Kindred

In this week’s episode, we are diving into all things hyenas! Yep, we’re that excited. And to take us on this deep dive we have asked hyena expert and behavioral ecologist Dr. Kay Holekamp to educate us all about this amazing animal and talk to us about the 30 + years of research and data her team has been collecting.  Dr. Holekamp is head of the Department of Integrative Biology and is director o...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Deborah Blum, environmental journalist, Pulitzer-prize winning science writer and science columnist.  Let me explain why we have asked Deborah to join us.  In 1962, American marine biologist, science writer, and conservationist Rachel Carson writes a pivotal book in our history, titled Silent Spring, which skillfully lays out the very real life scenario...

Kindred is back, hosted by Kate Coffin and Jenn Asplundh. This season, we’re flipping the script on creatures everyone loves to hate — from hyenas and vultures to bats and possums — and showing why they’re fascinating, essential, and surprisingly lovable. Join us as we explore the hidden connections between humans, animals, and nature, and discover stories that will make you see the world in a who...

Originally released July 23, 2024. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in October 2025. In this week’s episode, we travel to Denmark and speak with author and long time marine biologist Hanne Strager about the incredible and dynamic predator the killer whale, or orca if you prefer. Hanne specializes in marine wildlife, specifically killer whales, and has recently published her new book titled,...

Originally released May 14, 2024. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in October 2025. In this week’s conversation, we are speaking with William Housty, Associate Director of the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department in Bella Bella, British Columbia. The HIRMD are in charge of overseeing the management of all natural resources in the Heiltsuk territory, including the beautiful and...

Originally released January 26, 2025. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in October 2025. In this exclusive drop Jenn and I talk to brothers Dave Aguirre (my actual husband :) and Geoff Aguirre all about their brotherly hike across England! Sisters interviewing brothers…what could go wrong? But really, this was so much fun and really warmed our cold winter hearts. It’s full of humor, sentimen...

Originally released April 30, 2024. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in October 2025. In this week's archived episode, we are spoke with Bear Biologist Chris Servheen. We finally got to meet our grizzly bear fears head-on and dispel all the misinformation that we have been wondering about for years!   We were so lucky to have been able to speak with Chris, one of if not the leading bear...

Originally released April 30, 2025. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in October 2025. And guess who’s back? Our favorite Zoo historian and author, Nigel Rothfels! Yes, we dragged him back to congratulate him on the newly revised edition of his book Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo. If you haven’t heard our fun and fiery episode with Nigel, PLEASE go back and listen to our OG...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Tim Hofmann,  a certified dog trainer working with the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), running the Scat Detection Dog program.  Since 2018, Tim has been leading the scat detection dog project for CCR where his expertise extends to field projects across Namibia and Angola, where he works with his dogs to detect and conserve rare wildlife species, like c...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Awanookwe Kingbird-Bratvold, founder of the animal rescue Awesiinyag (Animals) Are Loved.  Awanookwe is Ojibwe from the Red Lake Nation in Northern Minnesota and has her masters in Education and is a professor in Indigenous Sustainability Studies at Bemidji State University in Minnesota. Awanookwe is also the CARE Center Senior Director for the Northern...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Carolyn Finney, a cultural geographer, storyteller, actor, lover of pop culture, and author.  Carolyn has her Doctorate in geography and is the author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. She has also held positions at Wellesley College, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Uni...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Sassee Walker, founder of the non profit cat rescue Sassee Cats operating in New York City, specifically Brooklyn and East New York areas. She also works full-time for NYC Health and Hospitals in their billing department.  Sassee started working in cat rescue and welfare in 2011 so she’s been doing this for a long time. And she is another person out the...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Dr. Dawn Wright, chief scientist at Esri, or Environmental Systems Research Institute and a specialist in marine geology, geography, and oceanography, and not least of all a deepsea diver.  Dawn Wright also made history in 2022 when she became the first Black person to visit Challenger Deep, the oceans deepest and most unexplored place on Earth, an expe...

This is a Special Episode of Kindred, and we’re throwing it in mid-season because we have questions!  Let me explain.  Recently, the federal government has been eliminating or cutting federal programs and funding in context to conservation-from protection of wildlife and forest, to clean air and water acts.  This has ignited many questions about the effects that the federal government is having on...

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Oscar Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Underdogs K9 Training. Oscar’s training focuses on dog psychology and dog behavior and his professional services include dog walking, dog boarding, and working with dogs and their humans to navigate through behavioral issues and help owners understand dog psychology to better connect them to each other, and help their...

It’s time for our special edition of Kindred’s Book Club! In this season’s Book Club we are featuring Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, by Ellen Ruppel Shell. Author Ellen Ruppel Shell is professor emeritus at Boston University, in the department of science journalism. Ellen has published many articles, reviews, and essays which have appeared in the New York Times, The Guard...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Daniel Curry, Range Rider and founder of the non-profit Project Griph, an organisation focused on wildlife conflict mitigation.  Through Daniel’s specialized methods executed on horseback, with a team of dogs, Daniel works to support ranchers and farmers who are in conflict with wolves.  He is the buffer between large carnivores and cattle or sheep, like a she...

Welcome back to our Spring Season! We are so excited to start dropping a new season full of the most amazing guests! Look out for new episodes starting April 15th and make sure to follow us so you don’t miss any of the incredible conversations we have lined up for you.  This season, we go deep from the bottom of our hearts to the bottom of our oceans. See you on Tuesdays! Lots of Love,  Kate &...

Originally released August 15, 2023. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in April 2025. In this week’s episode, we speak with Dr. Mathias Osvath, Cognitive Zoologist at Lund University about all things corvids and specifically the raven. We’ve known how smart these birds are but, um, did not realize HOW smart! You will never look at a crow, magpie, jay, nutcracker, jackdaw, rook, or raven (all...

Originally released July 4, 2023. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in April 2025. In this week’s episode, we speak with Matt Rader, the President of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. We dig deep into environmental justice and what it means for people to have access to green spaces and the many positive effects it has not only on the aesthetic of a city but the many mental, physical, s...

Originally released January 23, 2024. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in April 2025.  In this week’s episode, we speak with long-haul hiker and adventurer Melanie Vogel. Melanie is the first woman to walk the Trans Canada Trail, the longest recreational trail in the world.  She walked from the Atlantic Ocean across and up to the Arctic Ocean, then down and over to the Pacific Ocean. Nearly...

Our final episode of the season was supposed to air earlier this month, but due to the quickly changing political landscape, we couldn’t release it as planned. It was a tough call, but the right one. In this episode, Kate will be reading the statement we shared in response to all of this, which you may have already seen on our social media or in our newsletter. As we close out another season, we’d...

Originally released April 25, 2023. New Kindred episodes will drop starting in April 2025. In this week's conversation, we speak with Tracy Wilson, the Nevada State Director for American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) on a critical subject we knew little to nothing about the wild Mustangs and Burros of the West and North Western United States. She walks us through their challenges, the critical ed...

We are dropping this episode as an encore in light of the devastating fires LA have been experiencing the last few weeks. There are so many reasons these fires are happening and we wanted to re-share this episode on fire in support of answering some of the questions we have been seeing on social media and hearing on news platforms.  In this week's conversation, we speak with Tony Incashola Jr....

In this week’s episode, we are speaking with Dave Onorato, Research Scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and the Florida Panther Project. For this conversation, we get to head down to Florida to learn all about the elusive Florida Panther!  Dave patiently walked us through what a panther is because I for one can get them confused with other large North Americ...