Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?
The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers
Civilization
By
Andrew Lawler
NPR on point interview with
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/12/12/chicken-poultry-chicken-dinner
From ancient empires to modern economics, veteran journalist Andrew
Lawler delivers a sweeping history of the animal that has been most
crucial to the spread of civilization across the globethe
chicken.
Queen Victoria was obsessed with it. Socrates’ last words were about it.
Charles Darwin and Louis Pasteur made their scientific breakthroughs
using it. Catholic popes, African shamans, Chinese philosophers, and
Muslim mystics praised it. Throughout the history of civilization, humans
have embraced it in every form imaginableas a messenger of the gods,
powerful sex symbol, gambling aid, emblem of resurrection, all-purpose
medicine, handy research tool, inspiration for bravery, epitome of evil,
and, of course, as the star of the world’s most famous joke...
- See more at:
http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Why-Did-the-Chicken-Cross-the-World/Andrew-Lawler/9781476729893#sthash.zxSOjPwQ.dpuf
http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Why-Did-the-Chicken-Cross-the-World/Andrew-Lawler/9781476729893
Why are there more chickens than people in the world?
The remarkable story of what happened when the chicken crossed the road
and the world
A reporter who writes about archaeology gets a writing assignment that
doesn’t thrill him. Go find out how a chicken bone ended up buried on an
Arabian Beach. “Follow the bird” his boss tells him. The reporter does,
slowly realizing, that the bird that goes “buck buck” has a back story
like no one ever imagined. That chickens aren’t just food. They’re
a historical bookmark. Critical to the shaping of America, a bit
player in several religions, plus, there’s a lot of them: more chickens
in the world than all the cats, dogs, pigs and cows on Earth put
together. More chickens than people too. Not that they’re ready to
take over. Or have they already? This hour On Point: following the bird.
A chicken story.
– John Donvan
Guests
Andrew Lawler, author of
the new book, “Why Did The Chicken Cross the World:
The Epic Saga of the Bird That Powers Civilization.” Contributing
writer for Science magazine and contributing editor for
Archaeology.
From The Reading
List
Smithsonian
: How the Chicken Conquered the World – “Chicken is the ubiquitous
food of our era, crossing multiple cultural boundaries with ease. With
its mild taste and uniform texture, chicken presents an intriguingly
blank canvas for the flavor palette of almost any cuisine. A generation
of Britons is coming of age in the belief that chicken tikka masala is
the national dish, and the same thing is happening in China with Kentucky
Fried Chicken. Long after the time when most families had a few hens
running around the yard that could be grabbed and turned into dinner,
chicken remains a nostalgic, evocative dish for most Americans. When
author Jack Canfield was looking for a metaphor for psychological
comfort, he didn’t call it ‘Clam Chowder for the Soul.'”
NPR Weekend
Edition
: Chicken Confidential: How This Bird Came To Rule The Cultural Roost
– “If you looked at Earth from far off in the solar system, would it
look like it’s run by humans or chickens? There are about three times
as many chickens as people on this planet. And while horses and dogs are
often celebrated as humankind’s partner in spreading civilization, a new
book argues it’s really the chicken.”
Slate
: Birdmen “Like American baseball or the Tour de France, modern
Filipino cockfighting is caught in a tangle of corporate sponsors and
performance-enhancing drugs. The brightly lit concession stands, the
blaring canned music, and the rows of clean toilets in the restrooms give
the event a depressingly modern feel. Still, the people in the cheap
seats are the working-class men that you would find at any Canadian
hockey game, British rugby match, or Brazilian soccer contest. The real
draw, though, seems to be in the gambling outside the ring rather than in
the combat inside.”
Read An Excerpt of “Why Did The Chicken Cross The World” By
Andrew Lawler
(805) 962-2571
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