Periodically, I table the chief component of the “Talking Animals” format—a long form interview with a single guest—to offer a debate or some other multi-guest panel discussion. As part of that occasional effort to temporarily reconfigure the program, and a...
Peter J. Wolf—who works for Best Friends Animal Society as cat initiatives analyst, which involves helping the organization shape its community cat policies, and has overseen some of its national cat programs—starts the conversation by answering the...
Caitlin O’Connell—a noted scientist who’s spent much of her career studying elephants and their communication, and author of several books, most recently “Wild Rituals: 10 Lessons Animals Can Teach Us about Connection, Community, and Ourselves”—addresses some of...
Elizabeth Lo—an award-winning filmmaker who directed “Stray,” a wildly-inventive documentary about the stray dogs who roam freely in Turkey (by law, no one there may hold captive or euthanize a stray dog)—discusses her lifelong love of dogs, spurred by her...
Ginny Sweet—co-founder (with Harry Toro) of Corsos for Heroes, an organization based in Lutz, Florida, that donates specially-trained service dogs, of the Cane Corso breed, to military veterans who are contending with one or more disabilities—describes some of the...
Kim Sturla—executive director of Animal Place, the 600-acre farmed animal sanctuary in Grass Valley, California she co-founded in 1989—recounts that she had been employed by a local humane society for some time before launching Animal Place, having already spent a...
Amy Kight—executive director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, a multifaceted operation in Jupiter, Florida serving as wildlife refuge, veterinary hospital, rehabilitation facility, and education center--recalls loving animals so much, so young, that she made an...
Michael Hingson—a former high-tech executive, now an author and international public speaker—recounts some of the experiences around the time of his last “Talking Animals” appearance, when he had published the book, “Thunder Dog: The True Story Of A Blind Man, His...
Michael Shikashio—a dog behaviorist whose credentials include serving as past president of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC), reportedly one of fewer than 200 CDBCs...
Jeffrey Masson—the New York Times bestselling author of books about animals and their emotions, including “When Elephants Weep” and “Dogs Never Lie About Love”—explains how being on the cusp of turning 80, and contemplating his own mortality, formed the chief...
