About this episode

Newt Gingrich interviews paleontologist Steve Brusatte about the evolution of birds from dinosaurs and recent fossil discoveries.

Newt talks with Steve Brusatte, paleontologist and bestselling author of “The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present.” They discuss a recent fossil discovery in China, a gigantic, long-necked dinosaur found at a construction site that may approach the largest known dinosaur sizes. Brusatte compares these massive sauropods—potentially 100 feet long and 50–60 tons—to modern aircraft. Brusatte reflects on his role advising Jurassic World filmmakers, contrasting his technical academic work with the opportunity to reach mass audiences through films and popular books. They also discuss the modern scientific consensus that birds are living dinosaurs: a surviving, flight-capable branch of the dinosaur family that flourished after the mass extinction. Brusatte likens dinosaur diversity to that of mammals today, emphasizing that many dinosaurs were small and that birds are the dinosaur equivalent of bats—highly specialized, small-bodied fliers within a larger group. He notes that while non-avian dinosaurs died out in the asteroid impact, birds represent the last remnant of this once-dominant lineage. They discuss how…

People in this episode

Host: Newt Gingrich

Guest: Steve Brusatte

Topics covered

• paleontology
• dinosaurs
• birds
• fossil discovery
• science communication

Keywords

• birds
• dinosaurs
• fossils
• paleontology
• Jurassic World
• species diversity
• mass extinction

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Story of Birds

Places: China

More episodes of Newt's World

• Episode 985: AI Update – Anthropic’s IPO, Pope Leo’s Encyclical and China · June 3, 2026 · 38 min
• Episode 984: Dan Doyle on “Of Roughnecks & Riches” · May 31, 2026 · 26 min
• Episode 983: Brent Dusing on TruPlay · May 30, 2026 · 33 min
• Episode 982: Scott Rasmussen on “Out of Touch” · May 28, 2026 · 35 min
• Episode 981: Senator Lamar Alexander · May 24, 2026 · 37 min
• Episode 980: George H. W. Bush and the End of the American Establishment · May 22, 2026 · 44 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Newt's World podcast page.