Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs

Episode 37: Farewell TetZooCon

As every year, Marc, Natee and Gemma visited TetZooCon, Darren Naish’ big annual London event about animals, palaeontology, palaeoart and all things tetrapod. And this was a special edition indeed. Not only has this been the last ever edition of the Tetrapod Zoology Conference in its current form (more on which on the show) but we actually gave a talk this time! And what’s more, the talk has been recorded and is included in full on this very special, extra long episode. So indulge yourself, park somewhere if you’re in your car, and enjoy our very final thoughts on a wonderful, bittersweet edition of our favourite event, followed by our live celebration of Fifteen Years of Love in the time of Chasmosaurs: An Ode To Bad Palaeoart.

 

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Episode 36: Sean's Horn and Tudor's Tails (Featuring Sean Rubin)

Rise and shine, the LITC podcast is here again! We have some colourful and pretty gnarly palaeoart to show you from the spectacularly-named Tudor Humphries. For the interview, Marc and Natee discuss the lovely - and somewhat controversial - book The Iguanodon's Horn, with its author and illustrator, the award-winning Sean Rubin. Is making fun of outdated palaeoart tropes fair game? Will we keep comparing dinosaurs to fish? Why is there a tiger in Africa? Will Natee finally admit that T. R. is their favourite dinosaur? Are we big in Japan, like Godzilla? And will we ever, ever, ever, shut up about TetZooCon? Find out none of this and less in episode 36!

 

Show notes on the Chasmosaurs blog!

Episode 35: The Snowball Effect and the Raptor Boys (Featuring Ruadhrí Brennan and Jed Taylor)

We've had a month off, but the famous LITC podcast is back in full strength with more fresh news, nostalgic art reviews and exciting interviews! After discussing the new films and documentaries that are coming our way, we review some very English palaeoart from the late 1970s by the unsung Peter Snowball. After that, Natee and Marc interview the Golden Boys of Dromaeosaurs, 3D sculptor Ruadhrí Brennan and returning LITC interviewee Jed Taylor, whose incredible Velociraptor sculpts have set last year's TetZooCon on fire, and are poised to do the same this year. What new shenanigans are these two up to next? Who illustrated the first Pachyrhinosaurus? Do we actually have listeners in Japan? Which Disney villain does Natee resemble most? Will we turn into a gaming podcast? Find all of this out in episode 35!

 

Show notes at Chasmosaurs!

Episode 34: Tooning the theropods with Maurice and Johan (Featuring Johan Egerkrans)

Happy days, all! Even moreso than usual, our newest podcast episode dives into the phenomenon of stylized dinosaurs, as we discuss whimsical works from the early 70s by Maurice Wilson, whose work is all but forgotten but holds up a treat, and talk to the esteemed Johan Egerkrans whose angular, dynamic dinosaur art has captured the hearts of the palaeo world. Featuring forgotten Disney movies, exciting board games, pleasing shapes and lots of tea.

How do you strike the balance between artistic simplification and accuracy? What draws so many of us to theropods over all other dinosaurs? Can Johan ever escape the colour brown? Are all imitations of Sean Connery just imitations of Eddie Izzard? And can dinosaurs dance the cancan? All of this and more, in episode 34!

 

Show Notes at Chasmosaurs!

Episode 33: Inside Dinosaurs and Return to Crystal Palace! (Featuring Ellinor Michel and Bob Nicholls)

Happy Easter! Lots of cool stuff on episode 33 of the Chasmosaurs podcast. Natee can finally show some exciting stuff they’ve been working on, for a museum in Switzerland no less! Meanwhile, Marc scares all the kids away imitating a posh dinosaur from the Isle of Wight. For our Vintage Dinosaur Art, the crew takes a peek Inside Dinosaurs with a very unusual book about dinosaur anatomy, and Gemma realizes a long held wish as Ellinor Michel and Bob Nicholls come onto the show to talk about an extrordinary project involving a recreation of one of the long lost creatures of Crystal Palace.

What is Bob Nicholls’ own favourite creation? What has been achieved eleven years since the Friends of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs foundation began? Has anyone heard of Bing? Can you feel your own caudofemoralis longus? Is Stegosaurus ever going to escape the dreaded walnut? Can we do a whole episode without triggering Natee’s tryophobia? Seriously, has anyone heard of Bing? And do you have little green dinosaurs running around inside of you, operating your body? Find out in episode 33!

Show Notes on Chasmosaurs.com!

Episode 32: Super Stavros and Strange Solonevic! (Featuring Stavros Svenson Kundromichalis)

Spring has come early, and episode 32 has come late! In this one, Marc, Natee and Gemma discuss the unusual, singular and slightly deranged dinosaurs from the swinging 60s by cult palaeoartist George Solonevic, as it appears in a book called Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs. Marc interviews the esteemed Stavros Svenson Kulindadromaeus Kundromichalis on his fabulous book on the dinosaurs of the Triassic. Have we polished up our Swedish? Will Allosaurus emerge from your wardrobe and swallow you up if you've been bad? Would Solonevic be less well-remembered if his dinosaurs looked more, well, normal? Can Stavros truly recreate every single dinosaur that has ever been described? How do you reconstruct the most obscure dinosaurs? Will Stavros and Johan Egerkrans fight to the death for the crown in the Swedish Palaeoart Brawl? You won't want to miss this one!

And, once again, happy year of the Dragon.

 

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Episode 31: Dragons of Wales and the Hallett View (Featuring Andy Frazer)

Our tremendous trio is back for 2024, but not all things are as they were... mostly they are, though. We get back into the swing of Vintage Dinosaur art, or is that Nostalgic Dinosaur Art? We explore the work of Mark Hallett, the man Marc once declared his Favourite Palaeoartist Ever, as it appears in Stephen and Sylvia Czerkas' Dinosaurs: A Global View, also featuring works by John Sibbick and Douglas Henderson. Then, Marc and Natee interview Andy Frazer, also known as Dragons of Wales, on his creative and provocative palaeoart, as well as his more fantasy-oriented works. Is Hallett still Marc's favourite? Where do the hornlets on Jurassic Park's T. rex come from? Would you kiss a Yangchuanosaurus? What's the worst advice you can give to a budding artist? Is there going to be a permanent item about dinosaur toys on the podcast? (No.) And what was the name of our editor again? Find out in episode 31!

And wish Natee a happy belated birthday!

Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com!

Episode 30: TetZooCon On Ice (featuring everybody)

TetZooCon 2023 is in the bag, and of course, we were there. Join Marc, Natee and Niels as they relay their adventures, the talks, the vendors, the people, the experiences and the catastrophes of the legendary London extravaganza of zoology, palaeontology and palaeoart as it grows ever bigger. Did we all make it to the end? Who was our favourite cosplayer? Have all the Crystal Palace dinosaurs been scanned? Are we finally going to talk video games on here? Are there finally good looking dinosaurs in the Jurassic World franchise? Does Luis Rey love a festive dinosaur? Does The Lost World hold up? And what talk made us most want to vomit? Relive our memories of TetZooCon! Of course, featuring lots of interviews with attendees, vendors, artists and speakers.

 

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Episode 29: Life On Our Planet and Shin Gallimimus (Featuring Emily Stepp & Agata Stachowiak)

Niels, Natee and Marc look forward to TetZooCon, chat about recent museum visits, and continue to shamelessly plug the new merchandise designed by The Founder, David Orr. Then, in lieu of Vintage Dinosaur Art, they – and special guest Agata Stachowiak – discuss the Netflix series Life On Our Planet, in which Morgan Freeman gravels his way through an intriguing mix of modern-day wildlife footage and CGI recreations of creatures from Deep Time. Finally, Niels and Marc discuss unlikely hybrids, how our preconceived notions of certain dinosaurs can deceive us, who should be receiving many more museum commissions, and much more besides with the absurdly prolific artist Emily Stepp.

 

Show notes on chasmosaurs.com

Episode 28: Dinosaur Dioramas and the Beasts of Big Bend (Featuring Asher Elbein)

Marc, Niels and Natee essay a new and improved, that is, much more informal, news section, as we follow up on previous items and comment on two new palaeo media releases. This month's Vintage Dinosaur Art is illustrated with the sculptures of Arthur Hayward and others and is an approach that we at least would very much enjoy seeing a return of in newer publications. Finally, our Lord and Blogmaster, David Orr, makes another very welcome appearance and joins Niels in interviewing writer, Asher Elbein, about his new book, co-written with Cindi Sirois Collins, Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals of Big Bend.

 

Show notes on Chasmosaurs.com!