Interview: From T. rex to Birds with Steve Brusatte | Particles of Thought

Steve Brusatte has the dirt on dinosaurs and joins Hakeem to trace the full 100-million-year history of the tyrannosaur dynasty, the asteroid that ended it, and the remarkable truth that dinosaurs never actually disappeared. One small lineage survived to become every bird alive today, and Steve walks through the long and contested scientific history of how we came to understand that connection. He also shares what it was like to serve as the official paleontology consultant on the Jurassic World films, and how to find the balance between science and cinema. Particles of Thought is back for Season 2! 🎧 Available on your favorite podcast platforms Amazon Music: https://bit.ly/4msqqby Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Hz8rkI Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4oB3Ten If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback helps new listeners find the show and allows us to continue creating great science content. Thank you for your support! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/particles-of-thought/id1832615266 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh, where he leads a research group studying dinosaur evolution and the history of life on Earth. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs and The Story of Birds, and has served as a paleontology consultant on the Jurassic World film franchise. He will be featured in NOVA's upcoming five-part documentary series Evolution, coming fall 2026. Particles of Thought is hosted by Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist, author, STEM educator, multi-patented inventor, science journalist, TV personality, science communicator, and inspirational speaker. His research is based on "hacking stars" to understand our universe better and develop innovative new technologies. Oluseyi's work has resulted in 11 patents and more than 100 publications covering contributions to astrophysics, cosmology, and plasma physics and the development of space missions, observatories, focal plane instruments, detectors, semiconductor manufacturing, and ion propulsion. Chapters 00:00:00 T. rex Family Tree 00:30:33 How Dinosaurs Became Birds 00:59:01 Is Jurassic World Scientifically Accurate? 📰 Stay up to date on the latest science discoveries, full episodes, articles, videos, and more by signing up for NOVA's newsletter here: https://to.pbs.org/4brCC7Y ▶️ Stream NOVA documentaries & more with PBS Documentaries on Prime Video: https://amzn.to/4hXBlsu 💙 Help us bring the universe closer to home. Your donation ensures that NOVA’s deep-space discoveries and quantum physics explorations remain free and inspiring for the next generation of scientists. Support fact-based storytelling today. https://bit.ly/48UnsrD 🌟 Follow on social for more NOVA content Twitter: https://twitter.com/novapbs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novapbs TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@novapbs