TV
'Eons: Life and Death on Pangea' explores Earth's most catastrophic mass extinction
Blake de Pastino, who got his start in Albuquerque, co-hosts the new PBS series
Storytelling is at Blake de Pastino鈥檚 core.
As one of the four hosts of 鈥淓ons: Life and Death on Pangea,鈥� de Pastino aimed for the show to have a universal appeal while telling the history of dinosaurs.
鈥淚 pitched the show to PBS years ago and storytelling is the most powerful way to get the message across,鈥� de Pastino says. 鈥淲e put a lot of emphasis on humanizing dinosaurs. It鈥檚 about helping people connect the dots between life in Pangea and the life of today.鈥�
De Pastino is the one host who is not a scientist or paleontologist. His co-hosts for the series are Michelle Barboza-Ramirez, Kallie Moore and Gabriel-Philip Santos.
鈥淓ons: Life and Death on Pangea鈥� is streaming on the PBS app, PBS.org, the EONS YouTube channel. A new episode in the six-part series premieres each Wednesday through Aug. 26.
De Pastino says production for the episodes took place in Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Joggins, Nova Scotia, Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard in Boston, Montana DNRC Conservation Seedling Nursery and University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.
鈥淚 lobbied really hard to film in New Mexico,鈥� de Pastino says of his adoptive home state. 鈥淗opefully, we鈥檒l be able to shoot an episode during a future season.鈥�
De Pastino got his start in entertainment while living in Albuquerque from 1991 through 1999.
The series explores the 鈥淕reat Dying,鈥� the most catastrophic mass extinction in our planet鈥檚 history, when more than 80 percent of Earth鈥檚 species vanished. Through stunning animations and newly created, scientifically informed reconstructions of prehistoric plants and animals, the series immerses audiences in a world of supercontinents, mega-monsoons, bizarre creatures, and planet-shaping catastrophes.
鈥淓ons鈥� began nearly a decade ago via YouTube and has amassed more than 757 million video views and 3.17 million YouTube subscribers. The six-part series is the franchise鈥檚 expansion into long-form TV.
Barboza-Ramirez and Santos met in college and are now co-hosts of the series.
Barboza-Ramirez鈥檚 journey to science has been a complicated one.
鈥淚 was not interested in science growing up,鈥� Barboza-Ramirez says. 鈥淭hen I took a geology class and began to learn these wild stories and my life was changed.
Santos jumped on board for the series because of the connections it makes.
鈥淲hen 鈥楨ons鈥� started in 2017, I followed them because I loved what they were doing and I grew up watching PBS,鈥� Santos says. 鈥淪hows like 鈥榃ishbone鈥� really pushed me into paleontology. Then MB (Barboza-Ramirez) was asked to audition and we began this journey together. It鈥檚 been a great opportunity for the team to educate through fun practices."
Barboza-Ramirez says 鈥淓ons鈥� isn鈥檛 just for those interested in science.
鈥淚f you have a curiosity, the show is for you,鈥� Barboza-Ramirez says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e telling the stories behind the rocks that are under our feet. Every rock tells a piece of the story. We want to be able to answer some of the questions.鈥�
In correlation with the series, Barboza-Ramirez and Santos also participate in 鈥淐osplay for Science,鈥� a group that attends comic conventions and teaches through pop culture characters.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much science woven into pop culture,鈥� Santos says. 鈥淲e pull on the science threads and let people engage. We are all regular people. We don鈥檛 always wear a lab coat. We come together to tell the stories of the past and educate the future generations.鈥�
Adrian Gomez is a freelance writer for the 近距离内射合集. He works for the New Mexico Film Office, focusing on industry research.
