GUEST: Captain
Paul Watson, a co-founder of Greenpeace who went on to found
the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society--and whose lifelong
activism as a defender of all creatures of the sea has been
recogized globally (for instance, Time magazine in 2000 named
him one of the environmental heroes of the 20th century)--discusses
the annual seal hunt in his native Canada, including its history
and how it's changed in recent decades, the government's support
and subsidiziation (and supposed raationale) of the yearly
slaughter of these baby harp seals, the boycott of Canadian
seafood sold at Red Lobster and other large restaurant operations
as an economic gambit intended to hamper the seal hunt, and
more. [www.SeaShepherd.org,
www.HarpSeals.org,
www.SealHunt.ca,
www.BoycottCanadianSeafood,net]
COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard's "Talk
To The Animals" (first minute) [www.EddieIzzard.com]
MUSIC: John Doe's "There's A Black
Horse," Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra's "Elephant,"
(first portion) instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL
TUNE: Bent Fabric's "Alley Cat"
GUEST: Kat Albrecht--a real-life pet detective,
author of "The Lost Pet Chronicles" and founder
of Pet Hunters International, the first-ever pet detective
academy, which trains pet detectives and search dogs to
find lost pets--discusses her background and how that led
to pioneering the field of pet detective work, techniques
for locating lost pets, the evolution of Pet Hunters Internationals
and the seminars offered by the academy, including those
offered in Orlando in early May. [www.KatAlbrecht.com,
www.PetHunters.com,
www.LostAPet.org]
[View and listen to Kat's previous interview on Talking
Animals here] COMEDY CORNER: Ellen DeGeneres' "Birds
Mating" MUSIC: Beth Orton's "Worms,"
Brad Mehldau's version of "Blackbird," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Pink Floyd's "Sheep"
GUEST: John Grogan
-- author of "Marley And Me: Life And Love With The World's
Worst Dog," a memoir of sorts that chronicles Grogan's
adventures and misadventures with Marley, an irresistibly
lovable but certifiably nutty Labrador retriever -- discusses
his approach to writing "Marley And Me," his theories
on why the book has become something of a phenomenon in publishing
circles (shortly after its release, it landed on The New York
Times Bestseller list, and as of this writing, has stayed
there for more than six months, at or near #1 much of that
time), that unsurprisingly Hollywood came calling and there's
a deal in place to make a feature film of the story, and more.
[www.MarleyAndMe.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Mitch Hedberg's "Smackie
The Frog" (snippet) [www.MitchHedberg.net]
MUSIC: Neko Case's "Maybe Sparrow,"
Chuck Prophet's "What Makes The Monkey Dance," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Henry Mancini's "Pink
Panther Theme"
GUEST: Bob Barker--perhaps
best known as the longtime host of “The Price Is
Right,” but also revered for his decades-long work as
an animal activist--discusses various aspects, and the early
impact, of his establishing endowments for the study of animal
rights law at several prominent law schools (last month at
Georgetown, on the heels of Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia,
Duke and Northwestern--with a $1 million donation to each
school), his view on the issue of elephants at zoos (and specifically,
The L.A. Zoo, in the wake days earlier of the untimely death
there of an elephant named Gita), and touches on other topics
and listener questions, including how to get involved locally
with animal advocacy. [www.DJTFoundation.org]
COMEDYCORNER: Offramp's
"Dogtalk" (snippet) [www.wmnf.org/soundstage] MUSIC: Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs'
version of The Beatles' "And Your Bird
Can Sing," Jimmy Smith's "Back At The Chicken Shack,"
instrumentals NAMETHATANIMALTUNE: The Who's "Boris
The Spider"
GUEST: Tippi Hedren--perhaps still best
known as the star Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds,"
but for more than 30 years she's operated the Shambala Preserve,
an 80-acre sanctuary in California for endangered big cats
and other animals, many of which have been abandoned by
zoos, circuses, phony sanctuaries or morons who thought
it'd be cool to have a tiger (or Florida panther) as a pet--discusses
a bit of Shambala's history, the steps leading to Shambala
providing a new home for the tigers Michael Jackson had
been keeping at Neverland (one of those tigers, Thriller,
is pictured here), animal-related legislation she's working
on and championing, and more. [www.Shambala.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Paul F. Tompkins' "Alternative
Pets" [www.PaulFTompkins.com]
MUSIC: Nellie McKay's "The Dog Song,"
The Starlight Mints' "Rhino Stomp," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Michael Jackson's
"Rockin Robin
GUEST: John Doe--founder-bassist-vocalist
of legendary punk band X (in the midst of a major national
tour, including a stop in Saint Petersburg, FL), acclaimed
singer-songwriter as a solo artist (he's just re-issued &
expanded his '98 EP, "For The Rest Of Us," now entitled
"For The Best Of Us"), and an actor who's appeared
in more than 40 films--discusses his work providing the narration
for "Man's Dominion" (a nearly-completed documentary
that examines animal law, the animal rights movement and the
case of a death from dog mauling) and the film itself [www.MansDominion.org]),
recent animal stories in the news, the multitude of animals
that live with Doe and his family and how a strong sense of
compassion and empathy is cultivated in kids and adults who
live with animals, some details of "For The Best Of Us,"
and more. [www.XTheBand.com/Doe.html]
COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan's "Flipper
& Gentle Ben" [www.BrianRegan.com]
MUSIC: Steely Dan's "Monkey In
Your Soul," The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Animal Bar,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:
X's "The Hungry Wolf"
GUEST: Internationally-renowned
ethicist/author/philosopher/Princeton professor Peter Singer--named
one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time Magazine
in 2005, perhaps best known as the author of 1975's landmark
"Animal Liberation," a highly influential work which
has prompted many to view him as the father of the modern
animal rights movement--discusses his latest book, "The
Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter" (co-authored
with Jim Mason), notes some of the findings that surprised
him in researching the new book, touches on how shopping/eating
choices can impact animals and the environment, and more.
[www.princeton.edu/~psinger]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Engvall's "Dorkfish"
[www.BillEngvall.com]
MUSIC: The Bad Plus' "Frog And
Toad," Matthew Sweet's version of the "Flipper"
theme, instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Norma
Tanega's "Walking My Cat Named Dog"
There was no "Talking
Animals" show today, because this was the first day of
WMNF's Fall Fund Drive. A huge heartfelt "thank you"
to all those who donated or otherwise supported the program--and
the station.
NOVEMBER
8, 2006
November 8, 2006
GUEST: Carole
Baskin--founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, one of
the world's largest such sanctuaries, housing more 100 big
cats (lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, servals, others) over
40-plus acres--discusses the history and evolution of the
facility (including her admitted ignorance in the beginning
about the pitfalls of having an exotic cat as a pet, and about
breeding), opines on the chief causes of the population explosion
of captive big cats, touches on legislation designed to address
that explosion, and responds to callers and e-mailers who
raise questions about how many cats at the facility are rescued
versus the product of Carole's earlier breeding efforts and
level other charges about fraudulent practices. [www.BigCatRescue.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Steve Martin's "Cat
Handcuffs" [www.SteveMartin.com]
MUSIC: Friends of Dean Martinez's "All
The Pretty Horses," Nellie McKay's "Pounce,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:
The Beatles' "Dig A Pony"
GUEST: Merrill
Markoe--Emmy-winning television writer, creator of "Stupid
Pet Tricks," a signature segment on the Letterman show
for 25 years, former radio host & TV reporter (including
Michael Moore's "TV Nation"), and author of such
books as "The Day My Dogs Became Guys" and "What
The Dogs Have Taught Me"--discusses her acclaimed new
novel book, "Walking In Circles Before Lying Down,"
(in which the heroine discovers, as her life is rapidly fraying
at the seams, that she can converse with dogs), including
her "rules" for writing dog dialog, responds to
listener questions and comments about what to look for in
adopting dogs, and more. [www.MerrillMarkoe.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan's "Dog
Barking" [www.BrianRegan.com]
MUSIC: Was (Not Was)'s "What Up
Dog?," Davy Graham's version of "Yellow Bird,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:
The Chipmunks' version of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"
