcast
Twitter: @alifeinruinspod
Website: www.alifeinruins.com

Affiliates

Rowe, Rowe, Rowe Your Boat - Ep 51 Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we chat with Chris Rowe, a returning guest who originally appeared in Episode 12. We begin by catching up with him on his life and his work situation through Covid. After that, we talk about the potential of an archaeology trade school while also discussing the CRM and academic divide. Chris and the cohosts delve deeply into the curation crisis, what it is, what are some contributors to this crisis and ultimately suggestions on how future archaeologists can change the status quo in regards to curation.

Video: https://youtu.be/hxDI6b4Z8cc

Contact For Guest: (Twitter, email, etc.):

Chris’s Instagram: @crowemagnon.man

Chris Rowe’s literature recommendations:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Fifth Beginning: What Six Million Years of Human History Can Tell Us about Our Future by Robert L. Kelly

Contact