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No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Fish

Little Fish: The OId Ron Brown

February 08, 2026 • 27m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

The No Such Thing As A Fish team presents Little Fish, where they share fascinating facts submitted by listeners. This episode covers a wide range of topics from Cold War spy mishaps to animal decomposition studies, featuring stories about Scottish accents confusing KGB agents, Canadian prime ministers consulting the dead, and the bizarre ways animals survive in nature.

KGB Communication Breakdown and Political Affairs

The episode opens with a remarkable Cold War story about Ron Brown, a Scottish MP and communist sympathizer whose meetings with KGB agents proved fruitless due to language barriers. The hosts also discuss Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister William King, who guided the country through major historical events while secretly consulting with the dead through séances, including conversations with his deceased dog about wartime policy decisions.

  • KGB agents couldn't understand Edinburgh MP Ron Brown's thick Scottish accent, leaving them uncertain whether he was sharing secrets or discussing football
  • Canadian Prime Minister William King consulted his dead mother, former PM Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and his dog Pat through séances during his term
  • King's 172 volumes of diaries revealed his extensive use of séances for major decisions, including WWII conscription policy
  • The King-Bing affair was a constitutional crisis delightfully named after the two parties involved
" Brown may have been leaking top-grade secrets, but equally, he might have been talking about football. And they just couldn't tell. "
" He was a Labour MP who damaged the parliamentary mace in a row over the poll tax and ended up in court for stealing his mistress's underwear. "

Decomposition Science and Taphonomy Research

Scientists use unconventional methods to study decomposition, including dressing dead pigs in winter clothing to understand how garments affect decay rates. A fascinating historical study placed three tons of dead pigs in an American forest to observe ecosystem impacts, with surprising long-term consequences that persist decades later.

  • South African taphonomists found pigs decompose more slowly when wearing winter garments and faster when eaten by Cape gray mongooses
  • Scientists use pig decomposition to understand human decay patterns since they can't ethically experiment on humans
  • A 20-30 year old study placed three tons of dead pigs in a forest, and the area still hasn't recovered from the ecological impact
  • The decomposition site became increasingly nasty and permanently altered the ecosystem
" It gets really nasty really quite quickly right and not only did it get really nasty and there was dead pig everywhere it was all rotten actually the area never really recovered and it still hasn't really recovered. "

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