Birds outnumber humans by millions on this earth which is a great reason to learn more about them! Besides the mythical Phoenix which is part of many mythologies, other living birds like Alex the parrot have shown how intelligent those beings truly are. Learn more about those two birds in the 15th episode of this podcast!

Air Castles is a cultural anthropology podcast where Semi-Qualified Hosts/World Travelers/Best Friends Johanna Schöllauf and Olivia Schmitz try to learn more about world cultures one topic at a time.

Questions/Comments/Compliments/Corrections? Email us at [email protected] or reach out to us on Twitter @aircastlespod

Johanna: 

“Symbolism of the Mythical Phoenix Bird: Renewal, Rebirth and Destruction”: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/ancient-symbolism-magical-phoenix-002020

“What was the Philosopher’s stone?”: https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-philosophers-stone

Olivia: 

The Alex Foundation Website: https://alexfoundation.org

“Alex the Bird”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldYkFdu5FJk

“Einstein vs Griffin | The World's Smartest Parrots | Extraordinary Animals | Earth”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozgcKw4MyvY

“Why Alex The Parrot May Have Been The World’s Smartest Bird”: https://allthatsinteresting.com/alex-the-parrot-irene-pepperberg

“Parrot’s posthumous paper shows his mathematical genius”: https://www.nature.com/news/parrot-s-posthumous-paper-shows-his-mathematical-genius-1.10071

“Why Ravens and Crows Are Earth’s Smartest Crows”: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/year-of-the-bird-brains-intelligence-smarts/