Animal Studies

Animal Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Animal Studies about their new books.

John O’Connor, "The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster" (Sourcebooks, 2024)

March 16, 2024

The Secret History of Bigfoot

John O’Connor
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Bigfoot is an instantly recognizable figure. Through the decades, this elusive primate has been featured in movies and books, on coffee mugs, beer koo…

Cristina Brito, "Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa" (Amsterdam UP, 2023)

March 4, 2024

Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa

Cristina Brito
Hosted by Jana Byars

Cristina Brito's book Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa (Amsterdam University Press, 2024) deals with peoples' practices, …

Fynn Holm, "The Gods of the Sea: Whales and Coastal Communities in Northeast Japan, c.1600-2019" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

February 29, 2024

The Gods of the Sea

Fynn Holm
Hosted by Nathan Hopson

Japan is often imagined as a nation with a long history of whaling. In The Gods of the Sea: Whales and Coastal Communities in Northeast Japan, c.1600-…

Rob Percival, "The Meat Paradox: Eating, Empathy, and the Future of Meat" (Pegasus, 2022)

February 12, 2024

The Meat Paradox

Rob Percival
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Our future diet will be shaped by diverse forces. It will be shaped by novel technologies, by geopolitical tensions, and the evolution of cultural pre…

Yamini Narayanan, "Mother Cow, Mother India: A Multispecies Politics of Dairy in India" (Stanford UP, 2023)

February 11, 2024

Mother Cow, Mother India

Yamini Narayanan
Hosted by Yash Sharma

India imposes stringent criminal penalties, including life imprisonment in some states, for cow slaughter, based on a Hindu ethic of revering the cow …

Joshua Paul Dale, "Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World" (Profile Books, 2023)

February 10, 2024

Irresistible

Joshua Paul Dale
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Why are some things cute, and others not? What happens to our brains when we see something cute? And how did cuteness go global, from Hello Kitty to D…

Marcia Stephenson, "Llamas beyond the Andes: Untold Histories of Camelids in the Modern World" (U Texas Press, 2023)

January 27, 2024

Llamas beyond the Andes

Marcia Stephenson
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Camelids are vital to the cultures and economies of the Andes. The animals have also been at the heart of ecological and social catastrophe: Europeans…

Melanie Joy, "How to End Injustice Everywhere: Understanding the Common Denominator Driving All Injustices, to Create a Better World for Humans, Animals, and the Planet" (Lantern, 2023)

January 8, 2024

How to End Injustice Everywhere

Melanie Joy
Hosted by Kyle Johannsen

In this eye-opening and compelling work, psychologist Melanie Joy reveals the common denominator driving all forms of injustice. The mentality that dr…

Thom van Dooren, "The Wake of Crows: Living and Dying in Shared Worlds" (Columbia UP, 2019)

January 6, 2024

The Wake of Crows

Thom van Dooren
Hosted by Mark Molloy

Crows can be found almost everywhere that people are, from tropical islands to deserts and arctic forests, from densely populated cities to suburbs an…

Leigh Claire La Berge, "Marx for Cats: A Radical Bestiary" (Duke UP, 2023)

January 5, 2024

Marx for Cats

Leigh Claire La Berge
Hosted by Arya Rani

At the outset of Marx for Cats: A Radical Bestiary (Duke UP, 2023), Leigh Claire La Berge declares that “all history is the history of cat struggle.” …

Marcy Norton, "The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492" (Harvard UP, 2024)

January 4, 2024

The Tame and the Wild

Marcy Norton
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492 (Harvard University Press, 2024), Dr. Marcy Norton offers a dramatic new interpretation of the…

Martha C. Nussbaum, "Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility" (Simon & Schuster, 2022)

January 2, 2024

Justice for Animals

Martha C. Nussbaum
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum. Animals are in tro…

Justin Marceau, "Beyond Cages: Animal Law and Criminal Punishment" (Cambridge UP, 2019)

December 31, 2023

Beyond Cages

Justin Marceau
Hosted by Mark Molloy

For all the diversity of views within the animal protection movement, there is a surprising consensus about the need for more severe criminal justice …

Helen Louise Cowie, "Victims of Fashion: Animal Commodities in Victorian Britain" (Cambridge UP, 2021)

December 21, 2023

Victims of Fashion

Helen Louise Cowie
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Animal products were used extensively in nineteenth-century Britain. A middle-class Victorian woman might wear a dress made of alpaca wool, drape hers…

Jonathan B. Losos, "The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa" (Viking, 2023)

December 20, 2023

The Cat's Meow

Jonathan B. Losos

The domestic cat--your cat--has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successfu…

Shelly Kagan, "How to Count Animals, More Or Less" (Oxford UP, 2019)

December 6, 2023

How to Count Animals, More Or Less

Shelly Kagan

Most people agree that animals count morally, but how exactly should we take animals into account? A prominent stance in contemporary ethical discussi…

Samiparna Samanta, "Meat, Mercy, Morality: Animals and Humanitarianism in Colonial Bengal, 1850-1920" (Oxford UP, 2021)

December 2, 2023

Meat, Mercy, Morality

Samiparna Samanta
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Meat, Mercy, and Morality: Animals and Humanitarianism in Colonial Bengal, 1850-1920 (Oxford University Press, 2023) by Dr. Samiparna Samanta disentan…

Anne Mendelson, "Spoiled: The Myth of Milk as Superfood" (Columbia UP, 2023)

November 22, 2023

Spoiled

Anne Mendelson

Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the populat…

Gary Tomlinson, "The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning" (Zone Books, 2023)

November 14, 2023

The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning

Gary Tomlinson
Hosted by Nathan Smith
Listen:

What is meaning? How does it arise? Where is it found in the world? In recent years, philosophers and scientists have answered these questions in diff…

James K. Beggan, "How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict" (Lexington Books, 2022)

November 3, 2023

How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict

James K. Beggan
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

For the last twenty-thousand years, dogs and people have shared a unique bond in the animal kingdom. In How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict (…