Riding on their high from a Sunday matinee of the horror comedy movie Cocaine Bear, Anya and Julia discuss the film and its bizarre (and limited) real-life backstory. Enjoy!

In celebration of true love, Julia and Anya take to the mics to discuss the latest hot topic of the heart: do animals fall in love? Well, duh! They talk about the science behind love in animals and come to the conclusion, through their own scientific research, that the answer is a resounding yes. Then, they roll through some of their favorite animal couples, and later their romantic Valentine's Day plans with Smudge and Ruthie <3

Forget the Super Bowl, we’re getting ready for THE PUPPY BOWL! That’s right, Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl is coming back for its 19th year of canine competition. Our favorite sports event will feature rescue puppies playing their version of football on Super Bowl Sunday. 122 puppies from 67 different shelters and rescues will be divided between Team Ruff and Team Fluff. And among those rescue puppies, 11 are special needs dogs who are ready to show off their athletic prowess too. Join us as we sit down with Dan Schachner, the official referee of the Puppy Bowl – yes, that is the greatest job of all-time. And catch the three-hour Puppy Bowl 2023 show on February 12 on Animal Planet and discovery+.

It should come as no surprise that at Furfluencers HQ, loving dogs and comedy are essential qualities in the humans that we spend time with. Fortunately, we're not alone, and it turns out that there's an actual organization dedicated to bringing these wonderful things together. MUST LOVE DOGS AND COMEDY produces comedy shows that people can bring their dogs to while also raising money for animal rescues. Founded in 2022 by Jolie Dudley and Nicolas Polanco, the shows blend laughs, barks and everything in between with storytelling from underrepresented creatives. Join us as we chat with Julie and Nicolas in person at one of their favorite performance venues, Boris and Horton in NYC. 

Happy Holidays! Anya and Julia sit down together to talk all things reindeer and Rudolph. Anya makes a shocking discovery that calls into question who is really pulling Santa's sleigh.

While reindeer are the beloved hooved animal of Christmas in the U.S., Julia always associates this holiday, and its medieval carols, with unicorns. Inspired by December trips to see the famous unicorn tapestries at the Met Cloisters in NYC, she invited Scottish historian Donna Heddle to this week’s show to discuss the history of unicorns. They talk about why unicorns have survived while other mythical beasts vanished in folklore, and how Scotland came to be the home of the unicorn. Later, Anya explains why unicorns were banned from her childhood to prevent her from practicing sorcery.

If you’re ever walking with your dog down the streets of NYC, you might be lucky enough to have Elias Friedman stop and ask you “Excuse me … can I take a picture of your dog?” In today’s episode, we chat with Elias and Isabel from The Dogist, and how a simple request to take a picture of a stranger’s dog has turned into one of the most popular dog accounts on the internet.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have a special episode celebrating family – both two-legged and four – with Julia’s cousin Kerri and her delightful pup Lucy. The pair met when Lucy was brought to the animal hospital where Kerri worked as a vet tech. In critical condition, with 2nd and 3rd degree burns, Lucy was not expected to survive. But she did and immediately captured the hearts of her caretakers, as well as Facebook groups and news organizations who were touched by Lucy’s ability to survive such a terrible experience and still love the humans around her. Kerri and her sister brought Lucy home as a foster, beginning one of many what Kerri cheerfully calls her “foster fails.” Join us as we celebrate long laughs with family and reflect on what dogs can teach us about forgiveness and compassion. 

Happy Halloween! We’re celebrating with a very unusual critter today. While most of our featured animals are highly visible, this one is rather elusive: Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nessie! Our guest, Gary Campbell is the keeper of the official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, a catalog of all known Nessie sightings. In our chat, Gary opens the floodgates on Nessie’s backstory, her (?) potential gender fluidity, and why Scotland is such a unique place for oral folklore and unusual creatures. This one certainly hit our October desire for spooky stories and we hope you love it too! 

*The wifi between NYC and Scotland was bumpy at times and thank you for bearing with us through some of the audio snags that we hit! 

Things are getting batty at Fur HQ today! As part of our Halloween-inspired series, we welcome Leslie Sturges, the president of the Bat Conversation and Rescue of Virginia. Leslie has devoted her life to wildlife, and over the past 20 years, she has cared for more than 1,000 bats. Her organization educates kids and adults alike on how to help wild bats that are injured or lost from their colonies, and she also raises awareness for why bats are amazing and how we can better protect them. We talk about what bats say to each other when they’re cranky, Batman as an ambassador for the species, and why bats seem to straddle the line between the real and the mythical – and spooky! For more information on Virginia Bats and how to support them, check out https://www.virginiabats.org/about/