Hypothesis is a podcast for academics and anyone who is curious. Join us each week as we discover new things and explore new ideas! Our host, Ira McIntosh, sits down with PhD students, Masters students, professors, and those well on their way to journey through their research and demystify academia. Break down the culture of misinformation with us!
30. What Jewelry Remembers with Dr. Maria Maclennan
Hello Scholars!
This week on Hypothesis, I’m joined by Dr Maria Maclennan, an award-winning interdisciplinary designer, researcher, and forensic jeweller at the University of Edinburgh. We talk about the history of jewellery, how adornment communicates identity, and why jewellery is so deeply intertwined with memory, mourning, death, and the people we leave behind.
For the articles discussed in this episode, check out our Substack! iramcintosh.substack.com
You can follow Dr Maria Maclennan on Instagram at @forensicjewellery and find her on LinkedIn.
You can follow us on:
TikTok: @thegayethnographerInstagram: @hypothesispod and @iraamcintoshYouTube: @thegayethnographerSubstack: iramcintosh.substack.com
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If you'd like to submit a question to our guests, feel free to DM us on Instagram, email us at podcasthypothesis@gmail.com, or leave us a voice message at SpeakPipe.com/HypothesisPodcast!
Funky (sting) by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Theme Music is: Sweaty Linen by Surf Ninja 3
Thank you for listening!
21 Sept 2026
29. Sex, Toxins, and Sage Grouse with Eric Tymstra
Hello Scholars!
What can one very weird bird teach us about climate change, sex, evolution, and even ourselves?
This week, I’m joined by behavioral ecologist Eric Tymstra, a PhD candidate at UC Davis studying the greater sage-grouse—an extraordinary bird whose elaborate mating displays are connected to everything from the toxic plants it eats to the rapidly changing ecosystem it calls home.
We talk about how climate change can alter the chemistry of plants, why invasive grasses can completely transform wildfire regimes, how conservation of one species can protect an entire ecosystem, and why sage-grouse mating grounds can be studied almost like marketplaces.
We also get into sexual selection, why “sperm is cheap” in evolutionary terms, what animal behavior can, and absolutely cannot, tell us about humans, and why research that looks obscure from the outside can end up advancing science far beyond the species being studied.
For the articles discussed in this episode, check out our Substack!iramcintosh.substack.com
Follow Eric:TikTok & Instagram: @eric_wyld
Follow Hypothesis:TikTok: @thegayethnographerInstagram: @thegayethnographerYouTube: Hypothesis PodcastLinkedIn: Ira McIntoshSubstack: iramcintosh.substack.com
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#HypothesisPodcast #BehavioralEcology #ClimateChange #Evolution #ScienceCommunication
14 Sept 2026
From My Desk 4
Hello Scholars!
How do you actually change a system?
In this week’s From My Desk, we remember Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem—two women who moved through the world in dramatically different ways, but left it changed behind them.
Drawing on research into social movements, we’re asking what separates a victory from lasting success. Is change about winning the law, the protest, or the argument—or about shifting the relationships, institutions, narratives, and expectations that make up the system itself?
From Gloria’s explicitly feminist organizing to Dolly’s radical commitment to dignity, forgiveness, and building things that could outlive her, this episode is about movements, cultural change, and why the most important parts of a legacy might be the things that keep working after you’re gone.
Because maybe legacy isn’t what people remember about you.
Maybe legacy is the infrastructure you leave behind.
For the articles discussed in this episode, check out our Substack!iramcintosh.substack.com
Follow Hypothesis:TikTok: @thegayethnographerInstagram: @thegayethnographerYouTube: Hypothesis PodcastLinkedIn: Ira McIntoshSubstack: iramcintosh.substack.com
Subscribe, rate, review, and share with your friends!
#HypothesisPodcast #SocialChange #GloriaSteinem #DollyParton #Sociology
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5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
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Ira McIntosh host the show. Published by Ira McIntosh.
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