Political Animals: Sex, Monkeys and the 'Coy Female' Myth - 1/3

Zoologist Lucy Cooke is on a mission: to break down the 'sexist stereotype' she believes has permeated our understanding of the natural world...

In Political Animals, she sets out to prove that females of the species can be just as fiesty, ardent, manipulative, aggressive, varied, strategic and political as males - questioning some of the theories laid out by the 'father of evolution', Charles Darwin, and hearing from pioneering scientists moving evolutionary biology beyond a male-centric narrative.

For the opening episode, Lucy focuses on sex: uncovering stories of the female animals defying Darwin’s “coy” label, and using sexual strategies to further their own evolutionary influence.

This takes her on a journey from soliciting capuchin monkeys in the forests of Costa Rica, to studies of promiscuous fruit flies, to the northern jacana bird in Nicaragua, which relies on a harem of males to raise her chicks. Lucy also hears from scientists and specialists including Megan Mah, Joe Cain, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Patricia Gowaty, Robert Trivers and Salvador Mirales.

Featuring excerpts from ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’ by Charles Darwin, read by Derek Frood.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.

First broadcast on Friday 18 February 2022.