1. Zombie Apocalypse

Suspicion surrounds a meat rendering plant in Kent, sparking paranoia.

An episode of the The Cows Are Mad podcast, hosted by BBC Radio 4, titled "1. Zombie Apocalypse" was published on October 23, 2023 and runs 14 minutes.

October 23, 2023 ·14m · The Cows Are Mad

0:00 / 0:00

Summary

Hidden deep in the heart of the Kent countryside is an abandoned factory with a dark past. In the 1980s and 1990s it processed tens of thousands of dead cows - some of which are thought to have been infected with a disease that would devastate British farming. Then, when early human cases of BSE began to emerge in people living close to the rendering plant, paranoia also infected Kent’s countryside communities. People wanted answers - but there were none. Today, science has failed to definitively answer two major questions about mad cow disease - where did it originally come from and how did humans get it? Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.

Episode Description

Hidden deep in the heart of the Kent countryside is an abandoned factory with a dark past. In the 1980s and 1990s it processed tens of thousands of dead cows - some of which are thought to have been infected with a disease that would devastate British farming.

Then, when early human cases of BSE began to emerge in people living close to the rendering plant, paranoia also infected Kent’s countryside communities. People wanted answers - but there were none.

Today, science has failed to definitively answer two major questions about mad cow disease - where did it originally come from and how did humans get it?

Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

Doin’ My Dharma: Lori Bolden: How To Overcome Chronic Pain And Live From The Heart

Dec 17, 2025 ·41m

Doin' My Dharma: Kjersti Vandesande: How to Break Free from Unworthiness and Find Love

Nov 5, 2025 ·34m

Failure Isn’t Even A Thing - Go For It!

Oct 15, 2025 ·36m

Doin' My Dharma: Krystal McCabe: Awakening Through Parenting

Oct 8, 2025 ·35m

Doin' My Dharma: Michelle Bailey: The Power of Letting Go

Oct 1, 2025 ·30m

Remembering the Future: The Secret of Creating Your Life

Sep 24, 2025 ·18m

Similar Podcasts

Working Cows - Regenerative Ranching to Maximize Profitability and Soil Health Clay Conry What is the key to becoming a more regenerative ranch? How do we increase the effectiveness of our management of the Land, Animals, Money, and People that have been entrusted to us? The Working Cows podcast exists to glorify God by providing farmers and ranchers a platform to discuss and share best practices for increasing soil health, profitability, stockmanship and leadership ability. Each week host, Clay Conry, will talk to leaders in the industry who have made the regenerative shift in their business so that their ranches are more profitable from an economic and ecologic perspective. They will discuss grazing, Holistic Management, herd health, low-stress stockmanship, leadership, and of course putting your cows to work for you. Computer technology: robotic milking and interactive mirrors - for iPad/Mac/PC The Open University What have computers got to do with cows? Can a wooden mirror help us understand the computing behind digital image capture? Neil Rowse is the first dairy farmer in the UK to use a computerised system that gives cows control over when they are milked, and allows him to remotely monitor the welfare of individual animals. Daniel Rozin has created an computer operated mirror made from 835 tilting wooden tiles. With the help of a digital camera and a computer programme, the wooden tiles mimic the digital pixel information and tilt themselves into a ‘reflection’. This material is taken from The Open University course T224 Computers and processors. Computer technology: robotic milking and interactive mirrors - for iPod/iPhone The Open University What have computers got to do with cows? Can a wooden mirror help us understand the computing behind digital image capture? Neil Rowse is the first dairy farmer in the UK to use a computerised system that gives cows control over when they are milked, and allows him to remotely monitor the welfare of individual animals. Daniel Rozin has created an computer operated mirror made from 835 tilting wooden tiles. With the help of a digital camera and a computer programme, the wooden tiles mimic the digital pixel information and tilt themselves into a ‘reflection’. This material is taken from The Open University course T224 Computers and processors. Rules of Dumb René and Ben René and Ben have made some mistakes. Along the way, they have found that many elements of conventional wisdom - rules of thumb - are no longer, or actually never were, relevant. They were just things to do because people always did them. In fact, those things people do are better-coined Rules of Dumb. With pop-culture as the backdrop, the duo explores and slaughter sacred cows. René and Ben dig into conventional ideas and explore alternative viewpoints all while finding the comedy in these commonly accepted notions.

URL copied to clipboard!