Intelligence Squared

The Animal Queendom: Rethinking Zoology, with Lucy Cooke

Mar 23, 2022

Lucy Cooke, a groundbreaking zoologist and author, dives into the often misunderstood roles of female animals in the animal kingdom. She dismantles Charles Darwin's outdated views, highlighting how female moles, meerkats, and killer whales defy the stereotype of passivity. Cooke discusses female dominance, intelligence, and agency in reproduction, showing that females play a vital role in evolution and societal structures. Her insights challenge not only biological myths but also traditional gender roles in human society.

42:39

Episode guests

Lucy Cooke

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

3min

Rethinking Gender in Zoology

16min

Rethinking Animal Behavior and Intelligence

2min

Exploring Female Dominance and Male Resistance in Animal Societies

2min

Revisiting Female Agency in Animal Reproduction

14min

Rethinking Female Roles in Nature and Society

4min

In his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin cast the female animal as passive, coy, monogamous and submissive: in other words, in the shape of a Victorian housewife. Meanwhile the male animal became the main event, the dominant driver in his theory of evolutionary change. But according to a revolution in zoology and evolutionary biology, this is all wrong. Lucy Cooke, zoologist, explorer, and author, joins host Helen Czerski to set the record straight and discuss her new book, Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal. Her research has taken her from Madagascar to Peru where she’s made discoveries about female moles, meerkats and killer whales, dispelling biological myths around passivity, weakness and submissiveness.

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