Ira Flatow

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1,345 appearances 25 recordings 2 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 4d ago

Ira Flatow’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 25 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 6.

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Science Friday · The long history of birds, from velociraptors to pigeons · 28 Apr 2026 podcast

Steve Brussati is a paleontologist and author of the new book, The Story of Birds, a new history from their dinosaur origins to the present.

He's based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Welcome back, Steve.

Good to have you back.

You know, I think of you more as a dinosaur guy, as we have talked over the years.

Why change suddenly your focus to birds?

Never more, you might say.

So how does the evolution work?

Give us an idea here, because not all dinosaurs became birds, right?

Well, didn't we already have flying dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx?

I mean, were they not birds?

Or what's the difference in the definitions?

Well, if velociraptors, for example, had feathers, why didn't they just develop wings and fly?

Well, is it because those big dinosaurs died out after the collision on Earth and the little ones survived?

That's why the birds we have are smaller?

And if the seeds had survived long enough, let's say a year or two in the ground, could they have sprouted and been an additional source of food?

We have to take a quick break, but don't go away.