The Animal Highlight

Herre de Bondt joins the show as a co-host of Season 4 of the Animal Highlight to discuss the intricate relationships of animals and waste. He kicks off the season looking at pigeons considering how urban waste impacts them, particularly their feet. Recorded: 21 September 2023.   Featured:   Unseen City by Nathanael Johnson. Urban pigeons losing toes due to human activities by Frédéric Jiguet et a...

In this highlight Amanda talks about jellyfish and the many ways in which they are thought to be transgressive potential threats to biosecurity. Amanda reminds us to try and thinking sensitively about creatures who seem vastly different to us and to also be amazed by the feats they can accomplish. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Jellyfish by...

In this animal highlight Amanda talks about pangolins, one of the most trafficked animals in the world. She speaks about some of her concerns with One health flattening complexities before talking a bit about Stevie, a pangolin saved in South Africa. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Nicole Shukin, Animal Capital Stevie in a video on the Dodo...

 In this episode Amanda unpacks how brown bears in Ukraine and grizzly bears in Canada have been impacted by conflict and war. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .  Featured:   Bear by Robert E. Bieder  How are endangered bears escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine? By Ben Anthony on Euro News.  Ukraine War: Situation and Support for Animals by Four Paws. ...

Salmon are increasingly intensively farmed and implicated in biosecurity concerns, but they are also animals with amazing biological and social worlds who can achieve incredible feats pf strength and navigation. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Politics of Domestication with Chi Mao Wang on The Animal Turn. Shoalmates with Jonathan Balcombe o...

Amanda Bunten-Wahlberg considers the Lily and Lizzie, two pigs who were rescued from Smithfield farms and subsequently caught in the middle of a biosecurity drama. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Animal Farm Activism with Camille Labchuk on The Animal Turn. Luvin Arms Sanctuary The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of Pigs by...

In this animal highlight Amanda talks about one of the most tested on animals in the world, rats. She discusses how rats have been used in labs and the standardization of their experiences. She contrasts that with the rich lifeworlds of rats who live freely and in multispecies communities. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Epidemiological Divi...

In this episode Amanda Bunten-Walberg gives details into the diversity of mosquito worlds, meals, and physiologies. She focuses on mosquitos who rely on blood to live, unpacking some of the strategies and tactics they use to secure a meal. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Epidemiological Dividual with Christs Lynteris on The Animal Turn. Supe...

Amanda Bunten-Walberg tells us about the incredible diversity of crabs as well as some of their social and physiological characteristics. She focuses on the Green Crab, a species whose adaptability has often also meant they are labelled as invasive. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Feral and Invasive Species with Lauren van Patter on The Anim...

In this episode Amanda Bunten-Walberg tells Claudia all about bats, animals who have historically been persecuted as threats to biosecurity. Hoping to challenge this reductive way of understanding bats, Amanda talks about flying foxes, large fruit bats, noting how incredibly social and relatable they are. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Bioe...

Amanda Bunten-Walberg joins Claudia to discuss animals and biosecurity. In the first episode of the season she talks about turkeys, animals who are often implicated in biosecurity threats but who – when given the opportunity – live richly textured lives. This content was originally aired in Season 5 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Sonic Specimen with Rachel Mundy on The Animal Turn. Mor...

Hannah Hunter unpacks the seismic and infrasonic communication of elephants who produce and listen to sounds beyond human ranges. This season is all about “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Grad Review with Bailey Hilgren and Hannah Hunter on The Animal Turn. Silent Thunder: in the presence of elephants by Katharine Payne.  How Elephants...

In this this episode Hannah Hunter discusses how orb weaver spiders and ogre faced spiders make use of impressive sonic strategies to hunt. This season is all about “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Time in the Field with Denise Herzing on The Animal Turn. Outsourced hearing in an orb-weaving spider that uses its web as an auditory senso...

In this this episode Hannah Hunter unpacks some cool detail about butterflies sonic communication. This season is all about “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   Sonic Specimen with Rachel Mundy on The Animal Turn. Sound Production and Hearing the Blue Cracker Butterfly   by Jayne Yack et al. Bat Communication with Gloriana Chaverri on The A...

In this this episode Hannah Hunter tells us about pistol shrimps, one of the loudest and most powerful animals in the ocean. This season is all about “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .   Featured:   S4E07: Republic of Noise with Jeremy Gordon on The Animal Turn. The Noisiest Guys on the Planet by Jana Winderen Project Power , a film with Jamie Foxx    ...

In this this episode we talk about dolphins, some of the sounds they make, and their sophisticated means of communication. This season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .    Featured:   S4E05: Voice with Eva Meijer on The Animal Turn.   Credits: Claudia Hi...

In this this episode we talk about coyotes. Also known as song dogs and tricksters, coyotes have impressive vocal repertoires. This season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .    Featured:   S4E05: Animal Music with Martin Ullrich on The Animal Turn. (Re)St...

In this this episode we talk about ivory-billed woodpeckers and how a 1935 recording of them raises questions about whether they are extinct. This season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .    Featured:   S4E04: Sound Archives with Cheryl Tipp on The Anima...

In this this episode we talk about indri lemurs and their interesting sounds and rhythms. In this season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .    Featured:   Bioacoustics with Mickey Vallee on The Animal Turn.  Indri Lemur sound recording by  Mark H. Barsami...

In this this episode we talk about bark beetles who navigate ultrasonic worlds and tell us something about the internal soundscapes of trees.  In this season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast .    Featured:   S4E02: Sonic Methods with Jonathan Prior on The...

In this season Hannah Hunter joins Claudia as the co-host of The Animal Highlight, teaching us all about “Animals and Sound.” This season was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast . In this this episode we talk about nightingales, who have been described as ‘illegally loud.’  Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host  Hannah Hunter, co-host Christiaan Mentz, sound editor and pr...

In this final episode, Claudia briefly talks about an animal who has been implied throughout the season, humans.  The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Season 1 is focused on “Animals and The Urban.”  Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host  Christiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer  Rebecca Shen, content producer and de...

In this episode, Claudia Hirtenfelder talks about ants and the numerous ways they build, urbanize, and collaborate. The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Season 1 is focused on “Animals and The Urban.”    Featured:   Secret Megalopolis of Ants Uncovered Michelle Westerlaken on The Animal Turn.   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, produ...

In episode eight, Claudia Hirtenfelder talks about squirrels and how they use deception and their incredible memories to bury and find nuts across urban spaces. The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Season 1 is focused on “Animals and The Urban.”    Featured:   The Urbanization of the Eastern Gray Squirrel in the United States by E...

In episode seven, Claudia Hirtenfelder talks about leopards, a predator who is increasingly found in urban areas. The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Season 1 is focused on “Animals and The Urban.”    Featured:   Leopards stalking and hunting pigs on the outskirts of Bombay by BBC Urban Leopard Search by National Geographic Crook...