Episode 979: Steve Brusatte on “The Story of Birds”
Newt's World
Gingrich 360
4.6 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 May 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Newt talks with Steve Brusatte, paleontologist and bestselling author of “The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present.” They discuss a recent fossil discovery in China, a gigantic, long-necked dinosaur found at a construction site that may approach the largest known dinosaur sizes. Brusatte compares these massive sauropods—potentially 100 feet long and 50–60 tons—to modern aircraft. Brusatte reflects on his role advising Jurassic World filmmakers, contrasting his technical academic work with the opportunity to reach mass audiences through films and popular books. They also discuss the modern scientific consensus that birds are living dinosaurs: a surviving, flight-capable branch of the dinosaur family that flourished after the mass extinction. Brusatte likens dinosaur diversity to that of mammals today, emphasizing that many dinosaurs were small and that birds are the dinosaur equivalent of bats—highly specialized, small-bodied fliers within a larger group. He notes that while non-avian dinosaurs died out in the asteroid impact, birds represent the last remnant of this once-dominant lineage. They discuss how birds have become extraordinarily successful: while there are about 6,500 mammal species, there are likely 10,000–15,000 bird species, meaning roughly twice as many bird species as mammals today.
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:08.6 | Welcome to Neut's World Podcast on the IHeart Podcast Network. |
| 0:13.2 | I have to say that watching President Trump in China was sort of amazing. |
| 0:18.0 | I mean, from the time we got off the airplane and there were hundreds of young children there, to the kind of meetings he had to Xi Jinping, to watching him leave, almost like he was reluctant to get on the airplane. |
| 0:31.0 | He kept talking to people. And again, I had the same, I think, 500 young people out there. Based on what both the Chinese have put out |
| 0:39.6 | and what the White House has put out, this may have been a very important and very successful |
| 0:46.4 | meeting. Important in that I think they're dealing with artificial intelligence. They're dealing |
| 0:52.7 | with how the U.S. and China should relate. They're dealing with how the U.S. and China should |
| 0:55.0 | relate. They're dealing with solving trade problems. And I just had a sense that the agreements |
| 1:00.7 | were far better and far more than I expected. And I think that it's really encouraging sign |
| 1:08.1 | to see the president dealing with Xi Jinping in this kind of a setting. |
| 1:13.9 | Coming up, I'm joined by one of my favorite people, paleontologist and bestselling author, |
| 1:20.8 | Steve Brissette. We're going to discuss his new book, already a bestseller, The Story of Birds, |
| 1:26.8 | a new history from their dinosaurinosaur Origins to the |
| 1:29.9 | present. That's next. |
| 1:37.3 | I am really pleased to welcome back my guest, Steve Broussett. He is an American paleontologist, |
| 1:43.4 | the chair of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and the author of the international bestseller, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, and also the international bestseller, The Rise and Rain of the Mammals. He's also the paleontology advisor on the Jurassic World Film franchise. |
| 2:01.5 | His new book, also a bestseller, is The Story of Birds, a new history from their dinosaur origins to the present. |
| 2:10.3 | Steve, welcome, and thank you for joining me again on Newts World. |
| 2:14.7 | Mr. Speaker, always a pleasure. |
| 2:16.2 | I've loved doing these chats over the years, and I've always |
... |
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