Why are there so many chicken bones on the street? | THE DVD EXTRAS (PART 1)
Turns out it may not just be people...
This is Manny. You're probably here because you heard us on the "Chicken Bones" episode of Search Engine and thought, "Uhh, sure, I'll check them out." Thank you and welcome. Because we’d love for you to stay tuned on what we do next, we are pretty much begging you to subscribe to this Substack. Subscribing will keep you updated on our very near future, where we’ll be diving into some more zany questions and investigations. Also, the happiness in my life is dependent on the dopamine rushed to my brain after online interactions, so every subscription is going to be critical.
In the meantime, consider the following to be kind of a DVD Extras version of the first Search Engine episode on this topic. On January 26th, the climactic part 2 of the podcast episode will be released, and in tandem, you can return to this Substack for part 2 (!) of the DVD Extras.
CALLOUT: If you see any chicken bones on the street, take a photo and send it to mannynoahdevan@gmail.com, and we’ll feature them in next week’s piece.
Below, you'll find some of the materials we referred to in the episode. There are also links to a few books and articles if you are for some reason as interested in the history of chickens as Noah is. Enjoy this care package and please God smash that "subscribe" button. I was tempted to add the actual button again under this paragraph, but felt like it was a little desperate, so please scroll back up and hit the existing button. You know what, screw it. Here’s another button. I’m sorry.
Chicken bones study guide
This is Noah! Here are a few things I looked at while we worked on this episode.
First up is the Texaco-produced Chicken of Tomorrow documentary that we reference in the episode. The forced quaint tone betrays the much darker truth underlying the entire Big Chicken enterprise.
Chickens are taking over the planet, Kenny Torrella, 2023 - This article for Vox by Kenny Torrella served as a great jump-off point for diving into the staggering numbers around the global chicken industrial complex. Really puts into perspective how rapidly our collective tastes for poultry have shifted.
Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?, Andrew Lawler, 2014 - In its first pages, this book will imbue you with newfound respect for the majesty of the chicken. Nearly every page of Lawler's history of the chicken has some gem of info you'll be dying to share with anyone who will listen to you talk about chickens.
The Natural History of the Chicken, Mark Lewis, 2000 - Documentary showcase of the tender relationship between human and fowl. Will make you laugh, will make you cry. Doesn’t get much better than this, you will never regret watching this.
And lastly, here are a couple of recent research papers looking at the origins of domestic chickens, and the evolving dynamics of the human-chicken relationship.
Chicken bones Reddit threads
That’s all for now. Be sure to come back next week for part 2.
wow what a great and informative substack piece. i for one will be subscribing in order to stay up to date with the various projects these three gentlemen produce
I enjoyed the episode and look forward to more. While I agree that your conclusion on rats is likely correct, I'm dissatisfied with how you dismissed squirrels. The 2020 census was limited and more of an art project. A more rigorous 2018 study by the same organization found over 2,000 squirrels in Central Park alone.