This episode begins with a rant. This rant, in particular, comes from Dan Engber - a science writer who loves animals but despises animal intelligence research. Dan told us that so much of the way we study animals involves tests that we think show a human is smart ... not the animals we intend to study.
Dan’s rant got us thinking: What is the smartest anima ... Show More
Oct 2020
I. Newkirk and G. Stone, "Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion" (Simon and Schuster, 2020)
The founder and president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and bestselling author Gene Stone explore the wonders of animal life and offer tools for living more kindly toward them. In the last few decades, a wealth of new information has emerged about who animals are—intelligent, aware, a ... Show More
49m 23s
Mar 2023
Digital Dr. Dolittle: decoding animal conversations with artificial intelligence
<p>Whenever I'm out doing field work or on a hike, I’ve not only got my eyes wide open, but my ears too. There’s a lot going on in a forest or under the sea - the sounds of nature. So many of those sounds in nature are about communication.</p><p>Personally, I love to chat with ra ... Show More
49m 36s
Oct 2021
Animals Shapeshifting to Stay Cool, Albert Einstein’s Brain
Learn about how animals are “shapeshifting” in response to a warming climate; and the story of Albert Einstein’s brain.Animals are "shapeshifting" in response to a warming climate by Grant CurrinZeldovich, L. (2021, September 7). Animals Are Changing Shape to Cope With Rising Tem ... Show More
9m 47s
Feb 2024
Space race- the animal edition
<p>Fruit flies, guinea pigs, frogs, monkeys, turtles, cats and dogs… all sorts of animals have been to space.</p><p>Find out who made small steps for mankind before we could even spacewalk as Ann goes through the emotional turmoil of hearing animals in space. </p><p>Featuring:</p ... Show More
25m 17s
Jun 2020
Do animals have consciousness?
<p>What exactly it means to be conscious has long been a question of profound debate amongst philosophers, and more recently, scientists. There are no easy answers, and it gets even trickier when you start asking whether animals are conscious: how can you find out about their sub ... Show More
36m 43s
Jul 2023
Tom Mustill, "How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication" (Grand Central Publishing, 2022)
What if animals and humans could speak to one another? Tom Mustill—the nature documentarian who went viral when a thirty‑ton humpback whale breached onto his kayak—asks this question in his thrilling investigation into whale science and animal communication.
“When a whale is in t ... Show More
53m 45s