
S2E8: Shoalmates with Jonathan Balcombe
12/21/20 • 67 min
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 What a Fish Knows—a New York Times best-seller now available in fifteen languages. His next book for grown-ups, Super Fly, will be published May 2021 by Penguin Books. A children’s story book about a boy and a fish is also scheduled for publication in 2021. He has taught courses in animal behavior and sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute, and Humane Society University. He lives in Belleville, Ontario where in his spare time he enjoys biking, baking, birding, Bach, and trying to understand the neighborhood squirrels. Learn more about Jonathan and his work here.
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: A foray into the worlds of animals and humans By Jakob von Uexküll; Sterling murmuration by canoeists; The Ocean Sunfishes by Tierney Thys et al; The Dark Hobby by Paradise Filmworks
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 (Website) for the logo.
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
A.P.P.L.EAnimals 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.
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website.
- Leave a Review on Podchaser
- Check out The Animal Turn Merch.
- Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.
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 What a Fish Knows—a New York Times best-seller now available in fifteen languages. His next book for grown-ups, Super Fly, will be published May 2021 by Penguin Books. A children’s story book about a boy and a fish is also scheduled for publication in 2021. He has taught courses in animal behavior and sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute, and Humane Society University. He lives in Belleville, Ontario where in his spare time he enjoys biking, baking, birding, Bach, and trying to understand the neighborhood squirrels. Learn more about Jonathan and his work here.
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: A foray into the worlds of animals and humans By Jakob von Uexküll; Sterling murmuration by canoeists; The Ocean Sunfishes by Tierney Thys et al; The Dark Hobby by Paradise Filmworks
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 (Website) for the logo.
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
A.P.P.L.EAnimals 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.
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website.
- Leave a Review on Podchaser
- Check out The Animal Turn Merch.
- Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.
Previous Episode

S2E7: Political Multispecies Communities with Sue Donaldson
After unpacking what constitutes a multispecies community, Sue Donaldson explains why it is important to consider how politics works to make sure that animals’ experiences, and what they are asking for, are heard.
Date recorded: 18 November 2020
Sue Donaldson is a writer and animal advocate. She is a research associate in the Dept. of Philosophy at Queen's University, Kingston, and co-convenor of the Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics research group. She is the author of 4 books, and dozens of articles, primarily focusing on animal rights and politics. Questions of political community, political agency, and doing democracy with animals are central to her current work, and her most recent publication is "Animal Agora: Animal Citizens and the Democratic Challenge" in Social Theory and Practice. Sue's writing is available at academia.edu and her email address is [email protected].
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: Farmed Animal Sanctuaries: The Heart of the Movement By Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka; Animal Agency in Community: A Political Multispecies Ethnography of VINE Sanctuary by Charlotte Blattner, Sue Donaldson, and Ryan Wilcox; Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde
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 (Website) for the logo.
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
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website.
- Leave a Review on Podchaser
- Check out The Animal Turn Merch.
- Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.
Next Episode

S2E9: Survivors with pattrice jones
This episode explores a concept that works to highlight the experiences of animals caught up in human systems that oppress animals. Claudia talks to pattrice jones about how animals’ experiences (particularly those of chickens) compare in factory farms versus at VINE Sanctuary. They discuss the significance of talking about not only animals’ victimisation but also but their agency and will to survive.
Date recorded: 29 December 2020
pattrice jones is a co-founder of VINE Sanctuary, an LGBTQ-led farmed animal refuge that works for social and environmental justice as well as animal liberation. A former tenant organizer and antiracist educator with more than forty years of activist experience, pattrice has taught college and university courses in the theory and praxis of social change activism. As an ecofeminist scholar, pattrice lectures and publishes worldwide on the interconnections among human, animal, and ecological matters. You can also find VINE on Facebook and 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. Contact Claudia via email ([email protected]) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).
Featured: Queering Animal Liberation a lecture by pattrice jones; Angela Davis: An Autobiography by Angela Davis; From Heroic to Holistic Ethics: The Ecofeminist Challenge by Marti Kheel; Feminism and the Mastery of Nature by Val Plumwood; Queer Eros in the Enchanted Forest: The Spirit of Stonewall as Sustainable Energy by pattrice jones
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 (Website) for the logo.
The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E
A.P.P.L.EAnimals 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.
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website.
- Leave a Review on Podchaser
- Check out The Animal Turn Merch.
- Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.
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