The face we give to our monsters says much about our anxieties as a culture. But birds? Two classic works of 20th-century horror featured a violent avian army. This podcast looks at why a Daphne du Maurier short story, and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller inspired by it, imagined “The Birds” as humanity’s mortal enemy. Seeded with fears of technological overreach and environmental disaster, and terror at the rise of the violent irrational, our reality was anticipated. *This episode originally aired on Sept. 6, 2023.
Guests in this episode:
Lynn Kozak is an associate professor in history and classical studies at McGill University and editor of Scapegoat Carnivale's Tragic Trilogy.
W. Scott Poole is a professor in the department of history at the College of Charleston. He is the author of Dark Carnivals: Modern Horror and the Origins of American Empire.
Catherine Wynne is a reader in English, and an associate dean for Research and Enterprise at the University of Hull. Her most recent book is on the war artist, Lady Butler. She wrote about The Birds for The Conversation.
