All Dinosaurs Considered: Looking Back at Prehistoric Illinois

An observant 8 year old NPR listener from Minneapolis pointed out what he saw as a big issue with NPR’s oldest news program, All Things Considered. People haven't been talking about the dinosaurs. Leo’s observation lead NPR to look in its archives; of its 50 year history, the word “dinosaur” appeared just 294 times in stories, compared to a word like “Senator,” which appeared more than 20-thousand times.

To look back in time and explore what prehistoric Illinois may have looked like, what creatures roamed these lands and why you likely won’t be finding any dinosaur fossils here, The 21st was joined by senior paleontologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey and a vertebrate paleontologist and associate curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Guests:

Joe Devera, Senior Paleontologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey

Jingmai O’Connor, Vertebrate Paleontologist and associate curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago

Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi

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