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...
James Terry—Hernando County Animal Services Manager and one of the organizers of the Mega Pet Adoption Event, to be held May 17-19 at the Hernando County Fairgrounds, offering upwards of 700 dogs and cats—explains how the idea for the extravaganza came together: a...
Steve Mornelli—the founder and CEO of Waggle, a crowdfunding website dedicated to helping animals in need of veterinary care whose families cannot afford their bills—recalls being an animal lover since he was a kid, living with pets at all phases of his life,...
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...
It’s all too rare for “Talking Animals” guests to join me in studio--I typically interview them by phone or, occasionally, via Skype. So it was an uncommon treat to stand across from Nancy Murrah—the CEO of The Raptor Center of Tampa Bay—while we chatted on-air,...
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,...
Chris Poole—a Tampa resident best known, as he describes it, being owned by feline phenoms Cole and Marmalade—remembers growing up in Nottingham, England and his family having an array of pets, including his first black cat, Sarah. Poole recalls landing an...
