Weird & Dead

Amy Atwater and Meaghan Wetherell

A podcast about evolution's most embarrassing and bizarre stories as told by two very gossipy paleontologists. Amy and Meaghan happily dish the details on everything from fossilized dinosaur butts to the secret drama behind naming new species. Time for the hottest tea from prehistory!

Listen in PodNod RSS feed Show website

20 episodes
Updated Thursday
Explicit

Episodes20

Newest first

Thursday · 54 min
Fossil Unicorns
We narrow down the closest fossil candidate for that virgin-loving legend, the Unicorn, as Meaghan finds yet another excuse to talk about how cool artiodactyls are. Photos on Patreon! CW: Cursing, animal experiments, dildo discussion, the pitfalls of intelligent design
July 16 · 58 min
Clever Hurl
Filter-feeding pterosaurs and the dinosaurs that ate them and then threw them back up - a love story? CW: Vomit, Vomit eating (for romance), Scavenging (also for romance), Crop milk (platonic), Dinosaur slander, and of course... cursing.
July 2 · 46 min
Exploding Fossil Frogs
Some frogs are explosive breeders. Some frogs just explode. Both have somehow been preserved in lakes in Europe... a lot. CW: Frog death, frogs drowning each other during mating, frog researchers forgetting key feminist frog facts, bloat & float & explode as a concept, cursing Images for this episode are available for everyone on Patreon!
June 18 · 51 min
The Evolution of Scrotums
What makes a scrotum a scrotum, why do they exist, and why is Meaghan so good at answering quiz questions about them? CW: Testicles & mockery thereof, animal castration, hernias, cursing
February 11 · 1 hr 33 min
The Epstein Files and Paleontology
This episode is a little different than our normal content. There are several paleontologists mentioned in the latest release of the Epstein files, and the official response to that has been... underwhelming. In this episode we tell you about the facts within the files, the paleo people identified, some important context, and the reasons that events like this concern us and negatively affect paleontology as a field. CW: sexual assault, sexual harassment, Epstein's convictions for sexual assault of a minor, PTSD symptoms, eugenics
January 1 · 56 min
Bonus: Turtle Mouth Madness
At least one soft-shelled turtle pees mostly out of its mouth. This Patreon exclusive episode takes you down winding pathway from throat stalactites to shark dissection to vegan gardening practices (it's related, we promise). Images and a whole season of full-length exclusive episodes are on Patreon! CW: Urine, dissection of sharks, experimentation on turtles , teasing of vegans, pre-eclampsia and birth, turtles just being generally bad
Dec 18, 2025 · 47 min
Bonus Episode: Giant Lemurs
Happy holidays! Here’s a bonus episode we’re releasing to the public as a holiday gift for you, all about Amy’s favorite: Lemurs! And specifically, how they used to be enormous and maybe interested in crushing birds. Art (and a whole season worth of exclusive episodes) is available on our Patreon. CW: Cursing, discussion of the crushing of said bird, the general concept of Aye-Ayes.
Nov 6, 2025 · 43 min
Megatherium the Stabber
From carnivorous armadillos to the serial stabbing experiments of a self-described 70 kg male with no special training in any sporting discipline but who seems to have a very vicious cat, this episode is a wild, wild ride. But would you truly expect any different from xenarthrans? CW: Cursing, drug testing, the vegan police, a man stabbing meat and facing off against cats, sloth baby murder
Oct 16, 2025 · 38 min
Freaky Fingers, the Return
Evolution continues to be disgusting as we dive into the multipurpose functionality of Aye Aye and Striped Possum fingers. CW: Boogers, Aye Ayes just generally, cursing, and somehow puppy play (you know, the kink that Google apparently thinks Meaghan has)
Oct 2, 2025 · 51 min
Freaky Fingers Pt 1
Sometimes evolution isn’t just weird, it’s weirdly indecisive. Let’s talk about the multipurpose mishaps that led to Iguanodon’s hoof-knife-tentacle combo and the extending butterknife palms of Pandas. Now with fixed audio featuring also Amy! CW: jokes about dildos, sex acts, and rude hand gestures. Cursing. Discussion and mockery of Meaghan’s current ganglion cyst. We do call extra fingers weird or freaky, but this is specific to animals and does not cover polydactyly or humans.
Sep 4, 2025 · 49 min
Worms & Dead
There is a worm that has fins and an Elizabethan collar of venomous fangs. It looks like someone glued false lashes to a tiny translucent manatee, and it might be the reason that clams are starting to kill people. Let's talk about arrow worms! CW: Swearing. Jokes about penises. Impacts of modern climate change.
Aug 21, 2025 · 46 min
Birds That Make Milk
Some birds (and thus, dinosaurs) make milk in a special part of their throat called the crop. Let's talk crop milk, crop cheese, shrimp smoothies, and why pterosaurs were pink. CW: a befowling of milk and cheese as concepts. Gagging noises. Eating of roadkill (theoretical). Swearing.
Aug 7, 2025 · 51 min
Fossil Rodents of Unusual Size
Or rather, unusually interesting size. To some. Let's talk giant beavers and the biggest rodent of all time, Josephoartigasia. CW: Body shaming of big rodents (not us!), cursing, statistics.
Jul 24, 2025 · 48 min
The Glory of Gonopods
From crazy three-legged millipede fossils to the sexy club hands of spiders, this episode is all about where arthropods put their genitals. Specifically, their chins and feet. Videos and images are on our website weirdanddead.com! CW: Spiders and other arthropods. Cursing. Sex acts only a millipede could dream up.
Jul 10, 2025 · 44 min
Radioactive Dinos
Dinosaurs and horses and Amy loudly shouting out radioactive elements to antagonize her husband, oh my! This episode covers the perils lurking behind locked and poorly ventilated cabin doors - specifically, radioactive bones. CW: Cursing, cancer and theoretical nastiness caused by radioactive poisoning, Chernobyl, Meaghan's stuffed up nose
Jun 26, 2025 · 42 min
Bloat & Float
Ankylosaurs, ichthyosaurs and nonexistent narcissistic krakens! Let's talk about why Ankylosaurs are found upside down, and what really happened at Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. Time to bloat up & float along. CW: Cursing, Pseudoscience, Dead Animals & Decay
Jun 12, 2025 · 48 min
Fossil Urine
Time to discuss yet another body secretion that you probably didn't think could fossilize. Urine marks, urine that became rocks, and rocks that formed in urine - we've got it all, baby! CW: Body fluids, cursing, turtles doing horrible physiological things, animal death
Dec 31, 2024 · 28 min
Bonus Episode: Chameleons
Thanks for an excellent first year! Here’s a bonus episode where Amy demonstrates she’s learned more about Chameleons since we started (kinda). Images are on weirdanddead.com CW: Cursing
Dec 24, 2024 · 26 min
Bonus Episode: Rugose Corals
Meaghan loses her mind about how gross rugose corals are. Try evolving something that doesn’t involve genetically manipulating your babies, you lonely jellyfish-emulating losers. CW: cursing. Gagging noises.
Oct 23, 2024 · 56 min
Dino Sex
It may not have happened in lakes but it certainly did happen – so how? Let’s dive into fossilized cloacas, theoretical genitals, and the impracticalities of sexing a dinosaur. CW: sexual content, genitalia, brief discussions of nonconsensual sex between animals, Nanotyrannus, making fun of old white men

Weird &amp; Dead

Fossil Unicorns

Clever Hurl

Exploding Fossil Frogs

The Evolution of Scrotums

The Epstein Files and Paleontology

Bonus: Turtle Mouth Madness

Bonus Episode: Giant Lemurs

Megatherium the Stabber

Freaky Fingers, the Return

Freaky Fingers Pt 1

Worms & Dead

Birds That Make Milk

Fossil Rodents of Unusual Size

The Glory of Gonopods

Radioactive Dinos

Bloat & Float

Fossil Urine

Bonus Episode: Chameleons

Bonus Episode: Rugose Corals

Dino Sex

Weird & Dead