The Animal Turn

Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – Not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Join Claudia Hirtenfelder as she delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship, thinking, and being.

Contributors

Host

Claudia Hirtenfelder

Claudia Towne Hirtenfelder began the Animal Turn in February 2020 as a culmination of her interests in animals, ethics, and media.

In 2023, Claudia completed her PhD in Geography at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She examined the historical problematization of cows in Kingston, Ontario and has broad interests in how animal histories and geographies are told. Her scholarly interests sit in the intersection of geography, urban studies, animal studies, history and power relations.

In terms of the airwaves: Claudia was a host on the campus radio station, UJFM. She was also a news reporter intern for Classic FM and the founder and former host of Beyond Canada: International Thought and Scholarship.

Claudia's favourite past times are enjoying her husband's vegan cooking, getting into complex conversations, walking her doggo Linus, cycle-touring, travelling, reading, and watching crappy movies.

Guests

Guest

Amanda Bunten-Walberg

Amanda (Mandy) Bunten-Walberg was a PhD Candidate at Queen's University's School of Environmental Studies. Her research explores more-than-human ethics in contagious contexts through the case study of bats and COVID-19. In particular, Mandy is interested in how more-than-human ethics, critical race theory, queer theory, and biopolitical theory might guide humans towards developing more ethical relationships with bats and other (human and more-than-human) persons who are dominantly understood as diseased.

Guest

Sandra Bartlett

Sandra Bartlett is an award-winning journalist based in Toronto. She worked as a producer and reporter in NPR's Investigative Unit based in Washington. In 20 plus years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she worked around the world – from Guantanamo Bay to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uganda, and Israel. She now produces investigative podcast series. The Poison Detectives follows how a firefighter’s wife and a corporate lawyer in different parts of the U.S. get pulled into solving separate mysteries, cows and deer haemorrhage to death in West Virginia and something that could be giving firefighters cancer. The Salmon People, the focus of this episode, tells the story of government malfeasance and industry collaboration to farm salmon on the Pacific Ocean waterways in British Columbia. Verified: Dust Up is about the dangers of Johnson & Johnson baby powder and the risk of ovarian cancer.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/u/sandra-bartlett

Guest appearance on:

Bonus: The Salmon People Podcast with Sandra Bartlett