Free Daily Podcast Summary
What The Duck?!: Daily Summaries Delivered
by ABC
Australia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them! Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn't)? And how do snakes climb trees? Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 days ago25 min
What will we eat in space?
How will we survive the cosmic void? Scientists have a superfood diet in mind, but will the smallest flowering plant on Earth REALLY save humanity? Featuring:Jenny Mortimer - Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at Adelaide University. Chief investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for SpaceGareth Prosser – Professional Voice Over Artist whose wife roped him in Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerMastering Engineer, Emyrs Cronin This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- 1 weeks ago25 min
Tits, boobies and hooters
Why is it that bird names seem so… childishly misogynistic? Featuring: Professor Andrew Cockburn, bird watcher and word batcher, ANUJeannie Gray, Author, Australian Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.Ian Fraser, Author, Australia Bird Names: Origins and Meanings.Stephen Downes, the brains behind @Parrotoftheday social media accountsStephen Moss, Author, Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names.Nola Turner-Jensen, Culture Inclusion Specialist and Wiradjuri HistorianDr Ayesha Tulloch, Research Fellow, QUT.This episode was first broadcast in 2022.Featuring extra sounds from listeners:Large-tailed Nightjar from Briony Barnett.Cat Bird from Scott Fisher. And extra sounds from bird enthusiasts:Marc Anderson, XC287030. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/287030 ( Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0)Yong Ding Li, XC57231. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/57231 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5)Phil Gregory, XC690345. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/690345 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0)Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Joel Werner, Script Editing.This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- 2 weeks ago25 min
Can you speak fish?
Someone get a translator app because the fish are ready to speak. FEATURING: Lauren Hawkins - Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University.Dr Aaron Rice - Research Scientist at Cornell University. FEATURED SOUNDS :Thanks to Aaron and Lauren for providing sounds as well as Professor Robert McCauley and the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University. PRODUCTION:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerPetria Ladgrove, ProducerAdditional mastering: Hamish CamilleriThis episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- 3 weeks ago25 min
Hitchhikers guide to ecology
Grabbing a lift can go from bad to worse when your uber drops you outside your evolutionary niche. FEATURING:Dr Matt Greenlees - Sydney University.Arthur White - NSW frog and tadpole study group.David Chapple - Monash University.Dr Maggie Watson - Charles Sturt University.Dr Robert Streit - Reef Function Hub at James Cook University.Voice of the Internet: Nikolai Beilharz. PRODUCTION: Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.Petria Ladgrove, Producer.Joel Werner, Script Editor.Additional mastering: Brendan O'Neill.This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- Aug 21, 202655 min
G.O.A.T AUSTRALIAN WILDFLOWER
Does Australia have a BEST wildflower? Hang on... what even is a flower? Dr Ann Jones and Belinda Smith count down the top 10 best wildflowers as voted by YOU in a special live show, The Hour of Flower. FEATURING: Tim Entwisle – Author, The Sceptical Botanist. Former CEO of the Royal Botanic Gardens in MelbourneChantelle Doyle - Research Associate, Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental SciencesKingsley Dixon - Professor, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western AustraliaMira Jordan - PhD candidate, Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Centre for Ecosystem Science and Evolution & Ecology Research CentrePRODUCTION: Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerBelinda Smith, Presenter / ProducerPetria Ladgrove, Executive ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerStudio Engineer, Carey Dell This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- Aug 14, 202626 min
Flowers are disgusting, filthy, badasses
Quackery and Catfishing. Fake news doesn’t only happen on the human internet. Welcome to nature’s dark web.We didn’t TRY to make a spooky and disturbing episode... we just wanted to talk about plants with DUCK in the title. But oh boy, these flowers are savage! One of them has become internet famous for a detox that could literally kill you. Another catfishes its pollinators by pretending to be (and even feeling like) the ‘private’ parts of a female fly! Nature isn’t safe from this algorithm.Featuring:Tim Entwisle – Author, The Sceptical Botanist. Former CEO of the Royal Botanic Gardens in MelbourneKatherine Isoardi - Associate Professor, University of Queensland. Senior Staff Specialist Emergency Physician and Clinical ToxicologistJulie Radford - Threatened Species expertGareth Prosser – Professional Voice Over Artist whose wife roped him in Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerMastering Engineer, Harvey O’Sullivan This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
- Aug 11, 20265 min
Wombat scratches butt on recorder, snorts, gurgles and leaves.
WTF NATURE. I give up.||A Message from Dr Ann - the What the Duck?! host and general dork.||I don't really give up. The recording I took for the latest season of Nature Sounds by Ann Jones was a ripper (in terms of wombat farts).This bit got edited out of the longer soundscape over there, because, it was determined, that a wombat walking in and scratching its butt ON THE MICROPHONES in the middle of a meditation soundscape would harsh the high of the listener.So. What the Duck?! subscribers.Enjoy. A wombat scratching its butt on my very VERY expensive recorder.RECORDING: Ann JonesMASTERING ENGINEER: Isabella Tropiano
- Aug 7, 202626 min
Dinosaur died. No flowers at funeral
In fact, most dinosaurs never got the chance to stop and smell a flower... and it was all because of bad timing. Sad face.The meteor that killed all the dinosaurs (rude) actually kicked off flower supremacy on planet earth. Flowering plants are only about 135 million years old, yet they’re the most bio-diverse plants on the planet. Without them, no birds, no bees. Again, sad face. So where did flowers come from? And how did they end up being top bud? Featuring: Mario Vallejo-MarinProfessor in Evolutionary Ecology, Uppsala University, Sweden.Professor Michelle Waycott Chief Botanist at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens State Herbarium / Professor in Systematic Biology, Adelaide University. Morris Lake Author, Australian Rainforest Woods.Gareth Prosser Professional Voice Over Artist whose wife roped him in. Production:Ann Jones, Presenter / ProducerSarah Prosser, ProducerMastering Engineer: Tegan NichollsThis episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
Get What The Duck?! summaries in your inbox
Free AI-powered daily recaps. Key takeaways, quotes, and mentions — in a 5-minute read.
Get Free Summaries →Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
You Might Also Like
Listeners also like.
Terrestrials
A nature podcast exploring surprising animal and plant behaviors through immersive storytelling and original songs.
Quirks and Quarks
A science podcast exploring discoveries from the vastness of space to the smallest particles on Earth.
The Wild with Chris Morgan
Explores wildlife and wild places through stories of animals adapting to survive and the people protecting them.
The Zooquarium Podcast
A biologist and an artist answer listener questions about animals and ecosystems, blending science and creativity for all ages.
Wild Thing
A narrative podcast exploring how humanity's quest to uncover scientific mysteries reveals deeper truths about ourselves.
Okay, But... Birds
A biologist explores the surprising science and stories behind birds, revealing their impact on the world with humor and expert insights.
Ologies with Alie Ward
Alie Ward interviews scientists about their fields, from volcanoes to slug sex, blending humor and curiosity to explore how the world works.
Unexpected Elements
Explores hidden scientific connections behind global news and everyday phenomena.
In Defense of Plants Podcast
Explores the fascinating world of plants, from tiny duckweeds to towering redwoods, celebrating the science and wonder of botany.
Duck Call Room
Hilarious stories, hunting adventures, and pop culture commentary from the Duck Commander crew in the iconic Duck Call Room.
Smologies with Alie Ward
Kid-friendly science episodes exploring diverse fields from moon studies to toad research through playful conversations with experts.
No Such Thing As A Fish
Four researchers share fascinating facts they've discovered each week.
About What The Duck?!
Australia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them! Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn't)? And how do snakes climb trees? Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
Customized Recaps
AI-powered recaps with compact key takeaways, quotes, and insights.
Straight to Your Inbox
Get key takeaways from What The Duck?! in a 5-minute read.
Save Hours Every Week
Stay current on your favorite podcasts without falling behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Podzilla's What The Duck?! daily summary?
It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of What The Duck?! as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
How does the What The Duck?! podcast summary work?
When a new episode drops, our AI transcribes and analyzes it, then generates a personalized summary tailored to your interests and profession. It's delivered to your inbox every morning.
Is this an official What The Duck?! product?
No. Podzilla is an independent service that summarizes publicly available podcast content. We're not affiliated with or endorsed by ABC.
Can I get summaries of other podcasts too?
Absolutely! The free plan covers up to 3 podcasts. Upgrade to Pro for 15, or Premium for 50. Browse our full catalog at /podcasts.
How often does What The Duck?! release new episodes?
What The Duck?! publishes weekly. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
What topics does What The Duck?! cover?
What The Duck?! covers topics including Science, Natural Sciences. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
Start getting What The Duck?! summaries tomorrow morning.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.
Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.