When We Talk About Animals

When We Talk About Animals


Latest Episodes

Ep. 31 – Zak Smith on ending the international wildlife trade
April 27, 2020

The repercussions of the international wildlife trade, which is a primary driver of our planet’s biodiversity crisis, have recently hit close to home. With the society-altering impacts of Covid-19, which scientists think originated in wild animals,

Ep. 30 – Sonia Shah on how animal microbes become human pandemics
April 06, 2020

Roughly two-thirds of emerging infectious diseases — including COVID-19 and almost all recent epidemics — originate in the bodies of animals. Microbes have spilled over from animals to humans for time immemorial, but,

Ep. 29 – Amanda Hitt on why the animal agriculture industry needs whistleblowers
March 09, 2020

In an age where almost everything we eat is produced outside of public view, whistleblowers are critical to maintaining the integrity of our food systems. These principled insiders are often the first people to warn the public — often at grave personal...

Ep. 28 – Bathsheba Demuth on capitalism, communism and arctic ecology
February 10, 2020

In her acclaimed first book, “Floating Coast,” historian Bathsheba Demuth explores how capitalism, communism and ecology have clashed for over 150 years in the remote region of Beringia, the Arctic lands and waters stretching between Russia and Canada....

Ep. 26 – Ian Urbina on the Outlaw Ocean
December 16, 2019

Over 40 percent of the Earth’s surface is open ocean that is over 200 miles from the nearest shore. These waters exist outside national jurisdiction and are almost entirely beyond the reach of law. Our guest, investigative journalist Ian Urbina,

Ep. 25 – Doug Kysar and Jon Lovvorn on law in the Anthropocene
November 18, 2019

Professors Doug Kysar and Jonathan Lovvorn are the Faculty Co-Directors of the Law, Ethics & Animals Program (LEAP) at Yale Law School. Launched in fall 2019, LEAP is a multidisciplinary “think-and-do” tank dedicated to empowering Yale scholars and stu...

Ep. 24 – Christopher Ketcham on the abuse of the American West
October 21, 2019

For the past ten years, journalist Christopher Ketcham has documented the confluence of commercial exploitation and government misconduct on public lands across the West, the role of the livestock and energy industries in their despoliation,

Ep. 23 – David Rothenberg on playing music with whales and nightingales
September 23, 2019

Philosopher and musician David Rothenberg has spent decades collecting and studying the calls of birds and whales. In the early 2000s, he began playing along with them, taking his clarinet and saxophone to some of the furthest corners of the planet.

Ep. 22 – Ferris Jabr on reviving the Gaia hypothesis
August 27, 2019

In the 1970s, scientists proposed what has become known as the Gaia Hypothesis: the idea that earth is best understood not as a passive substrate or background to life but as a life form in its own right. Our guest, journalist Ferris Jabr,

Ep. 21 – David Barrie on the wonders of animal navigation
August 05, 2019

Author and sailor David Barrie voyaged around the globe and through scientific literature to learn about the awe-inducing and still mysterious navigational powers of animals. Barrie writes of mysteries such as how birds employ “map and compass” type na...