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Animal Studies
Philosophy July 20, 2022

Animal Crisis

A New Critical Theory

Alice Crary and Lori Gruen

Hosted by Sarah Tyson
As we lose more individual animals and entire species to catastrophic climate change, habitat destruction, toxic dumping, and other human activities, it becomes increasingly difficult to register the full scope …

Animal Studies

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Interviews with scholars of Animal Studies about their new books.

Medicine July 20, 2022

Our Transgenic Future

Spider Goats, Genetic Modification, and the Will to Change Nature

Lisa Jean Moore

Hosted by Rachel Pagones
The process of manipulating the genetic material of one animal to include the DNA of another creates a new transgenic organism. Several animals, notably goats, mice, sheep, and cattle are …
Japanese Studies July 6, 2022

Animal Care in Japanese Tradition

A Short History

W. Puck Brecher

Hosted by Jingyi Li
In Animal Care in Japanese Tradition: A Short History (Association for Asian Studies, 2022), Brecher offers a brief overview of animals in Japanese culture and society from ancient times to …
Food June 29, 2022

Edible Insects

A Global History

Gina Louise Hunter

Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi
From grasshoppers to grubs, an eye-opening look at insect cuisine around the world. An estimated two billion people worldwide regularly consume insects, yet bugs are rarely eaten in the West …
Biology and Evolution June 27, 2022

Different

Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist

Frans de Waal

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
In Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist (W. W. Norton, 2022), world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal draws on decades of observation and studies of both human and animal …
Biology and Evolution June 20, 2022

The Silken Thread

Five Insects and Their Impacts on Human History

Robert N. Wiedenmann and J. Ray Fisher

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Insects are seldom mentioned in discussions surrounding human history, yet they have dramatically impacted today's societies. The Silken Thread: Five Insects and Their Impacts on Human History (Oxford UP, 2021) …
Biology and Evolution June 14, 2022

Sloth Lemur's Song

Madagascar from the Deep Past to the Uncertain Present

Alison F. Richard

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Madagascar is a place of change. A biodiversity hotspot and the fourth largest island on the planet, it has been home to a spectacular parade of animals, from giant flightless …
Biology and Evolution June 3, 2022

Sounds Wild and Broken

Sonic Marvels, Evolution's Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction

David George Haskell

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
We live on a planet alive with song, music, and speech. David Haskell explores how these wonders came to be. In rain forests shimmering with insect sound and swamps pulsing …
Geography June 1, 2022

Nature's Broken Clocks: Reimagining Time in the Face of the Environmental Crisis

Paul Huebener

Hosted by Nicholas Pritchard
In Nature's Broken Clocks: Reimagining Time in the Face of the Environmental Crisis (University of Regina Press, 2020), Paul Huebener argues that "the environmental crisis is, in many ways, a crisis of time." …
Southeast Asian Studies June 1, 2022

Colonizing Animals

Interspecies Empire in Myanmar

Jonathan Saha

Hosted by Patrick Jory
Colonial Myanmar was teeming with animals, both wild and domesticated. Yet few histories have devoted close attention to the importance of animals to British colonial rule in Myanmar. Jonathan Saha’s …
Geography May 30, 2022

Platypus Matters

The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals

Jack Ashby

Hosted by Stentor Danielson
Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs and they can detect electricity. Or a wombat: their …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast May 17, 2022

When Animals Dream

The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness

David M. Peña-Guzmán

Hosted by Mark Klobas
Are humans the only dreamers on Earth? What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness (Princeton UP, 2022) …
Animal Studies May 13, 2022

Elephant Trails

A History of Animals and Cultures

Nigel Rothfels

Hosted by Marcela Hernandez
When looking at historic records of all kinds—from prehistoric cave drawings and ancient rock art in Africa and India, from poetic narrations of travelers to hunter memoirs and press stories …
American West April 22, 2022

Rodeo

An Animal History

Susan Nance

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
Animals are both the focus of rodeo and its most invisible participants, argues University of Guelph history professor Susan Nance in Rodeo: An Animal History (U Oklahoma, 2020). Nance flips the usual …
Academic Life April 21, 2022

From PhD to Picture Book

A Conversation with Julie Dillemuth

Julie Dillemuth

Hosted by Christina Gessler
Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Julie Dillemuth’s path through higher edWhat led her to try to write for a popular audience, and what …
Science, Technology, and Society April 18, 2022

Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves

Why Animals Matter for Pandemics, Climate Change, and Other Catastrophes

Jeff Sebo

Hosted by Austin Clyde
In 2020, COVID-19, the Australia bushfires, and other global threats served as vivid reminders that human and nonhuman fates are increasingly linked. Human use of nonhuman animals contributes to pandemics …
High Theory April 5, 2022

Dogs

Hosted by Kim Adams and Saronik Bosu
In this episode, Kim finds out that Saronik gets a little weird when it comes to dogs. We talk about Donna J. Haraway’s book The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast April 1, 2022

All About Birds

A Series of Regional Field Guides

Jill Leichter and Hugh Powell

Hosted by Mark Klobas
The All About Birds Regional Field-Guide Series brings birding enthusiasts the best information from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website, AllAboutBirds.org, used by more than 21 million people each …
Science March 28, 2022

Bitch

On the Female of the Species

Lucy Cooke

Hosted by Sine Yaganoglu
Bitch: On the Female of the Species (Basic Books, 2022) is a fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom. Studying zoology made Lucy Cooke feel like …
Animal Studies March 23, 2022

The Meat Paradox

Eating, Empathy, and the Future of Meat

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 preferences, by shocks to the status …