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.
Episodes
98 episodes
S8E4: Popular Media and Pests with Lu Liu, Debra Merskin, and Emily Major
In this episode we animals, power, and popular media. Emily Major, Debra Merskin, and Lu Liu help to think through how animals are manufactured as “pests” and “icons” in media and how those labels shape empathy, policy, and everyday cruelty tow...
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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1:39:47
S8E3: Rhetoric and Supremacy with S. Marek Muller, David Rooney, and Lauren Corman
In this episode we discuss how rhetorical constructions of animality, and humanity are mobilized to serve specific power structures, including white supremacy and colonialism. Lauren Corman, David Rooney, and S. Marek Muller come on the show to...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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1:55:08
S8E2: (Mis)representation and Activism with Christopher Eubanks and Carrie Freeman
Carrie Freeman and Christopher Eubanks join Claudia on the show to explore animal (mis)representation in media. They examine some of the ways in which animals are represented in activist messaging and the interconnections of animal rights with ...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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1:37:59
S8E1: Trans-Speciesism and the MARS Test with Natalie Khazaal, Tobias Linné, and Ellen Gorsevski
The Animal Turn podcast launches Season 8 with a dive into the intersections of media, racism, and speciesism. Tobias Linné, Ellen Gorsevski, and Natalie Khazaal join Claudia on the show to discuss how race and species intersect each other in a...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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1:49:54
Bonus: Death with Katja M. Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan
Death permeates our relationships with animals, yet we rarely confront the complex ethical questions it raises. In this conversation with Katja Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan, editors of "When Animals Die," we delve into the emerging field of ...
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1:25:52
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Bonus: FarmKind and Effective Altruism with Thom Norman
Thom Norman joins Claudia on the show to discuss the work of FarmKind and the tenets of effective altruism. They talk about FarmKind’s compassion calculator and how it strategically doesn’t include vegan messaging. They discuss the organization...
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52:26
Bonus: Sensory Pollution with Brett Seymoure and Jennifer Phillips
In this crossover episode from The Deal With Animals Podcast, Marika S. Bell talks to two experts about the impacts of sensory pollution on animals. Sensory pollution from artificial light and noise has profound effects on wildlife behavior, re...
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58:41
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Bonus: Big Cat Trade with Vanessa Amoroso
The global big cat trade encompasses both legal and illegal networks, with South Africa standing as the world's largest exporter of big cats including both live animals and parts. Vanessa Amoroso from Four Paws International explains how captiv...
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51:28
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S7E10: Grad Review with Rashmi Singh Rana and Priyanshu Thapliyal
Rashmi Singh Rana and Priyanshu Thapliyal join Claudia on the show to discuss some of the key themes to emerge in Season 7, Animals and Multispecies Health. These include thinking beyond anthropocentric understandings of health; consideri...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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1:38:52
S7E9: Dogs’ Health with Jessica Pierce
In this episode Jessica Pierce joins Claudia to explicitly discuss dogs’ health. They discuss everything from end-of-life care for dogs, to breeding practices, and discourses about dogs’ purpose in society. They unfurl some of the overlapping a...
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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1:19:08
S7E8: Pavlov’s Dogs with Matthew Adams
Matthew Adams joins Claudia on the show to talk about the dogs who were used by Ivan Pavlov in his extensive laboratory operations in St Petersburg. They discuss the importance of psychology and psychological experimentation in debates about mu...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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1:26:13
S7E7: Urban Health Histories with Heeral Chhabra
In this episode we delve into how urban health histories can help us to understand changing multispecies health. Heeral Chhabra tells us how the welfare of free-roaming dogs in India was caught up with the colonial history of the country and ho...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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1:17:14
S7E6: Compassionate Conservation with Daniel Ramp
This episode dives into the principles of compassionate conservation, emphasizing the importance of recognizing individual lives and experiences in conservation efforts. Daniel Ramp outlines how traditional conservation often overlooks the welf...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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1:46:14
S7E5: Marginalized Multispecies Collectives with Oswaldo Santos Baquero
Join us for a conversation with Oswaldo Santos Baquero about marginalized multispecies collectives. He explains the complexities of biological taxonomy and challenges traditional definitions of species to instead think about how collectives ope...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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1:51:49
S7E4: Behavioural Ecology with Anindita Bhadra
Anindita Bhadra joins Claudia on the show to explain what behavioural ecology is and how it has been applied to understanding the free-roaming dogs in India. They discuss the interconnections between domestication and evolution, the social orga...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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1:14:54
S7E3 - Species Story with Mariam Fraser Motamedi
In this episode Mariam Motamedi-Fraser joins us in the show to discuss ‘species story’ a concept she developed in her book Dog Politics. We discuss how the human-dog bond has been established and maintained through modern day practices...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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1:33:10
S7E2 - Healthy Publics with Melanie Rock and Gwendolyn Blue
Gwendolyn Blue and Melanie Rock join Claudia on the show to discuss ‘healthy publics.’ They explore how the idea of ‘public health’ has persistently been conceived of as human and unpack some of the opportunities and challenges with conceiving ...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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1:52:18
S7E1: Multispecies Health with Guillem Rubio-Ramon and Krithika Srinivasan
Guillem Rubio-Ramon and Krithika Srinivasan join Claudia to kick of Season 7 which is focused on “multispecies health.” They discuss human-dog relations and how multispecies health involves components of care, indifference and violence.&...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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1:28:56
Bonus: Exploring Dog Cognition with Alexandra Horowitz
Claudia talks to scientist and author, Alexandra Horowitz about dogs’ cognition. They discuss everything from dogs’ sense of smell and capacity to play to how anthropomorphisms sometimes skew human understandings of what dogs are doing.
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1:15:33
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Bonus: Kindred Creatures with Monica Murphy and Bill Wasik
Monica Murphy and Bill Wasik join Claudia on the show to talk about their recent book Our Kindred Creatures. They discuss how the late 19th century was a time of immense change for Americans and their relationships with animals became ...
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1:17:55
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Bonus: Animals in Media
Bonus: Animals in MediaTogether with Arukah Animal International, The Animal Turn co-hosted a panel discussion focused on "Animals in Media". Using a video about animalized hierarchies in contagion films as a prompt, Claire Parkin...
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2:01:40
Bonus: The Salmon People Podcast with Sandra Bartlett
Award-winning journalist Sandra Bartlett joins us to uncover the unsettling realities of fish farming in British Columbia with her impactful podcast, "The Salmon People." We discuss some of the social and environmental controversies surrounding...
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1:03:06
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Bonus: Creativity with Carol Gigliotti
Using Carol Gigliotti’s book “The Creative Lives of Animals” as a backdrop, this episode explores animals and the creative process. From the artistic intricacies of humpback whales' bubble-net feeding to the sophisticated communicat...
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1:15:25
Bonus: Veterinary Ethics and Animal Welfare with Sean Wensley
Using his book Through a Vet’s Eyes as a backdrop, Claudia talks to Sean Wensley about veterinary ethics and animal welfare. They discuss some of Sean’s experiences as a vet as well as some of the challenges vets face in representing a...
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1:17:39
S6EB: Problematization with Claudia Hirtenfelder
Over the years Claudia has mentioned her PhD research and journey, in this episode Catherine Oliver takes over as host and interviews Claudia about her research. They dwell on the concept of problematization and why it is important for thinking...
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Season 6
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Episode 11
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1:13:42
