The girlies discuss the rise of pet culture — how we managed to domesticate animals, why we love them so much, and how a pet-centric world may not be best for either of us. Digressions include a heavily edited intro to save us from placement on an FBI watchlist.

This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Eliza Mclamb and edited by Olivia Burdette. Research assistance from Penelope Spurr.

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SOURCES:

A new airline for dogs takes flight

Animals Made Americans Human: Sentient Creatures and the Creation of America's Moral Sensibility

A Non-companion Species Manifesto: Humans, Wild Animals, and "The Pain of Anthropomorphism"

Are we loving our pets to death?

Ask Smithsonian: When Did People Start Keeping Pets?

Bulldogs are prone to health problems. New Hampshire could limit their breeding

Catland

Critical Pet Studies?

Dogs and Birds in Plato

Dogs and their collars in Ancient Mesopotamia

Earliest evidence for commensal processes of cat domestication

Encore: Pet Dilemmas