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,...
Dr. Toni Frohoff—a wildlife behavioral biologist who has researched the lives and behaviors of elephants and cetaceans for more than 30 years—recalls how, as an aspiring surfer growing up in Southern California, encountering dolphins in the ocean there, spurred her...
Dr. Nick Pyenson—the curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, and the author of “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures”—traces his interest in fossils to his...
Jason M. Colby—an environmental and international historian, and professor, at the University of Victoria and author, most recently of “Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator”—recounts the impetus for writing the new book, acknowledging...
Captain Paul Watson—the founder, president, and executive director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the marine conservation organization he launched in 1977, and whose profile rose dramatically in the wake of the Animal Planet series “Whale Wars”—discusses his...
Stephen Wells—the executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund ALDF)—traces his intriguing, sometimes colorful, career path before joining ALDF, particularly his years in Alaska, where, among other developments, he formalized his commitment to becoming a...
About once a year, I jettison 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 periodic effort to rejigger the program, and a parallel desire...
Dr. Lori Marino—founder and executive director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, as well as a neuroscientist and expert in animal behavior and intelligence—explains exactly what a neuroscientist is, and how that academic orientation informs her thinking...
Dr. Ann Weaver—an animal behaviorist conducting a pioneering, long-term, conservation-based study of free-ranging bottle nose dolphins off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida—explains that she initially gravitated toward dolphins as an academic interest, as...
Neko Case—the singer-songwriter who has created a large, revered body of work, much of it laced with nature and animal themes—recalls how her lifelong kinship with animals began as a kid whose parents were infrequently present, so she spent a great deal of time...
