{"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":"52: The Thing in the Ice","slug":"52-the-thing-in-the-ice","published_at":"2026-01-08T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111/52-the-thing-in-the-ice","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111","url":"https://bedrock.captivate.fm/episode/52-the-thing-in-the-ice","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/e2c00328-939d-47fc-8f0a-b5d39e49c6b9.mp3","summary":"Until now, all the clues for ancient life have been microscopic, beyond the realm of sight. Today, that begins to change. Ten years ago, a team of scientists showed the world a weird, lumpy rock that they claimed was the oldest microbial colony. Like a sci-fi movie, this specimen was found under melting ice in the high Arctic, unveiled from 3.7 billion years ago. But is it actually a fossil? Welcome to the debate that has defined my corner of geology. Extra Credit: Check your house for hard water damage, or watch The Thing (1982). Want bonus content? Check out the Patreon!","meta_description":"Until now, all the clues for ancient life have been microscopic, beyond the realm of sight. Today, that begins to change. Ten years ago, a team of scienti…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2719,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/bedrock-earth-s-earliest-history-4890111/episodes/52-the-thing-in-the-ice/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-4890111/52-the-thing-in-the-ice.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}