Greg Murray—an animal photographer and rescue/pit bull advocate director, whose new book is “Pit Bull Heroes: 49 Underdogs with Resilience and Heart”—recalls his earliest experiences with dogs, growing up as a tyke with one named Muffet. Murray explains that his...
John Doe—singer/songwriter/co-founder of the band X and author, most recently of “More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk”—conducts this live interview from the Austin horse barn, where his horses Red and Sugar had just received a trim from...
Teo Alfero—founder and CEO of the Wolf Connection sanctuary, which specializes in rescuing domesticated wolves and dogs with varying degrees of wolf content, and author of “The Wolf Connection: What Wolves Can Teach Us About Being Human”—outlines three traits of...
Natasha Daly—a staff writer for the National Geographic, where she wrote the June cover story, “The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism”—addresses her role as the magazine’s “wildlife crime reporter,” how she landed on that beat, and what sort of stories she’s written...
Dr. David M. Pena-Guzman—a philosopher and assistant professor at San Francisco State University, who wrote a scholarly paper for the journal Animal Sentience, entitled “Can Nonhuman Animals Commit Suicide?”—recounts how he had no pets during his formative years,...
John Cherwa—a sportswriter (or editor) for 40+ years, who covers horse racing for The Los Angeles Times—explains the scene before the race at this year’s Kentucky Derby, especially given the growing concern and scrutiny leveled at the racing industry, chiefly in...
Dr. Frans de Waal—the primatologist, ethologist, and prolific author, most recently of “Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves”—cites some stories from the new book, in response to a question about a hypothetical person who’s heard...
Bruce Friedrich—the co-founder and executive director of The Good Food Institute (GFI), which promotes plant-based dairy, eggs, and so-called clean meat, as alternatives to those items as produced by animal agriculture (factory farming)—outlines how, starting at...
This unusual edition of “Talking Animals” featured the first portion of an interview with Dr. Temple Grandin I conducted Feb. 1 in front of 1200 people at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. Grandin is the professor of animal science at Colorado State University,...
Cathryn Michon & W. Bruce Cameron—screenwriters of the movie, “A Dog’s Way Home,” based on Cameron’s novel, and which had opened nationwide less than a week before this conversation—discuss the enthusiastic reception accorded the film: high audience ratings,...
