ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
Welcome to The Ecological Bestiary, the podcast that treats the D&D Monster Manual like a real-world field guide... because the real world is magical too.
Join host Kevin Matteson (PhD in Ecology) and his adventuring party—Mike (Forever DM & Science Teacher), Rachel (Climate Educator), and Cassie (Wildlife Expert)—as they bridge the gap between tabletop roleplaying games and real-world science.
Each expedition, the party tracks down a classic fantasy creature to dissect its fictional ecology and connect it to real-world biology and conservation. How would a Gelatinous Cube actually digest its prey? What real-world fungal networks explain the Myconids?
Whether you are a Dungeon Master looking for richer world-building, a science educator searching for engaging classroom hooks, or a nature lover who enjoys nerd culture, pull up a chair at our tavern.
Grab your dice and your field journal. Keep exploring, because the real world is magical too!
Hosts:
Update frequency:
every 10 days
Average audio length:
44 minutes
English
United States
7 episodes
since July 16, 2026
episodic
IN THIS PODCAST 🔗
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
Out of the cavern's pitch blackness, a massive central eye floats forward, framed by ten writhing, independent stalks. Before your hand can touch the hilt of your sword, a voice reverberates inside your skull: "I have already dreamed your demise..."In this episode of The Ecological B…
SEARCH PAST EPISODES
Search past episodes of The Ecological Bestiary.
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
The air turns bitterly dry, tasting of sulfur and ozone... You feel the heat before you see it, a wave of oppressive warmth that makes your armor feel like an oven... A shadow, vast and terrifying, sweeps across the caldera as a six-ton creature of living myth touches down! In this episode of The E…
You find the missing goblin scouting party just inside the cave entrance, but something is horribly wrong... pulsing fungal stalks erupt from their eyes and joints.In this episode of The Ecological Bestiary, we journey deep into the Underdark to investigate Dungeons & Dragons’ iconic, telepathi…
You haven't found a ghost. You've walked right into the digestive tract of the dungeon's most efficient janitor...In this episode of The Ecological Bestiary, Kevin Matteson and the party break out their 10-foot poles to investigate the ultimate dungeon crawler nightmare: The Gelatino…
An owlbear screech echoes through the dark valley to announce the death of its prey...In this episode of The Ecological Bestiary, we treat the Monster Manual like a field guide to break down the apex predator of the woods: The Owlbear!With a terrifying +5 to Strength and origins dating back to the …
The twilight woods of the Feywild are unnervingly quiet... A low guttural growl vibrates through the trees to your left... But the growl didn't come from the bush, it came from right behind you!In this episode of The Ecological Bestiary, we treat the Monster Manual like a real-world field guid…
Beware the chest you open, travelers… it might just bite back.
In this episode of The Ecological Bestiary, the entire adventuring party rolls for initiative against one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most iconic and terrifying ambush predators: The Mimic.
How does a creature evolve to look perfectly li…
You have seen all episodes of this podcast
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kevin Matteson, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
PODCAST SEARCH ENGINE
You can use our website to search 3,824,022 podcasts and 195,708,739 episodes by people, places, or topics.
If I have seen further than others, it is by listening to podcasts and standing upon the shoulders of
giants.
‐ Isaac "Llamacorn" Newton
SEARCH PAST EPISODES
Search past episodes of The Ecological Bestiary.
CLAIM THIS PODCAST
Why to claim podcasts?
If you are a podcaster, the best way to manage your podcasts on Listen Notes is by claiming your Listen Notes
podcast pages.
It is a great, free way to engage the podcast community and increase the visibility of your podcasts.
After claiming your Listen Notes podcast pages, you will be able to:
✓
Manually refresh the RSS feed to sync up
✓
Get a verified badge (
✓
) alongside with your podcast name on Listen Notes
✓
Post classified ads for sponsorship,
guests, co-hosts,
cross-promotion...
✓
Respond to listener comments on Listen Notes
✓
Use speech-to-text techniques to transcribe your show and
edit transcripts
✓
Improve the presence of your podcasts, e.g., self-service
podcaster interview...
✓
If you share your Listen Notes page and at-mention @ListenNotes
on X (formerly Twitter),
our official X (formerly Twitter) account will retweet to promote
your show to our followers.
Coming soon:
◯ Self-service promotion on Listen Notes
◯ Track your podcast stats on Listen
Notes, e.g., listens, page
views...
◯ Manage episodes
EDIT
Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date.
