The Resistance of a Cow
4/17/202651 min
There’s something rotten in the cows of Denmark. And Minnesota. And Wisconsin. And Idaho. What could cause a previously thriving herd of majestic dairy cattle to stop drinking water and start drinking … urine? A Danish farmer calls a special investigator, who takes one look at his farm and nopes the heck out of there, refusing to return, citing “bad energy” coming from something nearby … a big building covered in Viking runes.
It’s not magic. It’s an invisible force that’s far more common. And yet deeply mysterious.
This episode plunges producers Matt Kielty and Simon Adler knee-deep in a decades-old dairy farm controversy, rooted in a fundamental suspicion of the invisible streams of electrons that keep our world humming.
Special thanks to Dr. Liz Brock
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Matt Kielty and Simon Adler
with help from - Clara Grunnet and Rebecca Rand
Produced by - Matt Kielty
with help from - Maria Paz Gutierrez
Original music from - Jeremy Bloom and Matt Kielty
Sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloom
Mixed by - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Angely Mercado and Sophie Samiee
and Edited by - Pat Walters
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Books -
- The Great Energy Transition: America from 1876 to 1929 (https://zpr.io/3PStsDgidpj5), by David Nye
- Powering American Farms: The Overlooked Origins of Rural Electrification (https://zpr.io/GdQ4pMCy4DAV), by Richard Hirsch
- Beyond the Barn – Dodging Cow Patties for 50 Years by a Country Vet (https://zpr.io/S8qS9HLEQBJe), by Don Sanders a memoir about his long career.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLatif Nasser· Host0:02
Oh, wait, you're listening [laughs] Okay. All right.
Clara Grunnet0:04
Okay.
Latif Nasser· Host0:06
All right.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:07
[clears throat] You're listening- You're listening- To Radiolab. Radiolab.
Clara Grunnet0:11
From- WNYC. C.
Latif Nasser· Host0:14
Yep.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:15
[laughs] Simon.
Latif Nasser· Host0:22
Back again. Back again.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:24
Look who it is.
Latif Nasser· Host0:25
Hey, I'm Latif Nasser. This is Radiolab.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:27
Prodigal son has returned.
Latif Nasser· Host0:30
From the top, Matt.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:30
Okay. Today, we got senior producer Matt Kielty, former- [laughs] ... senior producer emeritus.
Latif Nasser· Host0:36
Correspondent.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:37
Correspondent emeritus.
Latif Nasser· Host0:39
Correspondent emeritus Simon Adler.
Simon Adler0:39
Yeah, at least you got my, uh, hyphenated title in there.
Latif Nasser· Host0:42
Back from the grave.
Simon Adler0:44
Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Hope you're having fun.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:45
Having a great time.
Simon Adler0:46
I'm having a ball.
Matt Kielty· Co-host0:47
[laughs] Great. So, uh- [laughs] Today, Simon and I, we have, we have a weird, a weird story.
Latif Nasser· Host0:54
Okay.
Clara Grunnet0:54
I'm b- I'm very excited that that was your reaction. I feel like this mystery does that to people. It's like people are like, "What? What are you talking about?"
Latif Nasser· Host1:04
[laughs] All right. So this story first came to us from, uh- My name is Clara Grunold. Clara Grunold.
Clara Grunnet1:09
I'm a Danish journalist. Should I say more?
Latif Nasser· Host1:11
[laughs] Yeah. Like, how are you?
Clara Grunnet1:13
I'm very happy, very ecstatic and excited.
Latif Nasser· Host1:15
I can tell, the enthusiasm in your voice.
Simon Adler1:17
[laughs] That's just the Danish way, right?
Clara Grunnet1:19
No, no.
Matt Kielty· Co-host1:20
So Clara lives and works in Copenhagen.
Clara Grunnet1:22
It's been a long day, but honestly this is definitely the highlight, so I am excited.
Matt Kielty· Co-host1:26
She works for this audio journalism company called Zetland.
Clara Grunnet1:29
We produce