How many geese? – Details, episodes & analysis

For the past seven seasons, How many geese? has flourished atop the twin foundations of whimsy and shenanigans. Well, Jack has decided that season eight is when that comes crashing to a halt - as he blasts through our whimsical bedrock and holds a mirror up to us all to have us question what makes a society... and can utopias exist? He does this, in true Goose fashion, through the medium of some research on rodents in the 20th century. You will never look at an influencer the same again once you've heard what he's uncovered...

It's not just existential philosophy though (hooray!) as we also consider what animals deserve hands and Roddy's arena challenger is sent in by someone who perhaps knows too much...

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here https://www.mpb.com/ 

To learn about the work BOS UK do to save Orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episodes and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese 

We're back! A new season is dawning in Gooseland as we kick off series 8 with a banger. We stumble across lots of awesome people in making this show, and when we heard the stories that one of them had to tell, we knew we needed to get him on the show. Enter Ben Callison - CEO of Borneo Orangutan Survival UK, builder of hurricane proof tiger enclosures and carer of one-armed Kangaroo boxers. We sit down with him to learn about how his career unfolded and sending Orangutans to school is helping to return them to the jungle. 

To check out the work of BOSUK, hit the link here: www.borneoorangutansurvival.org 

Our Patreon is up and running which you can sign up to here- with 3 special episodes available for subscribers to listen to and a new one every month! 

Today we're diving into one of the most badass ways of fighting back against the overexploitation of the seas as technology teams up with nature with some pretty awesome outcomes. Meet the Ocean Sentinels tracking down illegal fishing vessels down in the Southern Oceans in one of the coolest bits of research we've ever covered.

There's a slight change to the genre in today's fight as Roddy has to do battle with a BILLION insects before we head back to the ocean to recast the Pirates of the Caribbean characters as animals...

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

With the Academy Awards behind us, the world may be moving on from awards season... but Team Goose is here to deliver one more trophy as we take a look and present the award for one of the most insane movies you've probably never heard of - 1981's "Roar"! It's lions, lions and more lions as we look at one couple's passion project that got A LITTLE out of hand.... just ask the seventy members of cast and crew who got injured on set by their clawed co-stars!

It's not just the chaos of collaborating with cats though, as we also answer the question what five animals would we choose to kickstart life on an island and Roddy faces one of his ....roundest challengers yet - with the American Woodcock. 

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/ 

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese 

It's time to man the harpoons as we hop in the Goose Time Machine and set the dial back to the early 1900s to meet a very special Orca with a fascinating relationship with the local whalers. 

Our Birda chums shine the spotlight on one of the biggest birds in the world as we soar with the Andean Condor, before a child forces Roddy to do battle with Leopards. We round out the show with the question on everyone's minds as we work out what our chosen animal would be to use as the vehicle on Mario Kart's infamous Rainbow Road...

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/

Check out Birda the show sponsors here https://birda.org/ 

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

Grab your nearest Gregorian and summon up a sharpie - we've got some key dates for your calendar this week as we ask the question: why do some days have names?

Not just Christmas, Halloween or Valentine's, we're talking World Marmot Day, World Pangolin Day and ... International Talk Like a Pirate Day? We dive deep into the calendar of the bizarre to go on a journey of all the strange days that are out there, looking at the many environmental days you've never heard of and end up trying to redeem a group of animals we've maybe been a bit harsh too. We're here for the hooved this week as we analyse antelopes, all thanks to that well known international holiday - World Hirola Day.

It's not just a crusade through the calendar of course as we set out to identify the best animal gym buddy (animal knowledge high, gym knowledge low) and Roddy takes up arms against the Arabian sand boa.....or does he? 

Incidentally, taking up arms is THE most mocking way you could describe fighting a snake..

And our show sponsors Birda take us back to Australia aka Nature's Thunderdome as we take a trip to the Barking Owl.

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/

Check out Birda the show sponsors here https://birda.org/ 

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to falter, your pals at "How Many Geese?" are here to offer you an alternative. Suit up to meet our radioactive team of superheroes as we introduce Wales' nuclear sheep, Bavarian boar and Mutant Turtles as we turn off the lights to see which animals are glowing in the dark.

Continuing our superhero theme, our pals Birda introduce us to their very own Hawkeye as we get acquainted with the Arrow-marked Babbler before Roddy tackles the sea's sharp-toothed master of camouflage, the Tasselled Wobbegong. And finally, every superhero needs their supervillain, and we get asked what invasive species we would introduce to our arch-enemy's desert island to make their life a misery...

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/

Check out Birda the show sponsors here https://birda.org/ 

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

Love is in the air and so too is Season SEVEN as we return to the mics refreshed and renewed for a Valentine's Day special - only.... not quite the most romantic one it turns out!

Looking to show love is all around us, Roddy tried to find the cute and loving side of creatures the world deems weird (see: not you sea otters), except it didn't quite go to plan as we hear how love in the animal kingdom takes many strange (and sometimes terrifying) forms. It's not just scary animal sex though, as we also hear the story of how one zookeeper's commitment to the job helped save an endangered crane species. And do we mean - commitment. 

Sticking to the Valentine's theme, we're asked the age old question of snog, marry, avoid  - insects, mammals, birds - and our show sponsors Birda take us to look at some lovey dovey doves with a double feature special in the diamond and bleeding heart doves.

...... .... oh and also Roddy fights an African Spurred Tortoise. In the 90s. We kind of ... drifted from the theme for that one...

Check us out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/howmanygeese/

Check out Birda the show sponsors here https://birda.org/ 

If you're feeling extra generous and want to help support the show, consider leaving us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

We're back in your ears to kick off 2024 with the episode that was meant to close out 2023 - it's the end (beginning) of year special! So sit down, ignore your resolutions and get ready to listen to what happens when we lose a handle on the conversation...

A seemingly straightforward audience question takes us over half an hour to sift through, as we try and work out which animal would claim the title of Highlander - there can be only one! Let it never be said we are anything other than thorough, as we develop our very own knock out tournament for some of the greatest combatants in animal fighting history. 

Of course, it wouldn't be How many geese? without an animal fight - but we're peeling back the curtain to show they don't always go to plan. We welcome the Titan Triggerfish into the arena and wrestle with everything from plasticine to Pythagoras as Roddy tries to form a plan to fight it!

Lastly, we're letting you know courtesy of Birda to check out the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch - and help take part in vital citizen science for listeners in the UK. Download Birda for free, wherever you get your apps. 

To support the show by leaving us a donation to help keep growing the podcast, please visit www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese 

Follow our Instagram page for updates here www.instagram.com/howmanygeese 

Our time in Mexico comes to an end with the final episode of the expedition! We park our usual animal heavy chat to speak to Dr Kathy Slater (Mission Mexico: Welcome to the Jungle guest) about the communities who live around the biosphere and the threats it is under. Dare we say it - but we get serious for possibly the first time ever on the show!

Firstly, we talk to Kathy about the honey production which many local communities are engaged in, and her work alongside local NGOs to help them move away from unsustainable agriculture practices. It's not just Kathy we speak to about the honey though - as we interview one of the local Mexican staff members Esteban about his own hives and what it's like producing honey...  alongside wildlife... ... in a drought. 

The other big topic while we were on expedition was the "Tren Maya" train project that was being constructed. While we haven't mentioned this in the earlier episodes, this mammoth construction project was hard to avoid in Calakmul. Kathy helps explain a bit more about the train and offers some insight to the impact it could have to the region. Do read up on it - which has recently featured in the Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. 

Finally, rest assured there's still some Jack and Roddy chat squeezed in - as we round up our success in seeing our Big 5, Jack gives his bird breakdown and we have the most grown up conversation we've ever recorded as we reflect on our time in the forest...

For more information on Operation Wallacea, check out www.opwall.com

To support the show by leaving us a donation, please visit www.buymeacoffee.com/howmanygeese

Follow our Instagram page for updates here www.instagram.com/howmanygeese