#13 BBC Wildlife Documentaries in the Age of Attenborough | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
English - July 07, 2022 11:05 - 40 minutes - 39.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingEducation Science academic history sts sciencecommunication university london philosophy sciencepolicy Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Natural history documentaries are hugely popular on British television. They offer great examples of science communication, and they have a long history, stretching back to the early days of broadcasting by the BBC, and more.
As luck would have it, here in STS, we have an expert in these programmes and the people who create them. Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon is Associate Professor of Science Communication in the department. He teaches science journalism, sociology of science, and lots more. He also is co-director of our new MSc in Science Communication.
A few years ago, Jean-Baptiste published a book on the history of British natural history documentaries, BBC Wildlife Documentaries in the Age of Attenborough (Palgrave). And yes, while research it he met and interviewed the one and only, David Attenborough.
In this episode, Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon discusses his recent book, BBC Wildlife Documentaries in the Age of Attenborough. This is a history of British natural history filmmaking across the twentieth century. It also is an analysis of how filmmakers establish their identity and authority, such as through “making-of” segments added to their films.
Crucial to Jean-Baptiste’s analysis is the work of Sir David Attenborough, whose career as a broadcaster and natural history filmmaker has profoundly influenced British wildlife television. In researching his book, Jean-Baptiste interviewed Sir David. We talk about his experiences meeting the master of natural history of television.
The book we discussed was:
Gouyon, Jean-Baptiste. 2019. BBC Wildlife Documentaries in the Age of Attenborough (Palgrave). ISBN 9783030199814.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-19982-1
Featuring
Interviewees
Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon
Associate Professor of Science Communication
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/people/dr-jean-baptiste-gouyon
Host
Professor Joe Cain,
Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology
Additional voices
Jasmine Chakravary, UCL Class of 2021, spoke about our STS master’s degrees
Pierre-Elie Balsan, UCL Class of 2023, spoke about STS
Music credits
Intro and Exit music
“Rollin At 5,” by Kevin MacLeod
https://filmmusic.io/song/5000-rollin-at-5
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Interval music
“Silly Intro,” by Alexander Nakarada
https://filmmusic.io/song/4786-silly-intro
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Podcast information
WeAreSTS is a production of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at University College London (UCL). To find out more, or to leave feedback about the show:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/podcast
This site also includes information for how STS students and staff can get involved with our programme.
Editing and post-production by Professor Joe Cain, unless otherwise noted.
WeAreSTS producer is Professor Joe Cain.
Twitter: @stsucl #WeAreSTS