Today we talk about the Permian–Triassic extinction event, colloquially known as "The Great Dying" - the absolute closest life on Earth has ever come to being completely wiped out.

Long before the asteroid hit the dinosaurs, a far more devastating crisis took place 252 million years ago. It didn't happen in a single afternoon; instead, it was a prolonged, agonizing planetary collapse that ultimately erased roughly 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates from existence. In this episode, we are digging into the horrific chain reaction that triggered the ultimate apocalypse.

We’ll explore the culprit behind the chaos: the Siberian Traps, a massive complex of volcanic vents that erupted continuously for hundreds of thousands of years. We trace how these eruptions choked the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, ignited buri ...