Episode 62: The Ruins (2008)

We’re continuing spooky month with The Ruins (2008), which we reasonably assumed was about archaeology. Turns out the actual Maya ruins on which the movie takes place are really incidental to the plot, which is centred on the least scary thing we can imagine. Here’s a list of things scarier than the monster in this movie: caterpillars; the X-Men franchise; poison ivy; AI-written books. Anyway, enjoy the episode. Get in touch with us! Twitter: @SotSA_Podcast Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Email: [email protected] In this episode: Maya architecture: https://www.worldhistory.org/Maya_Architecture/ “Nesting doll” structure of Maya pyramids: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38008546 Maya cities discovered with lidar: https://www.livescience.com/lidar-maya-civilization-guatemala Septicemia is blood infection, not bone infection: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/septicemia “Is there a doctor?” meme: https://imgflip.com/meme/165098350/Is-there-a-doctor-around Beware the Higad caterpillar!: http://avrotor.blogspot.com/2016/01/beware-of-spiny-caterpillar-higad.html The Russian sleep Experiment: Creepypasta: https://www.creepypasta.com/the-russian-sleep-experiment/ AI is writing books about foraging: https://civileats.com/2023/10/10/ai-is-writing-books-about-foraging-what-could-go-wrong/ Water Hemlock – the deadliest plant in North America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicuta Edibility test for wild plants: https://www.backpacker.com/skills/universal-edibility-test/ Safe plants for survival situations: https://www.sunnysports.com/blog/common-wild-plants-can-eat-survival/ Nettle beer recipe: https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/nettle-beer-recipe XKCD on Brassica: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2827:_Brassica