{"podcast":{"title":"Bedrock: Earth's Earliest History","slug":"bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111","podcast_index_feed_id":4890111,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/bedrock/","website_url":"https://www.bedrockpodcast.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/34ee9905-8cf0-4e69-bebf-e80566ab6988/ukXddByeTkHOe-lZVcWcWuBY.jpg","author":"Dylan Wilmeth","episode_count":77,"summary":"This podcast starts at the beginning of Earth's prehistory and works forward through time. Bedrock will explore the first 90% of Earth’s past, a time known as the Precambrian Era. Before humans, before dinosaurs… there was the Precambrian. The Earth was an incredibly alien world, but not a dead one. Along the way, you will build a mental toolkit to see the world like a geologist. You will never look at a mountain, the moon, or pond scum in quite the same way again. Welcome to Bedrock. For transcripts, visuals, and references, check out https://www.bedrockpodcast.com","last_synced_at":"2026-07-16T00:21:49.622247+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111"},"episode":{"title":"49: The Fossil Quest","slug":"49-the-fossil-quest","published_at":"2025-11-05T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111/49-the-fossil-quest","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111","url":"https://bedrock.captivate.fm/episode/49-the-fossil-quest","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/1a71a9aa-21a2-4def-be08-9da9339835e8.mp3","summary":"Many folks have claimed to find Earth's oldest fossils in the Greenland rocks, 3.7 billion years old. Before we meet and judge these contenders, we need to learn what counts as a fossil. This early in Earth history, nothing has any bones or teeth or shells, so researchers need to search for other clues. Today, I'll show you four ways to look for fossils in Earth's oldest rocks, including my personal field of study: fossilized bacteria. Extra Credit: Find different types of organic carbon in your day, or eat a burger.","meta_description":"Many folks have claimed to find Earth's oldest fossils in the Greenland rocks, 3.7 billion years old. Before we meet and judge these contenders, we need t…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1876,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111/episodes/49-the-fossil-quest/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111/49-the-fossil-quest.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}