The Animal Highlight
Set around specific themes, The Animal Highlight offers glimpses into the wonderful and complex worlds of animals. This is a spinoff of The Animal Turn Podcast, a podcast that unpacks important concepts in animal studies.
S6E4: The Oxford Dodo - Science, Myth, and a Fragmented Afterlife
In this episode Rosa focuses on the Oxford Dodo, attempting to trace the life history of a bird whose only trace is a fragile head and foot in the Oxford University of Natural History. She unpacks some of the competing routes the bird might have taken – from being hunted and shipped from Mauritius to being kept in an urban menagerie. She also follows the afterlife of the museum object itself once again raising questions about the interconnections between power, possession, and knowledge.
Pitt Rivers MuseumOxford University Natural History MuseumLewis Carroll’s Alice in WonderlandThe TradescantsMurder most fowl: Oxford dodo...S6E3: Parrots and frogs - Multispecies Assemblages and the Changing of Feathers
Rosa traces a Munduruku feather cap from Brazil to the museum case and discuss how tapirage was a process used to turned green parrots feathers a blazing yellow by using frog toxins, dyes and time. Beauty and pain sit side by side as we weigh Indigenous innovation, care and the cost to animals.
Pitt Rivers MuseumCredits:
Recorded: 9 November 2023 Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Rosa Dyer, script writer, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, episode artwork and logoGordon Clarke, bed musicOther sound effects from BBC Sound Effects, Pixabay, Epidemic SoundLearn more ab...S6E2: Hummingbirds - Warrior birds and feathered jewels
Using a feather fan as her base, Rosa Dyer traces how Victorian fashion turned fierce hummingbirds into quiet ornaments. The object brings into focus the differences between indigenous mythologies and western ideas of hummingbirds and what the impacts of global trade were on how we understand them today.
Pitt Rivers MuseumHow hummingbird and vulture mediate between life and death in Latin America by Nicole Sault The disguise of the hummingbird: on the natural history of Huitzilopochtli in the Florentine Codex Montero Sobrevilla The Hummingbird Warrior by Ze Frank Animals and Experience on The Animal Turn. Compassionate Conser...S6E1: Huia - Birds, Museums and Global Commodification
We start Season 6 "Museum Collections/Objects" with Rosa Dyer looking at the Huia, a New Zealand songbird whose dimorphic beaks garnered the attention of science, fashion, and empire. Rosa uses the museum object to ask questions about how different knowledge systems value animals.
Pitt Rivers MuseumSonic Specimen with Rachel Mundy on The Animal Turn. The 1848 lithograph by John Gould Birds of New Zealand by Walter Buller J.G. KeulemansFuture Remains: A Cabinet of Curiosities for the Anthropocene edited by Gregg Mitman, Marco Armiero, Robert S. Emmett'Te Karanga a te Huia | The Call of the Huia', Ngā Taonga Sound & Visi...S5E10: Heck Cattle - Where Nazi Eugenics Meets Modern Rewilding
Fierce, controversial, and caught between worlds—Heck cattle embody the complex intersection of dark history and modern conservation. This final episode of Season 5 of the Animal Highlight explores how these bovines were deliberately bred by Nazi zoologists in the 1920s and now find themselves at the center of rewilding debates across Europe.
Recorded: 14 December 2023
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S5E9: Red Kites - Conservation and The Ethical Dilemmas of Wildlife Translocation
Virginia explores how the recovery of red kites in Britain has been shaped by international efforts and cross-border collaborations between governments and NGOs. Thinking about these birds, Virginia raises questions and concerns about translocation, culture, and species conservation.
Recorded: 14 December 2023
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Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is...
S5E8: Wolf Rewilding - Rethinking Risk and Coexistence
Virginia tells us how grey wolves are reclaiming territories across Europe and North America through a process known as auto-rewilding—autonomously returning to lands from which humans once drove them out. This powerful expression of nonhuman agency challenges our conventional approach to wildlife management and invites us to reconsider what coexistence means in the Anthropocene.
Recorded: 22 November 2023
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S5E7: Mink Concerns - The Cost of Fur Through a Photographer's Lens
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas uses one of Jo-Anne McArthur’s images as her inspiration. She compares and contrasts the lives of mink kept for fur with those of wild mink before reflecting on some of the ethical and environmental concerns that emerge from using mink for fur.
Recorded: 12 October 2023
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S5E6: Brown Dog - The Forgotten Terrier Who Sparked a Movement
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas talks about Brown Dog, a canine who in 1903 was subjected to vivisection at University College London. Two activists brought his plight to the attention of the International Antivivisection Society and what ensued was a series lengthy legal and social battles commonly referred to as "The Brown Dog Affair."
Recorded: 26 October 2023
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S5E5: Honeybees - Exploited Labour and Sticky Ethics
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas discusses honeybees and the ways in which they are exploited for their honey. She notes how much labour goes into making honey and the scale of the industry that relies on it. Because of the violence and exploitation in the industry vegans do not eat honey.
Recorded: 26 October 2023
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S5E4: European Wildcat - Dilemmas of Conservation
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas discusses the European Wild Cat and their entangled relationships with domesticated cats. She notes how the interbreeding between these two species has conservationists worried and has resulted in a range of, oftentimes, violent interventions into their animals’ lives.
Recorded: 12 October 2023
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S5E3: Pale Male - Manhattan's Famous Red-Tailed Hawk
Virginia Thomas tells us about a red-tailed hawk named Pale Male who sparked controversy and admiration when he built his nest on a luxury Fifth Avenue apartment building in New York City. Pale Male is a celebrity whose story illuminates questions about animal habitat rights in urban environments.
Recorded: 12 October 2023
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S5E2: Misunderstood Magueys - Thinking about Multispecies Justice
Virginia Thomas introduces the red maguey worm; a caterpillar often mistakenly called the "tequila worm.” She explores their biology and ethical implications of using these metamorphosing creatures as novelty ‘items’ in alcoholic beverages.
Recorded: 18 September 2023
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Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interaction...
S5E1: Citizen Dogs - Reimagining Canine-Human Societies
In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas focuses on the domestic dog and the ways in which they might be thought of as citizens. She thinks about some of dogs' history and discusses the work of Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka.
Recorded: 18 September 2023
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S4E8: Animals and Waste Review
The last episode of Season 4 is a review of the season “Animals and Waste.” Herre de Bondt, Rebecca Shen, and Claudia Hirtenfelder touch on some of the common themes to emerge in the season. These include how animals are valued as well as the mobility and accumulation of waste.
Recorded: 14 August 2024.
Herre de Bondt has done research on rats in Amsterdam, crows in Tokyo, and gulls in The Hague. His work has now brought him to London where his PhD project is concerned with urban bird feeding practice...
S4E7 - Radioactive Boars
In this Highlight, Herre looks at how nuclear waste has impacted the lives of wild boars living in Japan. More specifically, he discusses how, following the 2011 triple disaster, boars responded to the departure of humans from the Fukushima area and how the animals are being impacted by their slow return.
Recorded: 15 May 2024.
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S4E6: Metropolitan Macaques
In this episode Herre de Bondt discusses Singapore’s metropolitan macaques and how they use the city and its waste as a valuable resource that is not only important for their survival but contributes to the design of the city.
Recorded: 15 May 2024.
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S4E5: Entangled Sea Turtles
When it comes to talking about waste and its impacts on animals it is hard to not think about plastic. In this episode, Herre de Bondt tells us how sea turtles have been entangled with the politics of plastic.
Recorded: 27 November 2023.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer and host Herre de Bondt, co-host and co-editorChristiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer Rebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerLearn more a...S4E4 - Engineering Fiddler Crabs
Fiddler crabs, with their one giant claw, are considered ecosystem engineers in mangrove environments. Herre de Bondt gives us a glimpse into the world of these incredible crustaceans.
Recorded: 27 November 2023.
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S4E3 - Pre-Emptive House Finches
House finches in Mexico City use discarded cigarette butts in the lining of their nests to fend of parasites, Herre de Bondt tells us more abut this interesting behaviour and some of its potentially worrisome impacts.
Recorded: 30 October 2023.
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S4E2 - Composting Worms
Wormeries are becoming increasingly popular in cities so in this episode Herre de Bondt considers a creature at the center of this trend, worms, and how their lives are entwined with practices of composting.
Recorded: 2 October 2023.
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S4E1: Stringed Pigeons
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer and host Herre de...S3E10: Transgressive Jellyfish
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.
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S3E9 - Imperiled Pangolins
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.
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S3E8: Harmed Bears
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.
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S3E7: Navigating Salmon
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.
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S3E6: Lily and Lizzie
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.
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S3E5: Resourceful, Respectable Rats
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.
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S3E4: Masterful Mosquitos
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.
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Claudia Hirtenf...S3E3: Manifold Crabs
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host Amanda Bunten-Walberg, co-hostChristiaan Mentz, sound editor and p...S3E2: Flying Foxes
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host...S3E1: Textured Turkeys
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfel...S2E10: Seismic Elephants
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host Hannah Hunter, co...S2E9: Sonic Spiders
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.
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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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host Hannah Hunter, co-hostChristiaan Mentz, so...S2E7: Powerful Pistol Shrimp
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host Hannah Hunter, co-hostChristiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer Rebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episod...S2E6: Deciphering Dolphins
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.
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Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host Hannah Hunter, co-hostChristiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer Rebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music comp...S2E5: Amplified Coyotes
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.
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S2E4: Recorded Ivory-billed Woodpeckers
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.
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S2E3: Rhythmic Indri Lemurs
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.
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Claudia Hirt...
