Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Birds are the only dinosaurs who managed to survive the asteroid impact that wiped out 75 percent of all species 66 million years ago. But how did they pull it off? To get some answers, host Kendra Pierre-Louis speaks to paleontologist Steve Brusatte, author of the upcoming book The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present. Their conversation traces the incredible evolutionary journey of modern birds and explores what these animals’ survival story can teach us today.
Recommended Reading;
How birds survived the dinosaurs’ doomsday scientificamerican.com/article/an-asteroid-extinguished-all-the-dinosaurs-except-for-birds-heres-why
The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present, by Steve Brusatte. Mariner Books, April 28, 2026 harpercollins.com/products/the-story-of-birds-steve-brusatte?variant=44045618085922
E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new every day. Subscribe to Scientific American: scientificamerican.com/getsciam
And sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter: scientificamerican.com/account/email-preferences
Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Birds are the only dinosaurs who managed to survive the asteroid impact that wiped out 75 percent of all species 66 million years ago. But how did they pull it off? To get some answers, host Kendra Pierre-Louis speaks to paleontologist Steve Brusatte, author of the upcoming book The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present. Their conversation traces the incredible evolutionary journey of modern birds and explores what these animals’ survival story can teach us today.
Recommended Reading;
How birds survived the dinosaurs’ doomsday scientificamerican.com/article/an-asteroid-extinguished-all-the-dinosaurs-except-for-birds-heres-why
The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present, by Steve Brusatte. Mariner Books, April 28, 2026 harpercollins.com/products/the-story-of-birds-steve-brusatte?variant=44045618085922
E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new every day. Subscribe to Scientific American: scientificamerican.com/getsciam
And sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter: scientificamerican.com/account/email-preferences
Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
