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PODCAST

The Animal Turn

Claudia Hirtenfelder

Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – Not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Join Claudia Hirtenfelder as she delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship,

science social sciences

All Episodes

81:22

S9E5: Historical Methods with Jennifer Bonnell and...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/10/05

In this episode we switch gears toward considering historical methods. Sean Kheraj and Jennifer Bonnell come onto the show to discuss their edited book Traces of The Animal Past and together with Claudia they delve into some of the ways environmental and animal histories differ as well as some of the key methods scholars interested in them can use. Topics Covered: animal history versus environmental historysearching for animals in the archive borrowing tools from natural and socia...

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71:19

S9E4: Segregation with Jules Skotnes-Brown

The Animal Turn ·

2026/09/28

Jules Skotnes-Brown joins Claudia on the show to discuss how segregating logics were used to govern humans and animals in South Africa’s history. This includes everything from Addo’s elephants being driven, enclosed, and “tamed”, to Kalahari San people being policed inside a national park and managed through rations and confinement. Topics Covered: The difference between environmental history and animal history Defining segregation as a ideological and material connect...

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66:39

S9E3: Taxonomies with Harriet Ritvo

The Animal Turn ·

2026/09/21

Harriet Ritvo discusses animals and taxonomy, unfurling the ways in which animals are categorised scientifically and in everyday vernacular. She unfurls what this might mean for how we know animals and the ways in which we understand and write their histories. Topics Covered: how classification systems expose human values and power why herd books matter for animal history and domesticationscientific taxonomy versus vernacular categories naming rules, authorit...

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92:22

S9E2: Modernity with Erica Hill and Susan Nance

The Animal Turn ·

2026/09/14

Erica Hill and Susan Nance join Claudia on the show to discuss “modernity.” They discuss what this relatively messy shorthand means for history and for understanding human–animal relations. They try to unpack what is meant by modernity and touch on everything from industrialisation to concealment and consumption. Topics Covered: Animal History, the journal that tries to understand animals as historical subjects Using animal welfare science to interpret historical animals’ be...

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97:34

S9E1: Animals' Cultural Histories with Sandra Swart

The Animal Turn ·

2026/09/07

Claudia speaks with historian Sandra Swart about the importance of recognising animals’ cultural histories. They discuss the maturation of animal history as a field and focus on the cultural histories of baboons and elephants in South Africa. Topics covered: Working definition of animal culture Fuffification and disnification of wildlife The deep and urban history of baboons A lone elephant in the Knysna Forest ‘Rogue’ elephants in the PilanesbergAnimal Highlig...

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70:01

From the Archive: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction with...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/08/24

Charlotte Blattner discusses how international law, specifically Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, might provide a useful and productive way in which to build legal protections for animals. Date recorded: 10 April 2020 Guest: Charlotte E. Blattner is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Public Law, University of Bern. She earned her PhD in international law and animal law from the University of Basel, Switzerland, as part of the doctoral program Law and Animals. From 2...

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67:38

From the Archive - S2E8: Shoalmates with Jonathan...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/08/10

[From the Archive - Enjoy!] Claudia talks to Jonathan Balcombe about fishes and their varied and incredible experiences. Using the concept of ‘shoalmates’ as a launch pad, they discuss some of the intra- and inter-species relations fishes engage in from work to cuddle and play. Date recorded: 30 November 2020 Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist with a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior. His books include Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, The Exultant Ark, and Wha...

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87:20

Bonus: (Anti)Vivisection with Lauren Stein and...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/08/03

Vivisection is an old word for a practice that still shapes modern medicine: using living bodies as tools for knowledge. Claudia talks with Lauren Stein and Richard Miller from the National Anti-Vivisection Society to unpack some of vivisection’s history, how scientists understand it and think through the ethics of it, as well as the emergence of alternatives to its use. Date Recorded: 22 June 2026 Lauren Stein, Ph.D., is the Director of Science and Research Programs at the Natio...

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85:46

Bonus: Haunting with Kathryn Gillespie

The Animal Turn ·

2026/07/27

Claudia talks with Kathryn Gillespie about “haunting” as a way to notice how harm and care shape everyday human–animal relationships. They discuss everything, from feeding urban crows to grieving orcas and lab beagles learning what grass feels like. They consider the role of attentiveness in relations with animals and ask what becomes visible when we stop treating violence as background noise. Date Recorded: 1 April 2026 Kathryn Gillespie, PhD, is a writer, researcher, and educator dedicated ...

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79:02

Bonus: Deception with John Sanbonmatsu

The Animal Turn ·

2026/07/20

John Sanbonmatsu joins Claudia on the show to discuss ‘deception,’ a concept in the title of his recently published book “The Omnivore’s Deception.” We explore how deception operates in understandings of meat and human relations with animals, including how industries actively deceive the public but also how individuals engage in practices of bad faith and self-deception. Date Recorded: 25 February 2026 John Sanbonmatsu is Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Ma...

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91:17

Bonus: Animals and the Right to Politics with Sue...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/05/25

Claudia talks to political philosophers Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka about their latest book Animals and the Right to Politics. They discuss the differences between societal and placed based politics, unpacking why both are necessary to enable animals’ political engagement. Date Recorded: 30 January 2026 Featured: Animals and The Right to Politics by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka Animal agora: Animal citizens and the democratic challenge by Sue DonaldsonEnvironmental Eth...

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81:00

Bonus: Psychoanalysis and the Meat-Commodity with...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/05/18

In this episode Claudia talks Teddy Duncan Jr. who departs from the Marxian consideration of the meat-commodity to think about how psychoanalysis, especially Lacanian psychoanalysis, might be useful in understanding human relations with meat. They discuss the interconnections of language, disavowal, symbolism, jouissance, and ‘the Real’ in this discussion. Date Recorded: 12 November 2025 Teddy Duncan Jr is a professor at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Teddy’s academic writing on ...

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88:11

Bonus: Creature Needs with Lucy Spelman, Susan...

The Animal Turn ·

2026/05/11

A scientific abstract can tell you a species is declining. A story can make you feel what that loss means and why it should change how you live. In this episode Claudia talks to Lucy Spelman, Susan Tacent, and Christopher Kondrich, the co-editors behind Creature Needs, a striking book that juxtaposes conservation science with poems, essays, and fiction written in response. They discuss the book, writing as a means of connection, and the politics of conservation. Date Recorded: 29 June ...

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71:58

S8EB: Monstrous Others with Rachel Dean-Ruzicka

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/29

We explore how Stranger Things signals a new monstrous moment, moving from unknowable creatures to human-made villains, and what that shift says about power, identity, and culture. Along the way, we ask how animals get coded as monsters and when their agency is reclaimed or removed in film and TV. Date Recorded: 22 April 2025 Featured: Tolerance Discourse and Young Adult Holocaust Literatureby Rachel Dean-Ruzicka Paranormal Maturation: Uncanny Teenagers and Canny Killers b...

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89:52

S8E10: Grad Review with Gina Song Lopez and Taylor...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/29

Gina Song Lopez, researching vegan movements in Taiwan and China through the lens of local culture and social media, and Taylor Jobling, a law lecturer unpacking how Australia’s legislation categorises animals, come on to the show to discuss the main themes and tensions to emerge in Season 8, Animals and Media Date Recorded: 8 December 2025 Featured: What Comes After Entanglement by Eva GiraudThe Birth of Korean Cool by Euny HongThe Omnivore’s Deception by John Sanbonmats...

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96:32

S8E9: News with Shatabdi Chakrabarti, Jessica...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/22

In this episode we bring together a photojournalist from India, a Canadian columnist, and a political scientist/reporter to discuss animals and the news. We discuss different types of news as well as some of the challenges that come with creating news content that focuses on animals. Date Recorded: 4 June 2025 Featured: How to Spot Misinformation and Bias About Climate and Food in the News by Jessica Scott-ReidMeatsplaining by Jason HannanFeed the People by Ja...

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97:11

S8E8: Film and TV with Lynda Korimboccus and Ankita...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/22

In this episode Ankita Rathour and Lynda Korimboccus join Claudia to discuss the interconnections of film, tv, and animals. Together they touch on everything from the Peppa Pig paradox in children’s media to the shifting role of animals in Hindi cinema, nationalism and caste politics. Date Recorded: 2 May 2025 Featured: The Subaltern Gazes: Commentary on Amit Masurkar's Sherni by Ankita Rathour.Pig-ignorant: The Peppa Pig Paradox. Investigating Contradictory Childho...

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86:30

S8E7: Social Media with Laura Fernández, Amanda...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/15

Guests Laura Fernández, Amanda Weiss, and Siobhan Speiran join Claudia to discuss case studies as wide ranging as Japanese animal cafes, Spanish bull fighting, and Costa Rican sanctuaries to unfurl the complex relations of social media and animals. Together they probe how social media packages animals as content, why that changes real lives, and where activism, policy, and platform design can push back. Date Recorded: 11 April 2025 Featured: Han Heroes and Yamato Warriors:...

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98:10

S8E6: Podcasting and Education with María Carreras...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/12/08

We celebrate 100 episodes by asking how podcasting can teach, build community, and improve animal welfare across languages, disciplines, and daily routines. Guests Maria Carreras and Kate Acton share concrete changes, strategic insights, and challenges that reshape how we listen to animals and to each other. Date Recorded: 11 April 2025 Featured: When Animals Speak by Eva MeijerThe Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J Adams.Inside of a Dog by Alexandra HorowitzEvaluating the Addition of...

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107:07

S8E5: Gaming with Keung Yoon Bae, Osvaldo Cleger, and...

The Animal Turn ·

2025/10/13

Gaming is one of the most consumed forms of media globally making it an omportant space from to explore human-animal relations. In this episode, media scholars Michael Rübsamen, Osvaldo Cleger, and Keung Yoon Bae discuss the interconnections of gaming, representation, and identity and what the significance of this might be for considerations of animals. Date Recorded: 3 February 2025 Featured: The Witcher Thoughts towards an Ontology of Play by Eugene Fink ...

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119 results

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