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In his book, Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (Osprey, 2021), Dr. Michael Livingston of The Citadel tells the story of the battle of Brunanburh and of an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers – amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike – which may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This week on Walter Edgar's Journal, he talks about the battle, the efforts to find its true location, and why it was as existential a conflict for England as the Battle of Britain, some 1000 years later.The story: Late in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings - at least two from across the sea - who'd come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have the fame of Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, but those later battles, were fought for an England that would not exist were it not for the blood spilled this day.

A listener reports sighting an eastern box turtle eating an unusual meal...

Tinea pellionella, the case-bearing clothes moth, is a species of tineoid moth in the family Tineidae, the fungus moths. This species has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide. The larva eats mainly fibrous keratin, such as hairs and feathers. It can become a pest when it feeds on carpets, furs, upholstery, and woolen fabrics. It also consumes detritus, cobwebs, bird nests (particularly of the domestic pigeon), stored vegetable produce and wallpaper. It stays inside a snug case it constructs from debris such as fibers and hairs.

The modern oboe most likely originated in France in the 1600's. The word oboe, which is the instrument’s name in both English and Italian, comes from the French name, hautbois, meaning “high wood,” or “loud wood.”

In operatic singing, there are three principal voice types for women. From high to low, they are soprano, mezzo-soprano—mezzo meaning “middle” in Italian—and contralto.

Have you ever wondered how the violin came to play such an important role in the history of classical music? Well, it starts with singing.

Chamber music rehearsals are very different from orchestra rehearsals. In an orchestra rehearsal, it’s the conductor’s job to make the overall musical decisions and to ensure that the members of the orchestra carry them out. A chamber music group, on the other hand, is—ideally, at least—a pure democracy.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Don Rockey about the diagnosis and treatment of fatty liver disease. Dr. Rockey is a gastroenterologist and hepatologist and Director of the Digestive Disease Research Center at MUSC.

Rudy gives you a quick primer on vultures in South Carolina.

Rudy shares an excerpt from Richard Jefferies' "The Dewey Morn."