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Scott Taylor posts a note to an idea board as he and Zach Karl plan the first 12 episodes of “Okay, But… Birds.” (courtesy photo)

Scott Taylor has his hands full at CU ������ý����. He is an associate professor with research and teaching responsibilities, and the director of the Mountain Research Station. Yet, he recently added another job title to the list: podcast host.

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tackles a wide range of avian topics, ranging from the status of bird flu in 2026 to the rising popularity of birding. He mostly interviews fellow academics, but has a knack for keeping conversations compelling without diving too far into the scientific weeds. And, he isn’t afraid to bring on ornithophiles from other fields. One recent episode featured Pulitzer Prize-Winning popular science author .

Taylor’s goal? To spark scientific curiosity in bird-curious listeners.��

“A lot of people are interested in birding, which is great,” Taylor said. “Less people understand the science behind these amazing creatures.”

“Okay, But… Birds” is already making waves. In just a few short months, the podcast has published 14 episodes and amassed . Just before its debut, Taylor was invited onto NPR’s 1A to talk about birds and answer listener questions.��

This week, INSTAAR sat down with Taylor to pull back the curtain on “Okay, But… Birds.”

The show is so polished. Your written intros are punchy and immediate, the sound design, set design and video are crisp and attractive. Who is working on this aside from yourself?

My partner, Zach Karl, is the producer and editor. He’s a business consultant, and he’s also an RnB artist — he’s been doing sound design and production for years. It’s been amazing to have him thinking through design and filming and editing. The podcast felt like a really cool way to take my love of talking to the public about science and birds and combine that with my partner's love of production and media.��

Take us through the show format. How is it structured?

We start with a sizzle reel — something memorable from the episode. Then there’s a monologue at the beginning, usually a storytelling monologue where I relate the topic back to a personal anecdote. Then the main segment is an interview with someone who is either an expert in the science of birds, or someone for whom birds really matter — we call it “talk birdy to me.” Then we have a segment called “that’s BS,” which stands for “bird stuff,” where we basically debunk a myth — like if you touch a baby bird it won’t be rejected by its parents. We end with a fact, for the listeners that want to come away with a conversation piece. The episodes are typically 30 minutes — not too long.

Who do you have on? Is there a vetting process?

At the beginning we came up with 12 topics that we thought would be really interesting to our audience. We started by just asking, who do we already know, but thinking carefully about career stage and life experience. So we’ve had a lot of people on who I have a direct connection to and some where the connection is less direct. For instance, there’s Linda Macaulay, who is the namesake of the��world's largest and oldest scientific archive of wildlife recordings. We were really excited to have her on the show, and the episode turned out great because we could pull from a vast catalogue of her field recordings.

As we�� progress past the initial list, we’re considering a lot of things like topics our listeners are suggesting, and representation. Recently we filmed with Doug Tallamy, a renowned entomologist who is widely known as a thought leader in yard naturalization and who founded Homegrown National Park. That episode is great and we’re excited for it to air.

You are such a skilled storyteller. How did you develop that aptitude?

I was a really shy kid. I always really loved nature, and I spent a lot of time walking around in the woods where I grew up in Ontario. But, I haven’t always been comfortable with public speaking. The year after I finished high school, I got a job as a naturalist at��. It was everything from leading wildlife walks to dressing up as a turtle and singing campfire songs. That’s when I really started to get into the idea that you can be animated and show people how much you care about these things. I did that job for five years, while I was in school studying science in a serious way for the first time. Finding ways to talk about science that were really inspiring was a part of my job, and it really served me well.��

Scott Taylor kneels by a newly-constructed backdrop for “Okay, But… Birds.” (courtesy photo)

The paint dries on the backdrop for “Okay, But… Birds” in Scott Taylor and Zach Kent’s garage. (courtesy photo)

For people new to the show, what is a good episode to start with?

People should start with the question that seems most interesting to them! The podcast is called Okay… But…” because each episode is centered around a big bird question.�� The first episode, “Okay, but is bird monogamy just PR?” breaks a lot of myths and our recent episode “Okay, but why is a bird’s world more colorful?” is a really fun and approachable topic. I think all of the episodes have something for everyone. Science is a journey, and we take people along and try to keep it really understandable.

What is a moment from an interview that stands out to you?

Linda Macaulay told some crazy stories. She was recording bird calls in West Africa with a former British spy who had used bird watching as his cover. One day, they went back to the hotel for lunch and saw all of these people with machine guns in the woods outside. Later, they were having dinner at the hotel and two tables over was Charles Taylor, the Liberian rebel warlord. Then, they saw some American guys in suits drop a metal briefcase with him — probably CIA operatives.��

It’s also just fun to see where people’s excitement about their work comes from. Everyone has a different reason for loving birds, and often it comes from personal experiences.

Even though I’ve spent my career studying birds, there’s so much I still don’t know. For instance, I didn’t realize that avian influenza is the biggest outbreak in wildlife ever. I learn something new each episode.

What advice would you give to another academic who wants to start a podcast about their field?

We built a really solid pitch deck — basically a presentation that covers the show’s concept, mission, and target audience. We didn’t actually end up pitching it to any networks, but it was a really useful way to really think carefully about personas, audiences and branding. It’s my partner’s job to do that sort of thing. It's really important, and Zach is really amazing at it.

I’m a good storyteller, but that alone is not enough to do this successfully. We’re really lucky that, within our partnership, we have all of the skills we need to do this well. There’s little things, like we have a tech kit that we send out to interviewees. At the end of the day, it’s really just two guys in a garage, but together we have really complimentary experience that makes the show what it is.

What’s next?

We have 24 episodes already planned out for season one and two. Right now we’re focused on producing those and getting them out there. We also want to engage with our followers more, perhaps by bringing in listener questions or commentary to the show.

One thing we would like to do in the future is have a featured slot on the podcast as an award for a graduate student speaking at a conference. I want to find ways to use the show to encourage scientists to engage with a wider audience and encourage people to engage with science.

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