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Rick LeCouteur
Inviting young readers to marvel at the wonder of nature's creatures
Rick's Blog
#bunyipsbooksbeyond
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How Vets Make Decisions: It’s not just about logic (#385)
When the day gets busy, or fatigue sets in, the first casualty in a veterinarian’s schedule is often thinking time . To stay afloat, we...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 54 min read
The Spoils System: Mark Twain’s perspective (#384)
The term spoils system often conjures images of a bygone era in American politics, a time when public offices were distributed as...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 53 min read
The Fragility of Freedom: Lessons from 1933 (#383)
Burning of The Reichstag, 1933 “To know your future, you must know your past” George Santayana (1863-1952) Adolf Hitler’s rapid...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 44 min read
Silent Stories: Rethinking narrative medicine for animals (#382)
In human healthcare, narrative medicine emerged in the early 2000s as a response to the increasing depersonalization of modern medical...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 33 min read
The Great Hedge of India: How empires enforce borders (#381)
Long before the Berlin Wall or the US–Mexico border fence, the British built a living barrier across the heart of India. A hedge so vast...
Rick LeCouteur
Aug 23 min read
Obesogens: What veterinarians should know (#380)
While diet and exercise are often blamed for rising obesity rates, accumulating evidence points to a less visible culprit—...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 283 min read
Rethinking Outdoor Cats: The invisible toll on Nature (#379)
Cats are among the most cherished companions in the modern world. Their independence, elegance, and comforting purrs have earned them a...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 274 min read
Rethinking Willpower: Understanding obesity in a new era (#378)
The rise of weight-loss medications— GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide and tirzepatide —has ignited a storm of admiration, hope,...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 274 min read
Infuse, Don’t Impose: A model for sustainable change in veterinary culture (#377)
There is no exact match in existing leadership literature that mirrors the biomedical precision and internal diffusion principles of...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 212 min read
Convection-Enhanced Leadership: Deliver change where it matters (#376)
A conceptual illustration of convection-enhanced leadership in a veterinary hospital setting, translating a clinical metaphor into an...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 213 min read
Managing Problems from Within: Convection-enhanced leadership (#375)
What can the treatment of brain tumors teach us about leadership in veterinary medicine? In the mid-1970s (Yes – 50 years ago!), I found...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 214 min read
Evolution Explained: Separating fact from fiction (#374)
Giraffes didn’t evolve long necks just to reach high leaves – though that may play a role. The more compelling evolutionary explanation...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 204 min read
Rethinking Peer Review: Who pays? (#373)
Reviewing a manuscript for a scientific journal used to be considered an honor – an act of collegial duty, a reciprocal obligation to the...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 194 min read
The Interrobang in Vet Med: When "?" or "!" alone just doesn't cut it (#372)
Ever seen this combo – !? – at the end of a sentence and wondered what it means? It’s called an interrobang – a fascinating piece of...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 182 min read
Gen Z in the Vet Clinic: Blank stares and busy minds (#371)
I first noticed it in the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Vet students, early twenties, listening intently as a I...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 182 min read
From Calling to Career: Gen Z challenges the corporate vet model (#370)
Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – are now entering the workforce in full force. They are the first true digital...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 174 min read
Habeas Corpus: Protecting freedom for centuries (#369)
In 1963, when I was just 12 years old, my history teacher Mr. Lipscombe asked our class a question that would stay with me for life: ...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 102 min read
Science and Democracy: Russell’s call for citizens who build (#368)
Every time I read Bertrand Russell, I wonder how he saw so clearly into the future. His words about science, imagination, and human...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 95 min read
Scientific Writing: Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing (#367)
If there was ever a writer who understood the power of economy and rhythm in prose, it was Elmore Leonard . Known for his razor-sharp...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 94 min read
The Four Desires That Shape Humanity: Acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity, & power (#366)
In his 1930 work The Conquest of Happiness , Bertrand Russell outlined what he believed were the four fundamental desires driving human...
Rick LeCouteur
Jul 83 min read
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