S8 Ep1226: Stephen Moss, Part Two: Moss explores the Raven, a bird of deep mythology and intelligence, appearing in Norse legends as Odin's

The John Batchelor Show · Aug 10, 2026 · 37m

Stephen Moss, Part Two: Moss explores the Raven, a bird of deep mythology and intelligence, appearing in Norselegends as Odin's messengers and in modern culture like Game of Thrones. Though often seen as harbingers of doom in works by Shakespeare and Poe, Ravens are highly adaptable and have successfully recolonized urban areas. The narrative shifts to the Cormorant, whose guano fueled a 19th-century fertilizer boom that enriched businessmen while exploiting Chinese indentured laborers. This led to synthetic fertilizers, which Moss argues have caused a decline in farmland birds like the Gray…