Have you ever wondered what a drastic change in your diet could do to your system? In the summer of 2025 Ilse Donker ate only wild foraged food for three months. She did this in the context of the Wildbiome Project. This project, set up by Monica Wilde in the UK, investigates the effects on the gut microbiome of eating exclusively foraged food for an extended period.

The official results of the project are still being processed, but in this conversation with host Jess Shaw Ilse gives us a fascinating insight into the effects the experiment had on her sense of wellbeing.

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In this episode of EXARC Extracts, Matilda Siebrecht reads through the articles in issue 2025/3, the third and last episode of the EXARC Journal in 2025, sharing her insights and reactions to the surprising range of research shared within.

This year's third issue of the EXARC Journal includes eight reviewed articles and three mixed matters articles. As always, the articles cover a very wide range of topics. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past.

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In this episode of the EXARC Show host Phoebe Baker chats with Markus Klek about his exciting - and sometime scary - hike up to the location where Ötzi the Iceman was found in 1991. The hike required a good deal of strenuous climbing and brought challenges Markus had not encountered before. It was another opportunity to test his equipment and to gain more understanding of what it means to be trekking in a mountainous environment in Stone Age gear.

Markus is an independent researcher focusing on indigenous and prehistoric skin processing technologies, as well as related work in bone, antler and ivory tools. He has published three books on leather and leather-related technologies and has run a successful business centering on prehistoric leather working, Paläotechnik, since 1996.

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