The Animal Turn

Claudia Hirtenfelder

2 Creators

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, thinking, and being.

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Top 10 The Animal Turn Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Animal Turn episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Animal Turn for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Animal Turn episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Bonus: Koalas with Danielle Clode

The Animal Turn

06/01/23 • 56 min

In this bonus episode Claudia talks to Danielle Clode about her recent book on koalas. They talk about koalas’ incredible bodies and some of their social dynamics, including koalas unique digestive and reproductive systems and their long-distance bellows.

Date Recorded: 10 April 2023.

Danielle Clode is a biologist and natural history author based at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Danielle grew up in the fishing town of Port Lincoln in South Australia before sailing around the coast with her parents on a boat known as ‘the pirate ship’. After finishing school in far north Queensland, she moved to Adelaide to study politics and psychology. Danielle completed her doctorate in zoology at Oxford University, studying seabirds and feral mink in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Her books include Killers in Eden, which was made into an award-winning Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV documentary; Voyage to the South Seas, winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-fiction; and The Wasp and the Orchid, which was shortlisted for the National Biography Award. Her most recent book is In Search of the Woman Who Sailed the World. Find out more about Danielle on her website and connect with her on Twitter.

Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email ([email protected]) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).

Featured:

Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future by Danielle Clode.

The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, and Instagram

Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John for the logo. This episode was edited by Christiaan Menz and produced by the host Claudia Towne Hirtenfelder.

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The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. It can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube, and Instagram Learn more about the show on our website.

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Bonus: Mother with Yamini Narayanan

The Animal Turn

06/14/23 • 66 min

Yamini Narayanan is back on the show, this time to talk to Claudia about her book Mother Cow, Mother India. They focus their discussion on the concept of “Mother” and what it means for cows in India. They touch on the implications of cows being sacralised as mothers of the Hindu nation and what cows’ daily lives, as mothers, are like.

Date Recorded: 25 April 2023.

Yamini Narayanan is an Associate Professor of International and Community Development at Deakin University, Melbourne. Her new book Mother Cow, Mother India explores the nexus between dairying and right-wing authoritarianism that underpins India’s cow protection politics. Her work is supported by two Australian Research Council grants. Yamini is currently researching animals in enforced and coercive labour in India’s brick kilns, exploring an anti-anthropocentric politics of poverty. She is a lifelong Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, an honour that is conferred through nomination or invitation only. Find out more about Yamini on Deakin University’ website and connect with her on Twitter.

Featured:

Mother Cow, Mother India by Yamini Narayanan, The afterlives of the lively commodity by Kathryn Gillespie; The War Against Animals, by Dinesh Wadiwel; Every Twelve Seconds by Timothy Pachirat; Objectification by Martha Nussbaum; Life for Sale, by Rosemary Collard.

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A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.
International Women's Podcasting Awards
The Animal Turn is proud to have been shortlisted in the International Women's Podcasting Awards.
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S5E9: One Health with Nina Jamal

The Animal Turn

01/24/23 • 69 min

In this episode Claudia speaks to Nina Jamal about One Health. They discuss the changing definition of One Health and its significance for biosecurity and animals. They spend time thinking through the challenges and opportunities, particularly at the level of national and international policy.

Date Recorded: 1 December 2022

Nina Jamal is leading FOUR PAWS’ efforts on Pandemics & Animal Welfare and campaign strategies. Before taking on that role and since 2013, Nina led the International Campaigns on Farm Animals and Nutrition Campaigns. Nina has also worked in the climate movement on international policy and campaigns as well as in the private sector and UNIDO. Her background is in Environmental Health Sciences, Public Health and International Environmental Policy. Connect with Nina (@ninajamal10) and Four Paws (@fourpawsint) on Twitter. Also check out the Four Paws website (www.four-paws.org).

Featured:

How to Prevent the next Pandemic? (Brochure) By Four Paws
How to Prevent the next Pandemic? (Full Report) By Four Paws

The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, and Instagram

Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; the

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A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.
Biosecurities Research Collective
The Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.
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S6E2: Cosmopolitanism with Angie Pepper

The Animal Turn

11/06/23 • 82 min

In this episode, Claudia talks to Angie Pepper about cosmopolitanism. Angie explains how despite cosmopolitans having an expansive view of justice, animals are rarely accounted for. They discuss the challenges of including animals in cosmopolitan thought and mull over what animals might be entitled to.

Date Recorded: 24 August 2023.

Angie Pepper is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Roehampton in London. Angie's philosophical background is in contemporary political philosophy, applied ethics, normative ethics, and feminist philosophy, and her recent research focuses on what we owe to other animals. She has published papers on the place of nonhuman animals in our theorising about global justice, and on what we owe to them as a matter of climate justice. She has also defended the following claims (among others): that sentient nonhuman animals have a right to privacy, that few nonhuman animals are political agents, that sentient nonhuman animals have a right to self-determination, that non-euthanasia killing in animal shelters is sometimes morally permitted, and that we shouldn't support zoos. Angie's latest projects focus on the normative significance of nonhuman animal agency; in other words, what other animals do and why it matters morally, socially, and politically. She is especially interested in whether domestication is compatible with animals' interests in self-determination and the demands of justice. Angie is a regular contributor to Justice Everywhere. You can learn more about Angie’s work on Research Gate.

Featured:

Beyond Anthropocentricism: Cosmopolitanism and Nonhuman Animals by Angie Pepper
What comes after entanglement by Eva Haifa Giraud
Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets by Yi-Fu Tuan
Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation by Gary Francione

Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John for the logo; Virginia Thomas for the Animal Highlight. This episode was edited by Christiaan Mentz and produced by the host

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A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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S3E5: Urban Metabolism with Catherine Oliver

The Animal Turn

06/03/21 • 79 min

Metabolism is an increasingly important concept in understanding how cities operate. Claudia chats with Catherine Oliver about the concept of urban metabolism and its usefulness in understanding the multiple scales of multispecies relations that are produced in and through urban living.
Date recorded: 3 May 2021
Catherine Oliver is a postdoctoral researcher, currently working on the ERC-funded project Urban Ecologies at the University of Cambridge, where she is researching urban backyard chickens and chicken-keepers in London. Her monograph, Veganism, Animals, and Archives is forthcoming with Routledge (August 2021). She is also a Wiley-Royal Geographical Society Digital Archives Fellow, researching animals as collaborators and workers in geographical knowledge production. Catherine’s other research is in feminist geographies, notably focussed on ‘dis-belonging,’ precarity, and the reproduction of neoliberal hierarchies at academic conferences. More information can be found on her website (https://catherinecmoliver.wordpress.com) and she can be found on twitter at @katiecmoliver.
Featured: City chickens: What the rise of urban hen-keeping might mean for veganism and Veganism, Animals, and Archivesby Catherine Oliver; Earthlings with Joaquin Phoenix; Animal Liberation by Peter Singer; Industrial Metabolism: Fat Knowledge by Hannah Landecker; Eating in Theory and I Eat an Apple by Annemarie Mol; The Rise of Cheap Nature and

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S4E1: Soundscapes and Soundscape Ecology with Bryan Pijanowski

The Animal Turn

11/01/21 • 87 min

In this first episode of season 4, Claudia speaks to Bryan Pijanowski about soundscapes and sound ecology. They discuss what soundscapes are, how to study them and why thinking about sound might help scholars to think more deeply about animals and their environments.

Date Recorded: 7 October 2021

Dr. Bryan C Pijanowski is Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. His work focusses on the use of sounds to study nature and how humans perceive their environment through their senses, especially through sound. He is also the Director of the Center for Global Soundscapes, which serves as a focal point for comparative global soundscape work that focusses on classifying sounds for use in biodiversity research. His group also spans into informal learning. He is the Executive Producer of an IMAX-Giant Screen-Domed Experience interactive film called Global Soundscapes! A Mission to Record the Earth. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles, conducted research at over 54 locations around the world, and is close to reaching his personal mission of conducting a study in every major terrestrial and aquatic biome in the world (only four more to go!). His soundscape archive now exceeds 4 million recordings. The longest research project is now starting its fifteenth year. Dr. Pijanowski received his PhD (Zoology) from Michigan State University and his BS from Hope College (Biology).

Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. Contact Claudia via email ([email protected]) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).

Featured:

Soundscape Ecology: The Science of Sound in the Landscape by Bryan Pijanowski et al; Soundscape conservation by Sarah Dumyahn and Bryan Pijanowski; Intro

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A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.
Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory (SAPLab)
The SAP Lab provides workspace and equipment for students engaged in sound related activities.
Sonic Arts Studio
The Queen’s Sonic Arts Studio (formerly Electroacoustic Music Studio) was founded in 1970.
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Bonus: Interference with Paul Watson

The Animal Turn

10/16/23 • 59 min

In this bonus episode Claudia talks to Captain Paul Watson about the concept of interference. They discuss his recent book Hitman for the Kindness Club as well as how he uses strategies of “aggressive nonviolence” to combat what he calls “the economics of extinction.” They also touch on the destructiveness of the fishing industry and factory farming for the oceans and the future of the planet.

Date Recorded: 3 October 2023.

Captain Paul Watson is a marine wildlife conservation and environmental activist. Paul was one of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace. In 1977, he left Greenpeace and founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He is a renowned speaker, accomplished author, master mariner, and lifelong environmentalist, Captain Watson has been awarded many honors for his dedication to the oceans and to the planet. Among many commendations for his work, he received the Genesis Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998, was named as one of the Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century by Time Magazine in 2000 and was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame in Washington D.C. in 2002. He was also awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the president of Ecuador in 2007. In 2012, Captain Watson became only the second person, after Captain Jacques Cousteau, to be awarded the Jules Verne Award, dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. In 2022, Captain Paul Watson continues his fight for marine wildlife conservation with the new Captain Paul Watson Foundation – paulwatsonfoundation.org

Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She has a PhD in Geography from Queen’s University, and her research is focused on the significance of the problematization of urban animals. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email ([email protected]) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).

Featured:

Hitman for the Kindness Club: High Seas Escapades and Heroic Adventures of an Eco-Activist by Pul Watson
Sea of Heartbreak: An Extraordinary Account of a Newfoundland Fishing Voyage by Michael J. Dwyer.
What a fish knows by Jonathan Balcombe
The Coming Plague

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S3E8: Urban Animal History with Philip Howell

The Animal Turn

07/22/21 • 82 min

In this episode Claudia speaks to Philip Howell about urban animal history. Together they discuss the significance of geography in prying apart the many histories of animals, how attention to animal stories gives one a better appreciation for ‘the urban’ and challenges humanist ideas of history. They also touch on the stimulating experience of searching for, finding, and trying to understand animals in the archives.

Date recorded: 20 April 2021

Philip Howell is a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is an historical and cultural geographer, and has written about the regulation of sexuality in Victorian Britain, and on the relations between literature and geography. But for 20 years he has been researching “animal geography,” focusing on the place of the dog in Victorian society, but also taking in the politics of animals in contemporary society. Find out more about Philip here and you can reach him via email ([email protected])

Featured:

Flush and the Banditti: Dog-stealing in Victorian London; At Home and Astray; Animal History in the Modern Cityby Philip Howell; The curious case of the Croydon cat-killer: producing predators in the multi-species metropolis; Black Protest and the Man on Horseback: Race, Animality, and Equestrian Counter-Conduct by Philip Howell and Ilanah Taves; Animal Spaces, Beastly Places: New Geographies of Human-animal Relations edited by Chris Philo and Chris Wilbert; The Urbanization of the Eastern Grey Squirrel in the United States by Etienne Benson; About LookingJohn Berger;

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S3E6: Informality with Yamini Narayanan

The Animal Turn

06/23/21 • 85 min

Claudia talks to Yamini Narayanan about the concept of informality and how it can be used to unpack, complicate and understand urban-animal relations. With a focus on urban-cow entanglements, they discuss how informality is related to urban infrastructure and mobilities that help to bur some of the often dichotomous ways we’ve come to understand not only intra-human relations, but inter-species relations too.
Date recorded: 28 April 2021
Yamini Narayanan is Senior Lecturer in International and Community Development at Deakin University, Melbourne. Her work explores the ways in which (other) animals are instrumentalised in sectarian, casteist and even fascist ideologies in India, and how animals are also actors and architects of informal urbanisms. Yamini’s research is supported by two Australian Research Council grants. Yamini’s work on animals, race, and development has been published in leading journals including Environment and Planning A and D, Geoforum, Hypatia, South Asia, Society and Animals, and Sustainable Development. With Kathryn Gillespie, she has co-edited a special edition of the Journal of Intercultural Studies on the theme “Animal nationalisms: Multispecies cultural politics, race, and nation un/building narratives” (2020) . In 2019, Yamini was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Mid-Career Research Excellence. In recognition of her work, she was made Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics (FOCAE), a distinguished honour that is conferred through nomination or invitation only. Connect with Yamini on Deakin University’s website or on Twitter (@YaminiNarayanan).

Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. Contact Claudia via email ([email protected]) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).

Featured: Street dogs at the intersection of colonialism and informality: ‘Subaltern animism’ as a posthuman critique of Indian cities, Jugaad and informality as drivers of India’s cow slaughter economy; Animal nationalisms: Multispecies cultural politics, race, and nation un/building narrativesby Yamini Narayanan;

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S5E8: Community Led Conservation with Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

The Animal Turn

01/09/23 • 80 min

Claudia talks to Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka about community led conservation. They discuss her work with gorillas in Bwindi National Park and how helping them involves working together with the community through health initiatives, efforts to create better livelihoods, and paying attention to food security.

Date Recorded: 23 November 2022

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is Founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), an award-winning NGO that protects endangered gorillas and other wildlife through One Health approaches. After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1996, she established Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first veterinary department. In 2000, she did a Zoological Medicine Residency and Master in Specialized Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina Zoological Park and North Carolina State University, where masters research on disease at the human/wildlife/livestock interface led her to found CTPH in 2003. In 2015,stogether with her husband Lawrence Zikusoka, she founded Gorilla Conservation Coffee to support farmers living around habitats where gorillas are found. She has won many awards for her work. In 2021 she was recognised by Avance Media among 100 most influential women in Africa and won the UNEP Champions of the Earth Award in the category of Science and Innovation. She is the winner of the 2022 Edinburgh Medal for her work in Planetary health and 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. Gladys is also on the leadership council of Women for the Environment in Africa, Chairperson of the Africa Chapter of the Explorers Club, Vice President of the African Primatological Society, and a member of the World Health Organisation Special Advisory Group for the Origin of Novel Pathogens (WHO SAGO).

Featured: