麻豆社

In this third omnibus, Katherine Rundell explores four animals that have lived alongside humans for centuries - sometimes feared, sometimes revered, often misunderstood.

We begin with the hippopotamus, a creature of myth and diplomacy, once gifted to royalty and imagined to snort fire. Though powerful and deadly, pygmy hippos are now endangered, their habitats shrinking fast. Then we meet the pig - intelligent enough to play video games, yet still subject to extinction. From ancient cave art to courtroom trials, pigs have long fascinated and unsettled us. Next, Katherine Rundell reconsiders the chicken - the most numerous bird on Earth, bred into biological extremes, yet capable of problem-solving and play. Finally, we turn to the mouse: resilient, intelligent, and essential to medical science, yet vanishing in the wild as habitats disappear.

Together, these essays ask us to look again at the familiar - and to see the extraordinary within.

Presented and Written by Katherine Rundell
Produced for 麻豆社 Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan and Sophie Anton.