Media
Podcast interviews, press blurbs, video appearances in the name of science:
2023
These Hips Don't Lie: How a collaboration between La Brea Tar Pits and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center reveals social structure in Ice Age saber-toothed cats. Public discussion for “Saber-Tooth Summer”, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum.
Jurassic Park 30 years on—will we bring back extinct animals from the dead? Big Ideas with Natasha Mitchell, Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Should we bring back the woolly mammoth? SXSW experts talk ethics behind de-extinction. Austin-American Statesman.
2022
“Le voyage du cheval d’Eurasie.” L’odyssée des Animaux - ARTE documentary series.
Reversing Extinction. Future Forums panel, Museums Victoria, Australia.
Cats give the laws of physics a biiiiig stretch. The Atlantic.
Mountain lions are eating California wild donkeys. Why scientists say this is a good thing. Los Angeles Times. (syndicated nationally)
This million-year ecosystem survived six ice ages. Now it’s dying. KCRW radio interview. (in audio though missing from written piece)
Burro-ing into the past. EurekAlert! (press release; syndicated globally)
Meet the Alf Museum’s trailblazing new curator. Claremont Courier front page feature.
Episode 359 - Mairin Balisi & Laura Tewksbury (La Brea Tar Pits) - Rodeo Vampire. The Purrrcast podcast.
2021
These hips don’t lie: 3D imaging of a pelvis suggests social care for saber-tooths. Stories, NHMLAC.
The animals that may exist in a million years, imagined by biologists. Unexplainable on Vox Media.
In Our Nature: The Mystery of Earth’s Disappearing Giants (co-presented by Emily Graslie). It’s Okay to Be Smart on PBS Global.
Prehistoric wild dog found at iconic human fossil site. National Geographic.
Episode #38: A Dog’s Day at the Tar Pits with Mairin Balisi. Paleo Nerds Podcast.
Baby Mammoths Were Meals for These Saber-Tooth Cats. The New York Times.
Dr. Mairin Balisi, Tar Pits Carnivores. Meet Your Museum, La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.
Prehistoric dire wolves looked different than those on ‘Game of Thrones,’ study suggests. NBC News.
2020
Saber-toothed cats were surprising heavyweights. National Geographic. (credited as “La Brea Tar Pits”)
Digging Into Dog Bones. Naturalist (NHMLAC Member Magazine), Nov/Dec 2020.
National Fossil Day: Let's Tour! La Brea Tar Pits. Alf Museum of Paleontology.
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2020 – A Voyages Smörgåsbord. The Voyages Podcast.
PeerJ talks to Mairin Balisi. PeerJblog.
The (Fossil) Dog Days of Summer. Fossil Friday Chats, Alf Museum of Paleontology.
2019
Feast your eyes on the first-ever photos of a silver-backed chevrotain in the wild. PBS NOVA.
George RR Martin in The Fish Bowl with Chris Long. Chalk Media.
New fossils capture million-year timeline of life after the dinosaurs died. PBS NOVA.
Kevin’s Tank of Gas Getaway: La Brea Tar Pits. KGET News.
Voices of La Brea - Bonus Episode. The Common Descent Podcast.
2018
Go Fact Yourself with Jordan Morris and Alison Rosen. Maximum Fun.
Prehistoric dogs with Mairin Balisi pt 1. Space Cave.
Prehistoric dogs with Mairin Balisi pt 2. Space Cave.
What can ancient dog poop reveal about an ecosystem? Massive Science.
Ancient poo reveals extinct dogs crunched big bones. Nature.
Extinct doggos' bone-crushing diet preserved in fossil poop. Live Science.
Ancient ancestors of dogs and wolves had a bite so strong it allowed them to crush and eat BONE, scientists find by analyzing fossilized feces. Daily Mail.
(The age of these coprolites seems to have caused confusion. Like the bones, they are between five and six million years old. The last of the Borophagus bone-cracking dogs went extinct around 2 million years ago, but these poops were deposited by an earlier Borophagus species.)
2017
Life in Los Angeles was brutal for saber-toothed cats. Popular Science.
Saber-toothed cats paid a stiff price for lunch. The New York Times.
The dangers of being a saber-toothed cat in Los Angeles 12,000 years ago. Phys.org.
Sabre-toothed tigers in ice-age Los Angeles had bad back trouble. New Scientist.
(If you have visited the La Brea Tar Pits, then you probably know that saber-toothed cats were not tigers.)
2013
Black gold. The Economist.