The Other Animals

Are you really responsible if Fifi devours Bowser? Are the police liable if they blow away Rocco? Kristina Bergsten, animal attorney and founder of The Animal Law Firm joins us for an inside look at the complex world of companion and equine animal law.

Jo Anderson from Faunalytics joins us to explore the curious effectiveness of local and municipal legislation for animal advocacy. Even more important than at the state and federal levels? Plus veterinarian Dr. Tom Pickard reveals the staggering reality of why thousands of zoo, aquarium, and even companion animals cannot receive Covid vaccines even though they are readily available.

Author and New York Times columnist Emily Anthes returns for a fascinating look into animal "translation" -- can eavesdropping with machine learning technology help us to communicate with the animals? Plus visionary Kathy Stevens shares her story in creating the one-of-its-kind Catskill Animal Sanctuary.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the groundbreaking work "Free the Animals," PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk offers her unique perspective in a wide ranging and compelling look at the long history of the Animal Rights movement - its triumphs, setbacks, and hope for the future. 

Whenever gun rights in America are debated, there is an accepted exception for self-defense and hunting. What does our gun-obsession say about us, and does the impact on nonhuman animals extend beyond the practice of hunting? Noted professor, author, and political commentator Allan J. Lichtman joins us to explore what guns, or rather, our love of guns say about us and what it means for our fellow travelers. Also, veterinarian Dr. Tom Pickard provides tips to help dogs and cats cope with fireworks.

Join us for a conversation with Australian activist, author, filmmaker, and speaker Elliot Connor as he describes his lifelong goal to reframe our human relationship with the natural world. Plus, veterinarian and author Ingrid Taylor joins our Dr. Tom Pickard to grapple with the issue of antibiotic resistance in nonhuman animals, what it means for us and them, and what the veterinarian establishment can do.

Do non-human animals really laugh? Listen to some samples collected by researchers Greg Bryant and Sasha Winkler from UCLA and decide for yourself. A delightful and insightful conversation about the nuances of play vocalization (and other sounds) that challenges the notion that laughter is a gift exclusive to humans. Plus, veterinarian Dr. Tom Pickard looks at that most overlooked part of our pets' anatomy -- the tail!

“Every single objection to the experimental use of animals ... has been ignored and overridden by the scientific industry, and this is not going to change no matter how morally obnoxious, heartless and cruel to the members of other species," Karen Davis wrote after the transplant of a pig heart into a human. In response, Professor Stevan Harnad penned a response urging her to "pretend to be more optimistic." In this episode, we bring them both together for a compelling look at the role attitude and reality play in the Animal Rights movement.

The promise of biological machines, "..designed from the ground up, built by combining together different biological tissues."  What does the future of this hybrid research hold and what are the ethical and scientific considerations? A fascinating conversation with pioneer researchers Drs. Michael Levin and Josh Bongard. Plus, thoughts on the 'other' xeno - xenotransplantation and the first "successful" transplant of a pig heart into a human.

Not that long ago, rats, pigs, weevils, eels, grasshoppers, locusts, and even werewolves were put on trial, literally for their lives. Author Steven Spotte describes the real-life shenanigans and spectacle behind these judicial proceedings and what they meant for the Church, the Crown, and especially, the animals themselves. Where does superstition end and heresy begin? His historical fiction, Animal Wrongs, uses three actual cases to try to understand this truly bizarre period of the human/animal mystery.