Ep. 139: Funganista - From Music Stardom to Mycological Obsession (feat. Andy Overall)

10/09/22 • 85 min

Today on Mushroom Hour we are graced by the presence of mycologist and musician Andy Overall. Andy has had a fascinating journey from the Blue Zoo and pop stardom back through the hedges and woodlands when he became interested in mushrooms back in the early 1990’s. He realized he needed something else, another interest other than his involvement with music. Growing up as a boy during the 60’s in the English, market town countryside, of Braintree, Essex he nurtured an interest in nature...And then along came David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and everything changed course for a while! Later in life his rekindled interest in fungi evolved into obsession as he began to see an infinite variety of fungal species appearing before him and he wanted to get to know them all. Since his obsession began, Andy has published magazines, countless articles and in 2017 his first book all about fungi - “FUNGI-Mushrooms & Toadstools of Parks, Gardens, Heaths and Woodlands”. He is the fungi recorder for the London Natural History Society and a Group Leader in the London Fungus Group. I’m excited to learn about the mycological journey of a culture creator, artist and naturalist and his explorations into what he so poetically dubs, “the jewels in nature’s crown”
TOPICS COVERED:

From Wilderness to Ziggy Stardust
Birth of Blue Zoo
Shifting from Pop Stardom to Mycology
Evolution of the Amateur Mycology Community
Professional Surveying for Fungi
Insights from Biodiversity Databases
Making Better Decisions About Forest Management
Role of DNA in Fungal Surveys
Heathrow Airport Cortinarius
Contributions of Amateur Naturalists
Tips to Making Better Observations
Process of Mushroom Spotting & Identification
Ethnomycology Travels in Oaxaca, Czech Republic, Australia
Published and Unpublished Works of Gaston Guzman

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Andy Overall Website: http://www.fungitobewith.org/
London Fungi Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/LondonFungusNetwork/
British Mycological Society: https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/
Blue Zoo Website: http://www.bluezoo.org.uk/
Roger Phillips (Legend): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Phillips_(photographer)
Marcel Bon (Mycologist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Bon
Mark Spencer (Botanist): https://markspencerbotanist.com/
GIGL: https://www.gigl.org.uk/londons-open-spaces/
Cortinarius heatherae (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_heatherae
Laetiporus sulphureus (AKA Chicken of the Woods): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus

From Wilderness to Ziggy Stardust
Birth of Blue Zoo
Shifting from Pop Stardom to Mycology
Evolution of the Amateur Mycology Community
Professional Surveying for Fungi
Insights from Biodiversity Databases
Making Better Decisions About Forest Management
Role of DNA in Fungal Surveys
Heathrow Airport Cortinarius
Contributions of Amateur Naturalists
Tips to Making Better Observations
Process of Mushroom Spotting & Identification
Ethnomycology Travels in Oaxaca, Czech Republic, Australia
Published and Unpublished Works of Gaston Guzman

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Andy Overall Website: http://www.fungitobewith.org/
London Fungi Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/LondonFungusNetwork/
British Mycological Society: https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/
Blue Zoo Website: http://www.bluezoo.org.uk/
Roger Phillips (Legend): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Phillips_(photographer)
Marcel Bon (Mycologist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Bon
Mark Spencer (Botanist): https://markspencerbotanist.com/
GIGL: https://www.gigl.org.uk/londons-open-spaces/
Cortinarius heatherae (fungus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_heatherae
Laetiporus sulphureus (AKA Chicken of the Woods): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus

Previous Episode

Ep. 138: Paleontology & Prototaxites - Mysteries of the Gigantic, Paleozoic Fungus (feat. Dr. Kevin Boyce)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of being joined by Dr. Kevin Boyce, Professor of Geological Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Boyce's research is focused on the biological and environmental impacts of the evolution of plant structure, development, and physiology from the Paleozoic colonization of land through the subsequent radiations of land plant forms up to and including the Cretaceous radiation of flowering plants. This work involves both living and fossil plants and a wide variety of approaches: developmental and physiological investigation, climate modeling, comparative study of morphological diversity, and cell and tissue-specific analysis of elemental, isotopic, and organic chemistry. These tools have been applied to three connected areas of research that each inform wider questions concerning the evolution of terrestrial environments: 1. the evolution of leaf morphology, development, and physiology with feedbacks to climate and primary productivity, 2. the evolution of cell wall biochemistry and its influence on organic matter burial as a sink in the carbon cycle, and 3. the establishment of early terrestrial life and ecosystems encompassing the complete biota including animals, fungi, and microbial communities in addition to the plants. I’m excited to learn about the coevolution of plants and fungi, prototaxites and how we learn about organismal evolution and community assembly from the ancient past.
TOPICS COVERED:

The Path into Paleontology
Geobiology & Defining Geological Eras
Fungal & Plant Fossil Records
Absolute Time & Relative Time
Evolution of Plant Physiology
Coevolution of Plants, Bacteria, Fungi and Animals
Stochastic "Rules" of Community Assembly
Geochemistry
Genetic Tools and Phylogeny Changing Paleontology
Prototaxites
Biochemical Signatures of Heretrophs and Autotrophs
Piecing Together a Paleozoic Landscape
Lifestyle, Physiology and Growth Rate of Prototaxites
Future Work into the Cenozoic

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Dr. Kevin Boyce Academic Website: https://biology.stanford.edu/people/kevin-boyce
Dr. Boyce Paper on Prototaxites: https://awarticles.s3.amazonaws.com/Boyce2007.pdf
Prototaxites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototaxites
Geologic Time Scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_time_scale
"Wonderful Life" by Stephen Gould: https://wwnorton.com/books/Wonderful-Life/
Lycopodium (clubmoss genus): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopodium
"Stinkhorn" Mushrooms: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/stinkhorns.html

Next Episode

Ep. 140: Dropping Spores in Singapore & Bewildering Mycelium Creations (feat. Ng Sze Kiat)

Today on Mushroom Hour we the privilege to get to know mushroom cultivation artist Kiat. Kiat is the founder of Bewilder, a Mycological Design Studio based in Singapore. As the one-man R&D team behind this project, Kiat knows his science! For him, growing mushrooms is an intense and carefully tuned process that also blends in a fair bit of artistry and intuition. Before founding Bewilder, Kiat worked on a local farm cultivating mushrooms out of waste substrates. These years of experience and experimentation formed him into the self-taught mushroom cultivator he is today. As he explores ever more mysteries of growing fungi, he continues to bow his head humbly to the ways of nature.
TOPICS COVERED: