114: The Feather Thief: Kirk Wallace Johnson on the Shocking Bird Museum Heist

Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of the bestselling book The Feather Thief, joins Birds of a Feather Talk Together to tell the incredible true story of one of the strangest museum heists ever committed.In 2009, Edwin Rist broke into the Natural History Museum at Tring in England and stole hundreds of rare and historically significant bird specimens. His target wasn't money or jewels—it was feathers.The stolen birds included specimens collected generations ago, some representing species whose feathers had become extraordinarily valuable within the world of Victorian salmon fly tying. The crime destroyed irreplaceable scientific material and eventually became the subject of Kirk Wallace Johnson's acclaimed true-crime book, The Feather Thief.Kirk joins Field Museum ornithologists John Bates and Shannon Hackett, along with RJ and Amanda Pole, to discuss the bizarre crime, the investigation that followed, the underground world of rare feathers and fly tying, and why museum bird collections are so scientifically valuable.Who was Edwin Rist? Why did he steal hundreds of bird specimens? Why were rare feathers worth so much money? What was lost scientifically when the specimens were destroyed? And what happened to the missing birds?It's a story involving true crime, obsession, natural history, museums, endangered birds, science, and a mystery that still raises questions today.If you've read The Feather Thief—or love true crime, museum mysteries, natural history, or unbelievable stories that happen to be true—this conversation with Kirk Wallace Johnson is for you.Here are links to our social and YouTube pages, give us a follow:YouTube InstagramTikTokBlueSky