Aussie classic Babe turns 30 this year, and its story of the little pig that achieves his dream of being a sheep dog is still as uplifting as the day it premiered. But we can't say "that'll do, pig" when it comes to the science....By now, we know pigs aren't "definitely stupid", but how smart are they? Would an orphaned pig be taken in by a family of dogs? Could a pig really learn to herd sheep? And would Babe really stay so small for so long?Dr Ann Jones sniffs out the porkies Hollywood told us in this poignant pig picture. Featuring:Dr Daryl Sparkes, Senior Lecturer (Media Studies and Production) at the University of Southern QueenslandProfessor Chris Johnson, Ecologist and Conservation Biologist at the University of TasmaniaAssociate Professor Suzanne Held, Behavioural Biology and Animal Welfare at the University of BristolBabe (1995), Universal PicturesProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerNat Tencic, ProducerRebecca McLaren, ProducerIsabella Tropiano, additional masteringThis episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
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25:17
Hollywood lied to us: The Birds
If you have a fear of getting swooped by magpies, mobbed by seagulls or blinded by crows, perhaps Alfred Hitchcock is to blame.His 1963 horror classic The Birds created a generation of ornithophobes, and played on our fears of death by feathered fiend. But how accurate are his creepy corvids? Do birds of a feather flock together exclusively? Can a bird go all 'Here's Johnny' on a locked door? Do birds hold grudges?Dr Ann Jones gets a bird's eye view of Hollywood's avian lies.Featuring:David Stratton, Australian film criticAssociate Professor Lucy Aplin, Research School of Biology at the Australian National UniversityDr Corrie Ackland, clinical psychologist, Sydney Phobia Clinic The Birds (1963), Universal PicturesFurther reading:Nearly 3 Billion Birds Gone, Cornell UniversityProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerRebecca McLaren, ProducerNat Tencic, ProducerIsabella Tropiano, additional masteringThis episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
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25:18
Hollywood lied to us: Antz
Remember that 1998 film Antz? The one about an ant named Z?The one where the ants had nightmare-inducing human teeth? The one we probably have to blame for the existence of Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie?Considering the movie is all about ants, you'd think it'd get SOMETHING right about ants. But Hollywood has once again LIED TO US.Do male ants have any jobs outside the boudoir? Can ants breathe? Do ants have creepy little human teeth?Ann Jones sets out to be pedANTic and find the facts in the fiction.Featuring:Dr Kirsti Abbott, ant lover and head of science at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern TerritoryAntz (1998), DreamWorks PicturesFurther reading:Social isolation causes mortality by disrupting energy homeostasis in antsProduction:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerNat Tencic, ProducerRebecca McLaren, ProducerIsabella Tropiano, additional masteringThis episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Taungurung, and Kaurna people.If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
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25:18
Hollywood lied to us: Cocaine Bear
In 1985, a real American black bear consumed a bunch of cocaine that'd been dropped from a plane into the forest, and died.Nearly 40 years later Hollywood stepped in the rewrite the story. What would happen if the bear survived? Maybe it'd go on a coke-fueled rampage. That's how it works, right?Cocaine Bear (2023) launched a lot of memes, but does it get anything right about bears, or how they'd act under the influence of blow...or did Hollywood lie to us?Would a black bear really eat a drug dealer alive?Do bears do 'snow' *wink* angels?Dr Ann Jones cuts through it all to get some serious answers. Guests:Nate Bowersock, Black Bear and Furbearer Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation, Chair, The BearWise ProgramDr Ben Kilham, founder Kilham Bear CentreNat Tencic, What the Duck?! producer Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerNat Tencic, ProducerIsabella Tropiano, additional masteringThis episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna people.If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
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25:16
Hollywood lied to us: Jurassic Park
Quick! Think of a ‘dinosaur movie’. Chances are Jurassic Park (1993) was first to mind. Steven Spielberg’s genetic nightmare/theme park gone wrong classic is so iconic that it inspired a generation of kids to study palaeontology, and reinvented our modern popular idea of dinosaurs. But does that idea still stack up? Could you really clone a triceratops from DNA found in an ancient mozzie? Did dilophosaurus really look like a frill-necked lizard? And aren’t dinosaurs supposed to be feathery? Ann Jones cracks into how Jurassic Park did (and didn’t) lie to us. Featuring: Dr Travis Holland, Senior Lecturer in Communication at Charles Sturt University, host Fossils and Fiction Podcast Tim Richards, Lecturer at the University of QueenslandAssociate Professor Cameron Webb, Mosquito Expert, NSW Health Pathology & University of Sydney This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna people.If you want to hear more "What the Duck?" episodes- please like and subscribe here.
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