If you’ve ever seen a cute cow video on social media, you might notice they seem to have a lot in common with dogs. They can wag their tails, they love to gobble down tasty treats, and if you’re lucky, they might flop over for a nice belly or neck scratch.
Cows are clearly emotional animals, but how smart are they exactly? That’s the question that neuroscientist and author Dr. Gregory Berns had when he and his wife moved from Atlanta to the Georgia countryside in 2020, and started raising cows of their own. And to better understand them, he applied his years of experience researching the brains of animals, like dogs and dolphins.
He joins guest host Sophie Bushwick to talk about his new book, Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship And A Scientist’s Journey Into The Secret World Of Cows.
Further Reading
- Watch Gregory Berns and his bull Ricky Bobby in a video on “cow therapy” via YouTube.
Segment Guests
Gregory Berns
Dr. Gregory Berns is the author of Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship And A Scientist’s Journey Into The Secret World Of Cows and a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Meet the Producers and Host
About D. Peterschmidt
@dpeterschmidtD. Peterschmidt is a producer, host of the podcast Universe of Art, and composes music for Science Friday’s podcasts. Their D&D character is a clumsy bard named Chip Chap Chopman.
About Sophie Bushwick
@sophiebushwickSophie Bushwick is senior news editor at New Scientist in New York, New York. Previously, she was a senior editor at Popular Science and technology editor at Scientific American.