New Books in Animal Studies
Episodes
Tom Philpott, "Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It" (Bloomsbury, 2020)
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) is an unsettling journey into the ...
Joshua Duclos, "Wilderness, Morality, and Value" (Lexington Books, 2022)
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What if wilderness is bad for wildlife? This question motivates the philosophical investigation in Wilderness, Morality, and Value (Lexington Books,...
Peter S. Alagona, "The Accidental Ecosystem: People and Wildlife in American Cities" (U California Press, 2022)
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Accidental Ecosystem: People and Wildlife in American Cities (U California Press, 2022) tells the story of how cities across the United States we...
Josh Milburn, "Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022)
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Animal lovers who feed meat to other animals are faced with a paradox: perhaps fewer animals would be harmed if they stopped feeding the ones they lov...
Paul Robichaud, "Pan: The Great God’s Modern Return" (Reaktion Books, 2021)
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From ancient myth to contemporary art and literature, a beguiling look at the many incarnations of the mischievous—and culturally immortal—god Pan...
Alastair Paton, "Of Marsupials and Men" (Black Inc, 2022)
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alistair Paton joins today, writer of Of Marsupials and Men (Black Inc, 2022), a book recounting the fascinating and often hilarious history of the...
Max Foran, "The Subjugation of Canadian Wildlife: Failures of Principle and Policy" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2018)
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hardly a day goes by without news of the extinction or endangerment of yet another animal species, followed by urgent but largely unheeded calls for a...
Jarrod Hore, "Visions of Nature: How Landscape Photography Shaped Settler Colonialism" (U California Press, 2022)
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the early years of photography, settlers around the Pacific World were fascinated with the landscapes of the places they conquered. According t...
Lisa Jean Moore, "Our Transgenic Future: Spider Goats, Genetic Modification, and the Will to Change Nature" (NYU Press, 2022)
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The process of manipulating the genetic material of one animal to include the DNA of another creates a new transgenic organism. Several animals, notab...
Alice Crary and Lori Gruen, "Animal Crisis: A New Critical Theory" (Polity, 2022)
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As we lose more individual animals and entire species to catastrophic climate change, habitat destruction, toxic dumping, and other human activities, ...
W. Puck Brecher, "Animal Care in Japanese Tradition: A Short History" (Association for Asian Studies, 2022)
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Animal Care in Japanese Tradition: A Short History (Association for Asian Studies, 2022), Brecher offers a brief overview of animals in Japanese ...
Gina Louise Hunter, "Edible Insects: A Global History" (2021)
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From grasshoppers to grubs, an eye-opening look at insect cuisine around the world. An estimated two billion people worldwide regularly consume insect...
Frans de Waal, "Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist" (W. W. Norton, 2022)
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist (W. W. Norton, 2022), world-renowned primatologist Frans de Waal draws on decades of observ...
Robert N. Wiedenmann and J. Ray Fisher, "The Silken Thread: Five Insects and Their Impacts on Human History" (Oxford UP, 2021)
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Insects are seldom mentioned in discussions surrounding human history, yet they have dramatically impacted today's societies. The Silken Thread: Five...
Alison F. Richard, "Sloth Lemur's Song: Madagascar from the Deep Past to the Uncertain Present" (U Chicago Press, 2022)
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Madagascar is a place of change. A biodiversity hotspot and the fourth largest island on the planet, it has been home to a spectacular parade of anima...
Danielle J. Whittaker, "The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2022)
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The puzzling lack of evidence for the peculiar but widespread belief that birds have no sense of smell irked evolutionary biologist Danielle Whittaker...
David George Haskell, "Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution's Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction" (Viking, 2022)
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We live on a planet alive with song, music, and speech. David Haskell explores how these wonders came to be. In rain forests shimmering with insect so...
Jonathan Saha, "Colonizing Animals: Interspecies Empire in Myanmar" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Colonial Myanmar was teeming with animals, both wild and domesticated. Yet few histories have devoted close attention to the importance of animals to ...
Paul Huebener, "Nature's Broken Clocks: Reimagining Time in the Face of the Environmental Crisis" (U Regina Press, 2020)
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Nature's Broken Clocks: Reimagining Time in the Face of the Environmental Crisis (University of Regina Press, 2020), Paul Huebener argues that ...
Jack Ashby, "Platypus Matters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals" (U Chicago Press, 2022)
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs and they can detec...
David M. Peña-Guzmán, "When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness" (Princeton UP, 2022)
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are humans the only dreamers on Earth? What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Conscious...
Nigel Rothfels, "Elephant Trails: A History of Animals and Cultures" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2021)
13 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When looking at historic records of all kinds—from prehistoric cave drawings and ancient rock art in Africa and India, from poetic narrations of tra...
Gary B. Fogel, "Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West" (U New Mexico Press, 2021)
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With a reputation as the hot-air balloon capital of the world and the home of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the southwestern desert ci...
Susan Nance, "Rodeo: An Animal History" (U Oklahoma Press, 2020)
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Animals are both the focus of rodeo and its most invisible participants, argues University of Guelph history professor Susan Nance in Rodeo: An Anim...
Jeff Sebo, "Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves: Why Animals Matter for Pandemics, Climate Change, and Other Catastrophes" (Oxford UP, 2022)
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, COVID-19, the Australia bushfires, and other global threats served as vivid reminders that human and nonhuman fates are increasingly linked. ...
Dogs
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kim finds out that Saronik gets a little weird when it comes to dogs. We talk about Donna J. Haraway’s book The Companion Species ...
All About Birds: A Series of Regional Field Guides from Princeton University Press
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The All About Birds Regional Field-Guide Series brings birding enthusiasts the best information from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s web...
Lucy Cooke, "Bitch: On the Female of the Species" (Basic Books, 2022)
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bitch: On the Female of the Species (Basic Books, 2022) is a fierce, funny, and revolutionary look at the queens of the animal kingdom. Studying zoo...
Thomas F. Thornton and Madonna L. Moss, "Herring and People of the North Pacific: Sustaining a Keystone Species" (U Washington Press, 2021)
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Herring are vital to the productivity and health of marine systems, and socio-ecologically Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) is one of the most import...
Jackie Higgins, "Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses" (Atria Books, 2022)
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Packed with beautiful imagery, but also hard scientific facts, Jackie Higgins's book Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses ...
On Spirituality and Horses
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The author of The Five Roles of the Master Herder and the bestseller The Tao of Equus, Linda Kohanov speaks and teaches internationally. She establ...
Mary Menton and Philippe Le Billon, "Environmental Defenders: Deadly Struggles for Life and Territory" (Routledge, 2021)
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join Dr. Mary Menton and Dr. Philippe Le Billon as they dive into their new edited volume, Environmental Defenders: Deadly Struggle for Life and T...
Liz P. Y. Chee, "Mao's Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China" (Duke UP, 2021)
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Controversy over the medicinal uses of wild animals in China has erupted around the ethics and efficacy of animal-based drugs, the devastating effect ...
Walter R. Tschinkel, "Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests" (Princeton UP, 2021)
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Walter Tschinkel has spent much of his career investigating the hidden subterranean realm of ant nests. This wonderfully illustrated book takes you in...
Annette Whipple, "Whooo Knew?: The Truth about Owls" (Reycraft Books, 2020)
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Annette Whipple about her book Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls (Reycraft Books, 2020) How do owls see in the dark? Can owls spi...
Bill Schutt, "Pump: A Natural History of the Heart" (Algonquin Books, 2021)
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of Natural History zoologist Bill Schutt tell...
Dave Goulson, "Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse" (Harper, 2021)
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing on thirty years of research, Goulson has written an accessible, fascinating, and important book that examines the evidence of an alarming drop...
Gavin Van Horn et al., "Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations, 5-Volume Set" (Center for Humans and Nature, 2021)
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From The Center for Humans and Nature, Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations is a five-volume collection of essays, interviews, poetry, and sto...
Frans de Waal, “On Atheists and Bonobos” (Open Agenda, 2021)
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On Atheists and Bonobos is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and primatologist Frans de Waal, Emory University, who is r...
John B. Kachuba, "Shapeshifters: A History" (Reaktion Books, 2019)
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There is something about a shapeshifter—a person who can transform into an animal—that captures our imagination; that causes us to want to howl at...
John S. Tregoning, "Infectious: Pathogens and How We Fight Them" (Oneworld, 2021)
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nature wants you dead. Not just you, but your children and everyone you have ever met and everyone they have ever met; in fact, everyone. It wants yo...
Nancy Langston, "Climate Ghosts: Migratory Species in the Anthropocene" (Brandeis UP, 2021)
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In her new book Climate Ghosts: Migratory Species in the Anthropocene (Brandeis UP, 2021), environmental historian Nancy Langston explores three “...
Jen Corrinne Brown, "Trout Culture: How Fly Fishing Forever Changed the Rocky Mountain West" (U Washington Press, 2017)
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From beer labels to literary classics like A River Runs Through It, trout fishing is a beloved feature of the iconography of the American West. But as...
Chris McLaughlin, "Mississippi Barking: Hurricane Katrina and a Life That Went to the Dogs" (UP of Mississippi, 2021)
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On August 29, 2005, the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States devastated the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana ...
Vinciane Despret, "Living as a Bird" (Polity Press, 2021)
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Birds sing to set up a territory, but the relationships between the bird, the song, the territory, and the bird’s community are highly complex and i...
Peter S. Ungar, "Evolution's Bite: A Story of Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins" (Princeton UP, 2018)
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whether we realize it or not, we carry in our mouths the legacy of our evolution. Our teeth are like living fossils that can be studied and compared t...
Andrea Laurent-Simpson, "Just Like Family: How Companion Animals Joined the Household" (NYU Press, 2021)
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Andrea Laurent-Simpson’s path in and out of and back into graduate school The s...
66 On Multi-Species Community: A Critical Conversation with Patricia Alvarez Astacio (Gina T, John P)
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Octopus month has morphed seamlessly into Multispecies month here at RtB, bringing with it not only last week's piece on chimpanzees, but also this s...
Halimah Marcus, "Horse Girls: Recovering, Aspiring, and Devoted Riders Redefine the Iconic Bond" (Harper Perennial, 2021)
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re celebrating our one-year anniversary with this interview, and so I wanted to introduce a special guest for today: Nur Nasreen Ibrahim, talente...
From Animal Rights to Human Rights: Supporting Sustainable Farming Practices to Improve Livelihoods
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In September-October 2021, SSEAC Stories will be hosting a mini-series of podcasts exploring the role that research plays in understanding and advoc...
Oren Ben Yosef, "Beast Without Purpose: On Post-Domestication and Other Monstrous Rules" (Resling, 2021)
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The book Beast Without Purpose: On Post-Domestication and Other Monstrous Rules (Resling, 2021) emerges from the idea of an end to human sovereignty...
Caitlin Donohue Wylie, "Preparing Dinosaurs: The Work Behind the Scenes" (MIT Press, 2021)
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Those awe-inspiring dinosaur skeletons on display in museums do not spring fully assembled from the earth. Technicians known as preparators have pains...
65 Octopus World: Other Minds with Peter Godfrey-Smith (EF, JP)
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Godfrey-Smith knows his cephalopods. Once of CUNY and now a professor of history and philosophy of science at University of Sydney, his truly c...
Paul Thagard, "Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart?" (MIT Press, 2021)
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Octopuses can open jars to get food, and chimpanzees can plan for the future. An IBM computer named Watson won on Jeopardy! and Alexa knows our favo...
David B. Williams, "Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound" (U Washington Press, 2021)
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound (University of Washington Press, 2021) tells a story about exploitation and a story of hope. ...
Wendy Doniger, "Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History" (U Virginia Press, 2021)
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Raj Balkaran speaks with Wendy Doniger about her new book Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History (University of Virgi...
Lisa T. Sarasohn, "Getting Under Our Skin: The Cultural and Social History of Vermin" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2021)
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For most of our time on this planet, vermin were considered humanity's common inheritance. Fleas, lice, bedbugs, and rats were universal scourges, as ...
Nick Lane, “A Matter of Energy: Biology From First Principles” (Open Agenda, 2021)
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A Matter of Energy: Biology From First Principles is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Nick Lane, Professor of Evolu...
Princeton UP's "Pedia" Series: Beautiful, Short Books About Big, Important Subjects
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Robert Kirk, the publisher of Princeton University Press's "Pedia" book series. Encyclopedic in nature and miniature in form, the...
Yashaswini Chandra, "The Tale of the Horse: A History of India on Horseback" (Picador India, 2021)
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The horse is an important symbol in India’s culture, as shown by the many stories and works we see of Indian royalty and adventurers on horseback. A...
Ann Vileisis, "Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California's Iconic Shellfish" (Oregon State UP, 2020)
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From rocky coves at Mendocino and Monterey to San Diego’s reefs, abalone have held a cherished place in California culture for millennia. Prized for...
Emma Marris, "Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World" (Bloomsbury, 2021)
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021), Emma Marris wrestles with big ethical questions facin...
Emily O'Gorman, "Wetlands in a Dry Land: More-Than-Human Histories of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin" (U Washington Press, 2021)
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the name of agriculture, urban growth, and disease control, humans have drained, filled, or otherwise destroyed nearly 87 percent of the world's we...
Nayanika Mathur, "Crooked Cats: Beastly Encounters in the Anthropocene" (U Chicago Press, 2021)
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Big cats—tigers, leopards, and lions—that make prey of humans are commonly known as “man-eaters.” Anthropologist Nayanika Mathur reconceptuali...
Kirsten A. Greer, "Red Coats and Wild Birds: How Military Ornithologists and Migrant Birds Shaped Empire" (UNC Press, 2020)
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Remapping empire, nature, and scientific enquiry beyond the simple binary exchange between periphery and metropole, Dr. Kirsten Greer demonstrates how...
Martín Prechtel, "The Mare and the Mouse: Stories of My Horses Vol. I" (North Star Press, 2021)
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hello, this is Eric LeMay, a host on the New Books Network. Today I interview Martín Prechtel, who's written a book about horses called The Mare an...
Kathryn Smithies, "Introducing the Medieval Ass" (U of Wales Press, 2020)
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kathryn Smithies a medieval historian at the University of Melbourne, Australia, to talk about her new book, Introducing the Medieval Ass, out 2020 ...
Joseph P. Laycock, "Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds" (U California Press, 2015)
26 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The 1980s saw the peak of a moral panic over fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. A coalition of moral entrepreneurs that include...
Michael Moore, "We Are All Whalers: The Plight of Whales and Our Responsibility" (U Chicago Press, 2021)
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The image most of us have of whalers includes harpoons and intentional trauma. Yet eating commercially caught seafood leads to whales' entanglement an...
Gina G. Warren, "Hatched: Dispatches from the Backyard Chicken Movement" (U Washington Press, 2021)
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Guest Gina Warren discusses her newest book Hatched: Dispatches from the Backyard Chicken Movement, published May 2021 by University of Washington P...
Nichola Raihani, "The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World" (St. Martin's Press, 2021)
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cooperation is the means by which life arose in the first place. It’s how we progressed through scale and complexity, from free-floating strands of ...
Rowena Lennox, "Dingo Bold: The Life and Death of K'gari Dingoes" (Sydney UP, 2021)
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia and dingos - we have a past and future, and not without controversy. Dingo Bold: The Life and Death of K'gari Dingoes (Sydney UP, 2021) e...
Jamie Kreiner, "Legions of Pigs in the Early Medieval West" (Yale UP, 2020)
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of New Books in History, Jamie Kreiner, Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia, talks about her new book, Legion...
A. Burton and R. Mawani, "Animalia: An Anti-Imperial Bestiary for Our Times" (Duke UP, 2020)
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From yaks and vultures to whales and platypuses, animals have played central roles in the history of British imperial control. The contributors to An...
Maneesha Deckha, "Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders" (U Toronto Press, 2021)
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders (University of Toronto Press, 2021), Maneesha Deckha critically examines how Can...
Zahi Zalloua, "Being Posthuman: Ontologies of the Future" (Bloomsbury, 2020)
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The figure of the human looms large of the history of philosophy, from the ancient Greeks speculating about featherless bipeds to contemporary program...
David R. Boyd, "The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World" (ECW Press, 2017)
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Palila v Hawaii. New Zealand’s Te Urewera Act. Sierra Club v Disney. These legal phrases hardly sound like the makings of a revolution, but beyond...
Michelle Nijhuis, "Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction" (Norton, 2021)
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the late nineteenth century, as humans came to realize that our rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving other animal species...
Peter Godfrey-Smith, "Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind" (FSG, 2020)
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are soon confronted by forms of life that could not seem more foreign to our own: sea sponges, soft corals, an...
Leigh Calvez, "The Hidden Lives of Owls: The Science and Spirit of Nature's Most Elusive Birds" (Sasquatch Books, 2016)
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Join naturalist and science writer Leigh Calvez on her adventures into science and spirit of animals, as we discuss her two recent books: The Hidde...
Herbert Terrace, "Why Chimpanzees Can't Learn Language and Only Humans Can" (Columbia UP, 2019)
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Through discussion of his famous 1970s experiment alongside new research, in Why Chimpanzees Can’t Learn Language and Only Humans Can (Columbia Un...
Rory Kress, "The Doggie in the Window: How One Dog Led Me from the Pet Store to the Factory Farm to Uncover the Truth of Where Puppies Really Come From" (Sourcebooks, 2018)
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When journalist Rory Kress met Izzie, she didn’t think twice before bringing her home. She found the twelve-week-old wheaten terrier in a pet shop a...
Teya Brooks Pribac, "Enter the Animal: Cross-Species Perspectives on Grief and Spirituality" (Sydney UP, 2021)
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, science has largely dismissed the idea that animals experience complex emotions, despite the fact the most humans who’ve spent time i...
Timothy Beatley, "The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats" (Island Press, 2020)
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he has ta...
Stuart Rees, "Cruelty or Humanity: Challenges, Opportunities and Responsibilities" (Policy Press, 2020)
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stuart Rees's Cruelty or Humanity: Challenges, Opportunities and Responsibilities (Policy Press, a Bristol University Press imprint, 2020) exposes...
Rick McIntyre, "The Reign of Wolf 21: In the Valley of the Druid King" (Greystone Books, 2020)
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Rick McIntyre about the first two books of his ongoing The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series. The first book we discuss, The Rise ...
Carol J. Adams, "The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory" (Bloomsbury, 2015)
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Carol J. Adams about two of her classic texts that have recently been republished. The first book we discuss, first published in 199...
Barbara J. King, "Animals' Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in Captivity and in the Wild" (U Chicago Press, 2021)
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As people come to understand more about animals' inner lives-the intricacies of their thoughts and the emotions that are expressed every day by whales...
Juno Salazar Parreñas, "Decolonizing Extinction: The Work of Care in Orangutan Rehabilitation" (Duke University Press, 2018)
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Decolonizing Extinction: The Work of Care in Orangutan Rehabilitation (Duke University Press, 2018) presents a multi-species ethnography of orangutan...
James Skillen, "This Land is My Land: Rebellion in the West" (Oxford UP, 2020)
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On January 6th, 2021, when right wing supporters of Donald Trump staged an insurrection at the US Capitol building, they were participating in a long ...
Decolonising Conservation Practices and Research: Seeing the Orangutan in Borneo with Dr June Rubis
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, orangutans are widely recognised as an iconic species for environmental and wildlife conservation efforts. The rainforest in the Mal...
Emily Willingham, "Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis" (Avery, 2020)
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The fallacy sold to many of us is that the penis signals dominance and power. But this wry and penetrating book reveals that in fact nature did not sh...
Matthieu Ricard, "A Plea for the Animals: The Moral, Philosophical, and Evolutionary Imperative to Treat All Beings with Compassion" (Shambhala, 2016)
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Matthieu Ricard about two books. The first is A Plea for the Animals: The Moral, Philosophical, and Evolutionary Imperative to T...
Matthew Gavin Frank, "Flight of the Diamond Smugglers: A Tale of Pigeons, Obsession, and Greed Along Coastal South Africa" (Liveright, 2021)
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly eighty years, a huge portion of coastal South Africa was closed off to the public. With many of its pits now deemed “overmined” and aba...
Leigh Claire La Berge, "Wages Against Artwork: Decommodified Labor and the Claims of Socially Engaged Art" (Duke UP, 2019)
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The last twenty years have seen a rise in the production, circulation, and criticism of new forms of socially engaged art aimed at achieving social ju...
Kyle Johannsen, "Wild Animal Ethics: The Moral and Political Problem of Wild Animal Suffering" (Routledge, 2020)
11 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many sentient (or possibly sentient) wild animals follow a reproductive strategy whereby they have large numbers of offspring, the vast majority of wh...
Andrew A. Robichaud, "Animal City: The Domestication of Urban America" (Harvard UP, 2019)
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Americans once lived alongside animals. They raised them, worked them, ate them, and lived off their products. This was true not just in rural areas b...
Can we Bring Extinct Species Back?: A Conversation with Beth Shapiro
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? The science says yes. In How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of...
Jonathan C. Slaght, "Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl" (FSG, 2020)
24 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Blakiston’s fish owl is the world’s largest living species of owl, with larger females of the species weighing as much as ten pounds. It lives...
John Hartigan Jr., "Shaving the Beasts: Wild Horses and Ritual in Spain" (U Minnesota Press, 2020)
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wild horses still roam the mountains of Galicia, Spain. But each year, in a ritual dating to the 1500s called rapa das bestas, villagers herd these “...