Shows
The Animal HighlightS5E4 - European WildcatIn this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas discusses the European Wild Cat and their entangled relationships with domesticated cats. She notes how the interbreeding between these two species has conservationists worried and has resulted in a range of, oftentimes, violent interventions into their animals’ lives.Recorded: 12 October 2023 Featured: S5E3: Feral and Invasive Species with Lauren van Patter on The Animal Turn.S6E4: Violence with Dinesh Wadiwel on The Animal Turn. Scottish ‘Highland Tiger’ wildcat more endangered than Asian cousin on the BBC.Giraffe Marius slaughtered in Copenhagen Zoo, fed t...2025-06-2314 min
The Animal HighlightS5E3 - Pale MaleVirginia Thomas tells us about a red-tailed hawk named Pale Male who sparked controversy and admiration when he built his nest on a luxury Fifth Avenue apartment building in New York City. Pale Male is a celebrity whose story illuminates questions about animal habitat rights in urban environments.Recorded: 12 October 2023 Featured: Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog.S6E3: Moral Imagination and Habitat Rights with Steve Cooke on The Animal Turn.The Legend of Pale Male, a documentary.2025-06-1612 min
The Animal HighlightS5E2 - Misunderstood MagueysVirginia Thomas introduces the red maguey worm; a caterpillar often mistakenly called the "tequila worm.” She explores their biology and ethical implications of using these metamorphosing creatures as novelty ‘items’ in alcoholic beverages.Recorded: 18 September 2023 Featured: Cosmopolitanism with Angie Pepper on The Animal Turn.Perdido Street Station by China Melville.The Life Cycle of Butterflies and Moths by Butterfly Conservation.Cosmopolitan 'Worms' by Virginia Thomas.Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interaction...2025-06-0916 min
The Animal HighlightS5E1 - Citizen DogsIn this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas focuses on the domestic dog and the ways in which they might be thought of as citizens. She thinks about some of dogs' history and discusses the work of Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka. Recorded: 18 September 2023 Featured: Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rightsby Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka.Biosecurity with Steve Hinchliffe on The Animal Turn.Politics with Will Kymlicka on The Animal Turn.Cosmopolitanism with Angie Pepper on The Animal Turn.Canine Good Citizen with the American Kennel Club. The biopo...2025-06-0218 min
The Animal TurnBonus: Sensory Pollution with Brett Seymoure and Jennifer PhillipsIn this crossover episode from The Deal With Animals Podcast, Marika S. Bell talks to two experts about the impacts of sensory pollution on animals. Sensory pollution from artificial light and noise has profound effects on wildlife behavior, reproduction, and survival. Brett Seymour and Jennifer Phillips share insights about how everyday choices impact everything from insect flight patterns to bird nesting success.Date Released: 7 May 2024Dr. Jennifer Phillips is an assistant professor at Washington State University. Jenny's research focuses on animal behavior communication and the...2025-04-2858 min
The Animal TurnBonus: Big Cat Trade with Vanessa AmorosoThe global big cat trade encompasses both legal and illegal networks, with South Africa standing as the world's largest exporter of big cats including both live animals and parts. Vanessa Amoroso from Four Paws International explains how captive breeding facilities create a "conveyor belt of cubs" that fuels tourism attractions while obscuring the darker reality of what happens to these animals. Together Claudia and Vanessa discuss how loopholes in CITES allows for the large-scale legal breeding and trade of big cats, which also has numerous slippages into the illegal trade of the animals and exacerbates their exploitation. 2025-04-1451 min
The Animal TurnS7E10: Grad Review with Rashmi Singh Rana and Priyanshu Thapliyal Rashmi Singh Rana and Priyanshu Thapliyal join Claudia on the show to discuss some of the key themes to emerge in Season 7, Animals and Multispecies Health. These include thinking beyond anthropocentric understandings of health; considering how geography and context shape health relations; and the importance of discourse in both imaginative and material impacts.Date Recorded: 29 January 2025 Priyanshu Thapliyal is a PhD Researcher based in the school of GeoSciences at University of Edinburgh. In his project, he is thinking with and for people and street dogs living in an Indian Himalayan village to...2025-02-241h 38
The Animal TurnS7E9: Dogs’ Health with Jessica PierceIn this episode Jessica Pierce joins Claudia to explicitly discuss dogs’ health. They discuss everything from end-of-life care for dogs, to breeding practices, and discourses about dogs’ purpose in society. They unfurl some of the overlapping and similar health needs of street- versus pet-dogs and surmise that in general dogs are facing a range of both physical and psychological challenges. Date Recorded: 2 September 2024. Jessica Pierce is an American bioethicist known for her work in the field of animal ethics and the philosophy of human-animal relationships. She has written a number of books...2025-02-101h 19
The Animal TurnS7E8: Pavlov’s Dogs with Matthew AdamsMatthew Adams joins Claudia on the show to talk about the dogs who were used by Ivan Pavlov in his extensive laboratory operations in St Petersburg. They discuss the importance of psychology and psychological experimentation in debates about multispecies health, also pointing to the importance of art-based research that challenges anthropocentricism. Recorded: 10 September 2024. Matthew Adams is an academic in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences at the University of Brighton, UK. He teaches classes in ecopsychology, the psychology of human-animal relations, posthumanities and creative methods. Mathew’s research challenges conventional perceptions of a...2025-02-061h 26