The John Batchelor Show

Dallas the Dog and the Territorial Bird Disputes of New South Wales
Guest: Jeremy Zakis Summary: Jeremy discusses how his dog, Dallas, has established a territorial division in their yard to manage local bird species during the winter,. Dallas is highly protective of his "friends," specifically magpies and rosellas, allowing them on the grass while aggressively chasing minor birds and Currawongs into the driveway and garage areas,. This behavioral discrimination stems from a Currawong attempting to steal Dallas's tennis ball, an act the dog found unacceptable. Unlike birds in the Northern Hemisphere, these Australian species do not migrate for the winter and are known to huddle together even during rare snowfalls in the nearby Blue Mountains,.
1981

Drought Realities and a Miraculous Kangaroo Rescue in Narromine
Guest: Jeremy Zakis Summary: This segment details a dramatic wildlife rescue in Narromine, New South Wales, where a gray kangaroo became trapped up to its neck in a muddy, receding dam during a severe 12-month drought,. A local farmer discovered the animal, which had likely entered the mud in a desperate search for water. Despite initial fears that the kangaroo would need to be euthanized, it rey farmers to abandon livestock in favor of irrigated crops like wheat and barley,mained calm during a rescue effort and is now recovering under wildlife care. The segment underscores the severity of the drought in Australia’s agricultural heartland, where cracked soil and lack of rain have forced man.
UNDATED WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Ivestigating Allegations of Match-Fixing in T20 Cricket
Guest: Jeremy Zakis Summary: John Bachelor and Jeremy Zakis examine a potential match-fixing scandal involving a T20 cricket match between Canada and New Zealand from February 2026,. Allegations surfaced after Canada exhibited unusual bowling and batting styles, including a high rate of "no balls" that granted New Zealand easy runs. Zakis explains that the short format of T20 makes it easier to fix than a five-day match because the outcome is decided in a much smaller, more controllable window of time. While the investigation is ongoing to determine if the team's poor performance was legitimate or corrupt, a finding of guilt would represent the first time in cricket history that an entire side was found complicit in such a scheme,

Cntarctic Blasts and Economic Shifts in the Australian Winter
Guest: Jeremy Zakis Summary: Jeremy Zakis describes a harsh onset of winter in Sydney, driven by cold Antarctic air funneled through a high-pressure corridor,. While Sydney faces near-freezing overnight temperatures, Tasmania recently recorded a record-breaking 70°F due to El Niño conditions and a southern warm front. The conversation also highlights the economic strain of soaring fuel prices, with diesel reaching approximately $8.85 per gallon, prompting many commuters to switch to public transport,. Despite these costs, consumer spending remains resilient as people shift toward online shopping, while domestic heating continues a transition from gas to electric and solar-powered systems,.
1900  QNL

Legacy, Nobel Snubs, and the Fringes of Science Following the confirmation of the Big Bang theory, the cosmic microwave background was measured at approximately 2.73 degrees Kelvin, a discovery that George Gamow spent his final years advocating for as a validation of his 1940s work. Gamow, whose health declined due to heavy smoking and alcohol use before his death in 1968, frequently reminded the scientific community that his earlier calculations with Ralph Alpher had correctly predicted this radiation, using the metaphor that a lost and found penny is still the same penny. While the Big Bang gained universal acceptance, Fred Hoyle faced a professional crisis when the Nobel Prize for stellar nucleosynthesis was awarded solely to William Fowler, excluding Hoyle and his other collaborators, Margaretand Jeffrey Burbidge. This snub, which some speculate was due to a misunderstanding by nominator Hans Bethe or Hoyle's increasingly controversial reputation, led Hoyle to sever ties with Fowler and retreat to the Lake District. In his later years, Hoyle moved toward the fringes of science, championing the theory of "panspermia"—the idea that life and diseases such as AIDS and Legionnaire's disease originated in space and arrived on Earth via comets. He also drew the ire of the scientific establishment by arguing that Darwinian evolution was impossible due to the Earth's age, a stance that ironically gained him support from creationist groups despite his own atheism. Paul Halpern characterizes both Gamowand Hoyle as "seat of the pants" thinkers who relied on flashes of intuition rather than slow, methodical archival work, though Hoyle was notably more stubborn in defending his unconventional ideas. Ultimately, both men are remembered as brilliant storytellers who made the complex physics of the 20th century accessible to the public while fundamentally shaping our understanding of the universe. Guest Author: Paul Halpern. (4/4)
DECEMBER 1951