Eggs and the genius of bird moms

VPM | By Rachel Faulkner White, James Delahoussaye, Manoush Zomorodi and Katie Simon

Published July 15, 2022 at 12:59 PM EDT

Updated April 20, 2023

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Birds and the bees.

Laying eggs may seem like a simple way to reproduce compared to human birth, but biologist Carin Bondar says bird moms are the micromanagers of the animal kingdom.

About Carin Bondar

Carin Bondar is a biologist, author, and philosopher.

Bondar is the author of four books on wildlife and sex, Wild Moms, Wild Sex, The Nature of Sex, and The Nature of Human Nature. She hosts web series based on her books, and has also hosted multiple televisions series, including “Outrageous Acts of Science” on the Discover Science Channel. Her work has appeared on National Geographic, Animal Planet, Netflix, and The Science Channel, among others.

Bondar is also the founder and president of the STEM Angels Foundation, a group that is dedicated to supporting Moms in science.

She earned her bachelor’s in biology from Simon Fraser University and her Ph.D. in community ecology from the University of British Columbia.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by James Delahoussaye and edited by Katie Simon and Rachel Faulkner. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

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Rachel Faulkner White

Rachel Faulkner White is a producer and editor for TED Radio Hour.

During her time at NPR, Faulkner White has helped create more than a hundred TED Radio Hour episodes, including a long-form interview on navigating grief and hardship, a look at how family income affects childhood brain development, a conversation on loneliness and human connection and an exploration of outer space and gravitational waves. She was also a producer for How I Built This for five years, where she directed live tapings of the podcast as well as produced fan favorite episodes like The McBride Sisters, Rent The Runway, Bumble and filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

Faulkner White is part of the TED Radio Hour team that received a 2018 Webby Award for their Manipulation episode. She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Steven V. Roberts, author of the memoir Cokie: A Life Well-Lived, about his wife (and one of NPR's Founding Mothers) Cokie Roberts.

Faulkner White joined NPR in 2016 as an intern. She started producing while finishing college, coming into the office between classes, and joined NPR full-time after finishing her bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from George Washington University.

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