A BBC Radio 4 nature series

The Evolutionary Edge

Lucy Cooke examines the survival strategies adopted by animals to gain an evolutionary advantage 
 
Award-winning broadcaster, bestselling author and zoologist Lucy Cooke has produced and presented numerous natural history shows on TV and radio, and has been tipped by The Times as 'the next David Attenborough'. In this BBC Radio 4 series, first broadcast under the title The Power Of..., she delves into the animal kingdom, exploring what gives certain species the evolutionary edge over their rivals. 
 
Over the course of 8 episodes, she probes the science behind our seeming obsession with all things cute; unleashes her inner sloth to discover the surprising benefits of being slow; learns that honesty isn't always the best policy, whether you're a chimp, a squid or even a human being; and finds out why being small can give you step up on the evolutionary ladder. 
 
She also investigates the animal communities that thrive on co-operation and peaceful behaviour, and considers why it works for them; looks at the power of celibacy and meets nature's ultimate self-cloning sisters; discovers how some species make a success out of going solo; and asks why it can pay to stir once the sun goes down - and whether future survival for many diurnal animals may depend on a nightlife. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Lucy Cooke 
Produced by Alexandra Feachem, Beth Eastwood and Adrian Washbourne 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
The Power of Cute 17 May 2016 
The Power of Sloth 26 December 2017 
Power of Deceit 6 August 2019 
Power of Petite 13 August 2019 
Power of Peace 20 August 2019 
The Power of Celibacy 4 January 2021 
The Power of One 11 January 2021 
The Power of Night 18 January 2021 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Lucy Cooke (Author, Reader) Lucy Cooke is a fellow of Durham University, a National Geographic explorer, TED talker and award-winning broadcaster with a Masters in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins. 
 Her first book A Little Book of Sloth was a New York Times bestseller and spawned a major TV series for Discovery and a BBC Radio 4 documentary. The Truth About Animals, her first long-form book was shortlisted for the Royal Society prize and has been translated into nineteen languages. Her most recent book, Bitch: What Does it Mean to be Female? was cited as one of the best books of the year by both the Telegraph and the Guardian and was adapted into the BBC Radio 4 series, Political Animals. 
 She is a columnist for BBC Wildlife Magazine and has also written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, The Times, Telegraph and New Scientist amongst other publications. She is a sought-after public speaker and has written, produced, and presented documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery. She has presented on the BBC’s ‘Springwatch’ and is a regular on BBC Radio 4.

Lucy Cooke examines the survival strategies adopted by animals to gain an evolutionary advantage 
 
Award-winning broadcaster, bestselling author and zoologist Lucy Cooke has produced and presented numerous natural history shows on TV and radio, and has been tipped by The Times as 'the next David Attenborough'. In this BBC Radio 4 series, first broadcast under the title The Power Of..., she delves into the animal kingdom, exploring what gives certain species the evolutionary edge over their rivals. 
 
Over the course of 8 episodes, she probes the science behind our seeming obsession with all things cute; unleashes her inner sloth to discover the surprising benefits of being slow; learns that honesty isn't always the best policy, whether you're a chimp, a squid or even a human being; and finds out why being small can give you step up on the evolutionary ladder. 
 
She also investigates the animal communities that thrive on co-operation and peaceful behaviour, and considers why it works for them; looks at the power of celibacy and meets nature's ultimate self-cloning sisters; discovers how some species make a success out of going solo; and asks why it can pay to stir once the sun goes down - and whether future survival for many diurnal animals may depend on a nightlife. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Lucy Cooke 
Produced by Alexandra Feachem, Beth Eastwood and Adrian Washbourne 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
The Power of Cute 17 May 2016 
The Power of Sloth 26 December 2017 
Power of Deceit 6 August 2019 
Power of Petite 13 August 2019 
Power of Peace 20 August 2019 
The Power of Celibacy 4 January 2021 
The Power of One 11 January 2021 
The Power of Night 18 January 2021 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Brilliant natural history, starring lovesick hippos, stoned sloths, exploding bats and frogs in taffeta trousers...

The Unexpected Truth About Animals

Stoned Sloths, Lovelorn Hippos and Other Wild Tales

In this menagerie of the misunderstood, zoologist Lucy Cooke explores centuries of animals myths, revealing the fascinating and often hilarious truths behind some of the strangest animal theories.

A bloody fabulous read. Thoroughly recommend.

A riot of facts....Cooke scores a series of goals with style and panache.

Beautifully written, meticulously researched, with the science often couched in outrageous asides, this is a splendid read. In fact, I cannot remember when I last enjoyed a non-fiction work so much.

Best science pick. 
Sigmund Freud's first paper involved the dissection of eels in an attempt to locate their testes. To his frustration, Freud failed to find any. The eel's life cycle remains slippery, notes natural-history broadcaster Lucy Cooke in her deeply researched, sassily written history of "the biggest misconceptions, mistakes and myths we've concocted about the animal kingdom", spread by figures from Aristotle to Walt Disney. Other chapters spotlight the sloth, vulture, hippopotamus, panda, chimpanzee and others, and dismantle anthropocentric clichés with scientific, 
global evidence.

Lucy Cooke's The Unexpected Truth About Animals was a joy from beginning to end. Who could resist a writer who argues that penguins have been pulling the wool over our eyes for years, and that, far from being cute and gregarious, they are actually pathologically unpleasant necrophiliacs?

Packed with knowledge and eye-opening animal history . . . almost every page contains something startling. In bringing us all this information, Cooke has clearly done her homework - travelling the world to see the animals for herself, and consulting many obscure books . . . a winning combination of thorough knowledge, lots of good jokes and a passionate love of animals that means Cooke can even mount convincing defences of such despised creatures as vultures. An often eye-popping, occasionally hair-raising, but ultimately joyous reminder of just how strange our world is.

Lucy Cooke unravels myths that will make you laugh out loud. Her knowledge of all things, furry, slimy and scaly is jaw-dropping.

Each of Cooke's thirteen breezy yet fact-stuffed chapters traces the origins of a long-standing myth about a species or class of animal.

Best of the year's Natural History. Best for Fun Facts. Fascinating.

TOP AUTUMN BOOK PICKS: Lucy Cooke’s fascinating book is full of mind-boggling stuff. Cooke takes much pleasure in throwing in all manner of amazing facts.

The eclectic stories come thick and fast, with an equally varied human cast dedicated to uncovering the truth, scientifically or otherwise. Cooke illuminates and mickey-takes in equal measure, and the truth as she tells it is not only unexpected but often bizarre, bawdy and very, very funny.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: Highly amusing and enlightening new book [from] brilliant zoologist Lucy Cooke.

The rising star of natural history ... is she the new David Attenborough?

Fantastic. The new Origin of Species. A proper page turner.

This 21st century bestiary is as surprising as it is diverse.  Consummate natural history writing: illuminating, remarkable - and very, very funny.

Fascinating facts combined with hilarious ridiculousness.

Beautifully written, funny and jam-packed with astonishing information.

A compendium of intriguing and revelatory animal information -  you may find dolphins go down in your estimation, while hyenas go up ...

An eye opening , informative and hysterical history of our ideas about animals - very funny !

Clever, thoughtful, accessible and, above all, so SO funny.

Lucy Cooke’s modern bestiary is as well-informed as you’d expect from an Oxford zoologist. It’s also downright funny ...

Brilliantly researched and hilariously informative

Lucy Cooke is a fellow of Durham University, a National Geographic explorer, TED talker and award-winning broadcaster with a Masters in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins. 
 Her first book A Little Book of Sloth was a New York Times bestseller and spawned a major TV series for Discovery and a BBC Radio 4 documentary. The Truth About Animals, her first long-form book was shortlisted for the Royal Society prize and has been translated into nineteen languages. Her most recent book, Bitch: What Does it Mean to be Female? was cited as one of the best books of the year by both the Telegraph and the Guardian and was adapted into the BBC Radio 4 series, Political Animals. 
 She is a columnist for BBC Wildlife Magazine and has also written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, The Times, Telegraph and New Scientist amongst other publications. She is a sought-after public speaker and has written, produced, and presented documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery. She has presented on the BBC’s ‘Springwatch’ and is a regular on BBC Radio 4.

Shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Investment Science Book Prize 
'Endlessly fascinating.' - Bill Bryson 'Eye-opening, informative and very funny!' - Chris Packham 
'Well-informed and downright funny' - Richard Dawkins 
 
 
History is full of strange animal stories invented by the brightest and most influential, from Aristotle to Disney. But when it comes to understanding animals, we’ve got a long way to go. 
 
Whether we’re watching a viral video of romping baby pandas or looking at a picture of penguins ‘holding hands’, we often project our own values – innocence, abstinence, hard work – onto animals. So you’ve probably never considered that moose get drunk and that penguins are notorious cheats. 
 
In The Unexpected Truth About Animals Zoologist Lucy unravels many such myths – that eels are born from sand, that swallows hibernate under water, and that bears gave birth to formless lumps that are licked into shape by their mothers – to show that the stories we create reveal as much about us as they do about the animals. 
 
Astonishing, illuminating and laugh-out-loud funny.

Lucy Cooke

Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures

Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species.

Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for.

Brilliant ... Cooke is a superb science writer

Beautifully written, very funny and deeply important - Lucy Cooke blows two centuries of sexist myths right out of biology.

A complete and precise exploration of sex , what a joy!

Fun, informative and revolutionary all at once, Bitch should be required reading in school. This is a joyous, and often hilarious, romp in which Cooke simultaneously does justice to the actual data, gives voice to the substantive contributions of women scientists, and demolishes bias, blindness and ignorance about sex in the academy and in the public. After reading this book one will never look at a clownfish, a barnacle, an orca, an albatross or a human the same way again. And the world will be better for it.

Augustin Fuentes, professor of anthropology at Princeton University and author of The Creative Spark

Lucy Cooke's marvellous Bitch blasts the dust off stuffy old ideas to celebrate the true and wildly diverse influence of femal creatures throughout the animal kingdom, revealing them to be every bit as promiscuous, competitive, aggressive and dynamic as males ... In chapters fizzing with X-rated factoids, Cooke merrily demolishes myth after myth about our wild sisters ... Never mean or boring. It's exhilarating to zip through the world with her as she points out what has been missed or misinterpreted.

A colourful, committed and deeply informed book.

A dazzling, funny and elegantly angry demolition of our preconceptions about female behaviour and sex in the animal kingdom ... Bitch is a blast. I read it, my jaw sagging in astonishment, jotting down favourite parts to send to friends and reading out snippets gleefully

This is a vital book that blew me away; kick -ass, informative and astonishing . Discovering how Darwin ingrained and entrenched the patriarchy is hugely illuminating to our present culture. Give her a series immediately!

Lucy Cooke's scientific and brilliant takedown of stereotypes of female submissiveness in the animal kingdom: 'Male animals led swashbuckling lives of thrusting agency ... while females meekly followed'. So went the received wisdom when broadcaster and author Cooke first studied zoology. This revelatory, fabulously entertaining book shows how deluded that thinking is. From the dominant female lemurs of Madagascar, and the murderous meekat mothers of the Kalahari, to female fruit flies that play the field, Cooke introduces dozens of animals whose natural behaviour preferences dismantle the hoary old stereotypes.

It's humorous, absorbing, sometimes shocking (for a variety of reasons), and bound to be a conversation starter. It certainly prompted some raised eyebrows and discussions when I shared tidbits of information from it with friends and family.

With charismatic charm and plenty of rigour, Cooke brings together a host of the finest zoological minds to shatter decades of outdated scientific ideas about what it is to be female of the species. If I could print out every page and put it on a t-shirt, I would.

Hits the right balance between informative and entertaining; popular science fans will want to check it out.

A book that is tearing down the stereotypes and the biases. Absolutely fascinating.

A glorious debunking of gender stereotypes ... A bold and gripping takedown of the sexist mythology baked into biology ... Full of marvellous surprises.

She introduces us to a marvelous zoetrope of animals-not just primates, but venomous intersex moles, hyenas that give birth through their clitoris, filicidal mother meerkats, and postmenopausal orcas.

[An] effervescent exposé ... [A] playful, enlightening tour of the vanguard of evolutionary biology.

If Lucy Cooke's new book about female animals were filmed for TV, it would surely be preceded by a warning that it contains sex and violence right from the start. It also contains humour and a glorious rebuttal of everything we have believed about gender since Charles Darwin got it all wrong ... Gloriously original ... It shows women of all species are even more fascinating than we ever thought.

By analysing numerous animals, this sparkling attack on scientific sexism draws on many scientists - of multiple genders - to correct stereotypes of the active male versus passive female.

A charming mix of wit and scientific analysis... Aside from knocking males off their evolutionary perch and empowering women, this book can inspire the LGBTQ community, as it's clear that their identities and lives are reflected across the natural world.

This book is not just hilarious, 
but properly important, laying 
out how Victorian views on 
gender shaped evolutionary 
biology and caused the female 
of the species to be overlooked 
and misunderstood by the 
scientific establishment. You'll 
never look at a hyena in the 
same way again.

What does it mean to be female?

What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again. 
 
Whether it's the female lemurs of Madagascar, dominating the males of their species both physically and politically, the female albatross couples, hooking up together to raise their chicks in Hawaii, or the murderous meerkat mothers of the Kalahari Desert, the bitches in BITCH overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. 
 
In her trailblazing new book, Lucy Cooke offers a timely look at how sexist bias polluted evolutionary biology and through her riotous cast of bad-ass female animals shows the scientific patriarchy what's what.

Lucy Cooke

Praise for Bitch

Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures

Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species.

Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for.

Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures

Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species.

Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for.

Surprising sex lives of the animal kingdom: From bondage-loving spiders to 'Scrooge-like' lobsters who save their sperm for a female who's 'worth it', BITCH lifts the lid on kinky creatures

Best books of 2022 so far: Zoologist Lucy Cooke's hilarious and enlightening book reclaims evolutionary biology for females of all species.

Mr Darwin, your time is up...This is the evolutionary reboot us bitches have been waiting for.

Books by Lucy Cooke

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