featured | Talking Animals

Glen Zipper, creator-executive producer of the Netflix documentary series “Dogs”

Duncan — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 05:00:54 +0000

Glen Zipper—the creator and executive producer of “Dogs,” the Netflix six-part documentary series (and whose resume includes producing the Oscar-winning doc “Undefeated”)—recalls growing up in an animal-free household, pets having been declared verboten by his father. Zipper also recounts his transformation into a dog guy: He was living in New Jersey, working as a criminal […]

The post Glen Zipper, creator-executive producer of the Netflix documentary series “Dogs” first appeared on Talking Animals.

Dr. Nick Pyenson, paleontologist and author of “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures”

Duncan — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 05:00:29 +0000

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 childhood, when his parents would take him to natural history museums, experiences he called “formative.” […]

The post Dr. Nick Pyenson, paleontologist and author of “Spying on Whales: The Past, Present, and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures” first appeared on Talking Animals.

Jason M. Colby, author of “Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator”

Duncan — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 04:00:15 +0000

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 that “Orca” was hardly telegraphed by his academic fields, or his previous book. Colby does note […]

The post Jason M. Colby, author of “Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator” first appeared on Talking Animals.

Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Duncan — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 04:00:16 +0000

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 recent period of exile in France, and the international legal troubles that led to it. Watson explains these […]

The post Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society first appeared on Talking Animals.

Sy Montgomery, author of numerous books, most recently, “How to Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals”

Duncan — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 04:00:19 +0000

Sy Montgomery—the author of numerous acclaimed books about animals, including bestsellers “The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood” and “The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness”—discusses the inspiration for her new book, a departure from the others, in that it’s an autobiography, though with a suitably […]

The post Sy Montgomery, author of numerous books, most recently, “How to Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals” first appeared on Talking Animals.

Kinky Friedman, songwriter-satirist-animal rescuer

Duncan — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 04:00:38 +0000

Kinky Friedman—the singer-songwriter-author-satirist-animal rescuer and veteran cigar-chomping wag—describes how his longtime friend and sometimes advisor Willie Nelson, upon hearing in a 3am phone call that Friedman was watching “Matlock,” decided his friend was in the throes of depression, and admonished Kinky to start writing songs. Kinky recalls how he took Nelson’s advice to heart, and […]

The post Kinky Friedman, songwriter-satirist-animal rescuer first appeared on Talking Animals.

Nellie McKay, singer-songwriter-activist + Triumph The Insult Comic Dog: 15th Anniversary Show

Duncan — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 04:00:22 +0000

On this program, we marked the 15th anniversary of “Talking Animals”—almost to the day! I launched the show on June 16, 2003 at KUCI, the campus-community radio station at the University of California at Irvine. At the tail end of 2005, “Talking Animals” found a home at WMNF, not long after my family and I […]

The post Nellie McKay, singer-songwriter-activist + Triumph The Insult Comic Dog: 15th Anniversary Show first appeared on Talking Animals.

Kristen Auerbach, Director of Pima Animal Care Center

Duncan — Wed, 23 May 2018 04:00:11 +0000

Kristen Auerbach—Director of Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), and recognized as a prominent, pioneering figure in the animal shelter world, in part through her previous stints at Austin Animal Center (which became the nation’s largest no-kill shelter), and Fairfax County Animal Services—recalls her earliest days in this field, as a humane officer. As the story […]

The post Kristen Auerbach, Director of Pima Animal Care Center first appeared on Talking Animals.

Erika Abrams, co-founder & president of Animal Aid Unlimited

Duncan — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 04:00:13 +0000

Erika Abrams—co-founder and president of Animal Aid Unlimited, a rescue operation, hospital, and sanctuary in Udaipur, India—recalls the circumstances under which she, her husband, Jim, and daughter, Claire, began traveling to India in the late 1980s. While noting she wasn’t (and still isn’t) well-traveled, and that her initial interest in the country was rooted in […]

The post Erika Abrams, co-founder & president of Animal Aid Unlimited first appeared on Talking Animals.

Jamie Katz, Pet Detective

Duncan — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 04:00:26 +0000

Jamie Katz — who runs the only licensed private investigation agency in Florida that specializes in locating pets (so, yes, she’s a pet detective)—discusses growing up with a passion for animals, how during her childhood there was just one dog and two cats in her family, but in her teen years, her exposure to animals […]

The post Jamie Katz, Pet Detective first appeared on Talking Animals.

In Conversation With Temple Grandin–Part Two

Duncan — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 05:00:54 +0000

We continue here with the second half of the interview I conducted Feb. 7 with Temple Grandin onstage at the 1200-seat Paramount Theatre in Austin, also including the audience question-and-answer segment that followed our conversation that night. gAs with the first portion, in this second half of the conversation, Dr. Grandin and I cover a […]

The post In Conversation With Temple Grandin–Part Two first appeared on Talking Animals.

Lily Tomlin, actress, comedian and animal advocate

Duncan — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 04:00:03 +0000

Lily Tomlin, who’s collected a trunkful of major awards, including Emmys, Tonys, a Grammy and two Peabody Awards—and who has a similarly distinguished record in the realm of animal welfare—recalls childhood experiences with animals, growing up in Michigan and spending summers in rural Kentucky. She also describes the current animal residents of the Tomlin-Wagner home: […]

The post Lily Tomlin, actress, comedian and animal advocate first appeared on Talking Animals.

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenyan author, conservationist and elephant expert

Duncan — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenyan author, conservationist and expert on raising and reintegrating orphaned elephants into the wild, work she’s engaged in for some five decades. Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenya-based, internationally-renowned expert on rehabilitating and rearing wild animals, discusses how she grew over the years to specialize in […]

The post Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, a Kenyan author, conservationist and elephant expert first appeared on Talking Animals.

Alec Baldwin, Actor-Animal Advocate

Duncan — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:09:55 +0000

Alec Baldwin–the Oscar-nominated, Tony-nominated, Emmy-winning actor, currently starring in NBC’s “30 Rock,” frequent guest host on “Saturday Night Live,” and veteran animal rights advocate–discusses his path into animal advocacy some 20 years ago; addresses the appeal and importance for him of organizations with long-term stability of leadership and his relationship with those leaders (Ingrid Newkirk […]

The post Alec Baldwin, Actor-Animal Advocate first appeared on Talking Animals.

Dr. Jane Goodall

Duncan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:19:25 +0000

Our guest is Dr. Jane Goodall--the primatologist and anthropologist whose study in the 1960s of chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania yielded pioneering findings, and has since increasingly been viewed as a highly influential, heroic figure.

The post Dr. Jane Goodall first appeared on Talking Animals.