Absolute Units

50 Million Pheasants Later (with Guy Shrubsole)

The Museum of English Rural Life

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Thanks for waiting for us, as we return with a second episode with the fantastic author, environmentalist, and campaigner Guy Shrubsole. 

Where last episode we spoke broadly about the history of land ownership in England, revving up to almost a thousand years an hour, this time we're lasering in on one specific part of rural English life that speaks to much of the complexities and tensions invoked by Guy's work as well as our collections: hunting. And more specifically, grouse shooting.

We discuss the modern invention of grouse shooting, the transformative impact of shooting culture on rural landscape and ecosystems, and the diabolical experiment we're all living through wherein 50 million pheasants get released into the countryside each year.

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Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Theme tune by Tai Dawson. This podcast contains audio from Epidemic Sound.

Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan

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