We’re stepping away from our usual routine to dive into something a bit different—The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. This is a story of a museum heist, someone who stole rare bird skins from a museum in order to sell them on the dark web to fly-fisherman.

Two of our hosts, John Bates and Shannon Hackett, are curators at the Field Museum in Chicago, making them perfect guides to unravel this strange and captivating story.

We’d love for you to join us by picking up a copy of the book and reading along. We’ll be offering behind-the-scenes insights into the world of museum work and its bird collections—you won’t want to miss a word.

For those who haven’t had the chance to read it yet, we thought we’d share the prologue, which sets the stage for the book’s, dark, and twisted tale.

The reading of the prologue is the only part of the book that we’ll be reading aloud in this mini-series. Our regular lineup—John, Shannon, Amanda, and RJ —will be back for the rest of the episodes. And we’ll be joined by ornithologist and fly-tier Jason Weckstein for a few chats along the way. Then we’ll cap it all off with an interview with the author himself, Kirk Wallace Johnson.

So, sit back, relax, grab your binoculars, and enjoy the prologue!

Welcome back to Part 5 of our exploration of the book The Feather Thief. We discuss the horrific act that’s still causing ripples in the world of museums. We’ll also take a closer look at the role museum collections play in science—a subject misunderstood by some fly-tiers in the book. We also talk about how museum specimens drive scientific progress. We’ll also touch on some of the oddball research requests museums have received over the years, including one inquiry about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

We begin with a brief talk into Shannon’s thoughts on Canadian-American relations, particularly the threats of tariffs, before drifting into a discussion on precious metals and their unexpected influence on foreign policy decisions. But don’t worry—it’s all over in a flash, and then, it’s back to The Feather Thief and all its intrigue.

As always, you have John Bates, Shannon Hackett, Amanda Marquart, and RJ Pole here for Birds of a Feather Talk Together.

Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

Make sure to follow us on Instagram, Blue Sky Social, YouTube and tik tok as well!!

Our adventure through the pages of the book The Feather Thief continues! We’re thrilled to have Jason Weckstein join us again. Jason is an enthusiastic fly fisherman and fly-tier, and also an amazing ornithologist. He joined us last week, and is back with even more laughs, stories, and an extraordinary depth of insight into the quirky worlds of both fly tying and bird watching.

We dive into one of the birds mentioned in the book: the Argus Pheasant. Shannon has some captivating info about these birds’ remarkable feathers, and the unique way that they produce the color blue. We also get into the similarities and differences between fly-fishing and birdwatching.

Jason is an Associate Curator of Ornithology at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Associate Professor in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science, Drexel University.

As always, you have John Bates, Shannon Hackett, Amanda Marquart, and RJ Pole here for Birds of a Feather Talk Together.

Please send us your questions for us to answer as well! You can send them to podcast.birdsofafeather@gmail.com

Make sure to follow us on Instagram, Blue Sky Social, YouTube and tik tok as well!!