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...
Rob Chaney—a lifelong resident of Montana, a veteran reporter for the Missoulian (and 2020 Nieman Fellow), and author of “The Grizzly in the Driveway: The Return of Bears To A Crowded American West”—discusses the impetus for writing the book, agreeing with the...
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...
Dr. Neal Barnard—founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine, among other notable hats he wears—recalls growing up not particularly...
George L. Heinrich—a field biologist and environmental educator specializing in Florida reptiles; he also serves as the Executive Director of the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust—recounts growing up in New England, a childhood that involved spending hours each day...
Peggy Hoyt—a veteran Florida attorney whose practice involves estate planning and a host of related areas, including pet planning that ensures pets will be cared for if their owner dies or becomes incapacitated (this interview was tied to August being National...
Patrick Craig—founder of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, launched in 1980, located in Keenesburg, Colorado, and devoted to housing lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other carnivores—recounts what spurred him, at age 19, to start the Sanctuary, and the initial steps he...
Dr. Chris Pachel —a veterinary behaviorist who owns, and is the primary clinician at, the Animal Behavior Clinic, in Portland, Oregon—recounts how he’d wanted to be a veterinarian since childhood, though in some of those earliest years, he wasn’t quite sure what a...
