Summary
Come learn about the amazing skills and scandalous romances of the osprey.
Today we talk about Shakespeare, WW2, bad arcade games, and environmentalism. All through the lens of an awesome animal! None of it is off-topic. Seriously. Ospreys are relevant to all of those things.
Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gGHGo0WC3CHZVz1747tjx5yTXvzO2DGmAz2VXoo4GTs/edit?usp=sharing
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Shakespeare's tragedy, Coriolanus, has a strange line about the Osprey, one we wouldn't really get today. |
| 0:12.7 | You don't need to have read the play to enjoy this line or understand why I'm saying it. It's poetry. |
| 0:18.9 | And it opens a window into Shakespeare's era. |
| 0:22.6 | Here's the line. |
| 0:24.3 | Act 4, Scene 7. |
| 0:27.2 | Ophidius says, quote, |
| 0:30.6 | He'll be to Rome as the osprey to the fish, |
| 0:34.7 | who takes it by sovereignty of nature. |
| 0:39.7 | End quote. |
| 0:41.5 | I'll explain. |
| 0:43.4 | People once thought that fish would give themselves up to ospreys. |
| 0:50.2 | There was a sincerely held belief in a natural law of Osprey sovereignty over fish, one that fish obeyed. |
| 1:02.3 | Ophidius is saying that Rome will submit to his rival, Coriolanus. |
| 1:08.8 | But even if we understand the analogy now, we still don't understand its source. |
| 1:16.2 | Today we are going to try to understand the Osprey. |
| 1:22.3 | Pandion, Halliitis. |
| 1:26.4 | I'm Mackin. This is Species. Welcome to the show. Today, Ospreys are going to |
| 1:37.1 | take us down all sorts of awesome avenues, including anti-malarial efforts in World War II, |
| 1:42.8 | the beginning of the modern environmentalist movement, |
| 1:46.0 | and, of course, how awesome ospreys are at fishing. |
| 1:50.4 | Subscribe wherever you can, send the show to someone who likes animals, |
| 1:53.3 | find the show on Facebook and Twitter, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Macken Murphy, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Macken Murphy and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.