“When they’re discussing something, I feel that I need to listen to it…” – Ryan Siew

When you make a podcast, you should make something that you care about and that *you* would want to listen to. 

On this Winter Shorts episode, UWA zoology student Ryan Siew shares how his listening preferences and his passion for conservation informed the decisions he made for the mini-podcast. 

Ryan focused on the famous story of the extinction of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō in the early 2000s, then tied that forward to the plight of the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo today to make the story matter to his audience. 

“How do I make it important to someone? You can tell someone a terrible story, but what do you stand to gain out of telling the story that’s important? It's a matter of how to create meaning.” – Ryan Siew

Episode Links: 

⁠UWA Science Communication Minor⁠

Ryan uses this recording in his 3 minute podcast: RecordingOf The Last Kauaʻi ʻōʻō Bird. (2020). Internet Archive.

Ryan directly relates the extinction of the Kauai ‘o’o tothe current crisis facing black cockatoos: Black Cockatoo Crisis Documentary | Australia Foundation.

Saunders et al. (2024). A challenging future for Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris) under a changing climate.

Smith et al. (2006). Evidence for the role of infectious disease in species extinction and endangerment.

Episode credits:

Episode Host: Keelan Powell

Special Guest: UWA zoology student, Ryan Siew

Producers: Emma Gill, Ke Yuan

Audio Editing & Engineering: Matthew Gill

Show notes: Keelan Powell

Episode art: Moho braccatus by John Gerrard Keulemans, Public Domain