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...
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...
Neko Case—the acclaimed singer-songwriter-guardian who’s long incorporated nature and animal themes into her work—discusses Marty, the cat that owned her heart (Case is famously a dog nut) when we spoke on the show in 2015. Sadly, it turns out Marty has passed, but...
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...
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,...
