Very nice piece, Richard. I shall listen to the podcast edit soon; I've got a few episodes to catch up on first. Shame about your bat detector.

I like the bit about the evolutionary solution to deafening themselves with their clicks. I'm pretty sure my son also disables his malleus, incus and stapes when he's being told it's bedtime.

I used to be able to hear some bat sounds, but lost that ability around my late-20s. It didn't sound anything like the bat detector's interpretation – just high-pitched squeaks.

I once spent a week doing some conservation work with someone who had done their PhD on bats. She was able to translate, or interpret, every type of sound coming through the bat detector. It was fascinating, but I also enjoy listening to it as a sort of avant-garde techno, too.