On this program, we marked the 15th anniversary of “Talking Animals”—almost to the day! I launched the show on June 16, 2003 at KUCI, the campus-community radio station at the […]

Kristen Auerbach—Director of Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), and recognized as a prominent, pioneering figure in the animal shelter world, in part through her previous stints at Austin Animal Center […]

Terry Woodford—who has extensive experience as a songwriter, record producer, and recording engineer, having worked in one capacity or another, with such artists as The Commodores, Hank Williams, Jr., and […]

Ted Leo—the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, front man of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and veteran vegan—recounts his path to vegetarianism, in 1988, then after further reading, research, and contemplation, going […]

Lariana Forsythe—interim CEO of Community Action Stops Abuse (CASA), the domestic violence center based in Southern Pinellas County, which, in early March, opened an on-site kennel—explains that “interim” in this […]

Nicole Forsyth—president and CEO of RedRover, a Sacramento-based national nonprofit devoted to rescuing and sheltering animals in crisis—addresses the situation by which there are pockets of people across the country […]

Arin Greenwood—a journalist who specializes in writing about animal welfare, and whose sterling new novel, “Your Robot Dog Will Die,” was published Tuesday (April 17)—offers her synopsis of the book, […]

Erika Abrams—co-founder and president of Animal Aid Unlimited, a rescue operation, hospital, and sanctuary in Udaipur, India—recalls the circumstances under which she, her husband, Jim, and daughter, Claire, began traveling […]

Rachel McCrystal—executive director of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, which rescues farmed animals and provides refuge for them, now housing around 400 animals—recalls a childhood marked by a houseful of animals, featuring […]

Dr. Jaret C. Daniels—an entomologist and professor at the University of Florida, as well as accomplished nature photographer, whose new book is ‘Vibrant Butterflies: Our Favorite Visitors To Flowers And […]

Al Cecere—founder and president of the American Eagle Foundation (AEF), a Tennessee-based nonprofit dedicated to bald eagle rehabilitation, recovery, and breeding programs—recalls seeing an Associated Press photo showing more than […]

For this edition of “Talking Animals,” I altered the show’s usual format to convene an in-studio panel discussion about Canine Companions For Independence (CCI), pegged to CCI’s then-upcoming third annual […]

Jane O’Hara—the animal advocate and artist whose paintings explore animal issues, depict their plight, and explore our relationships with them–recalls growing up in a family where animals didn’t have much […]

Elaine West—the founder of Rooterville Animal Sanctuary, a haven housing about 300 rescued farm animals, predominantly pigs, located in Melrose, FL—recalls the first pig she met, as a kid at […]

Maria McKee—the singer-songwriter who burst onto the music scene some 35 years ago, fronting the band Lone Justice, going on to a storied solo career—discusses her lifelong love of dogs, […]

Jodie Wiederkehr—campaign director for Chicago Alliance For Animals (CAA), she’s spearheading CAA’s campaign to ban horse carriages in Chicago—recalls how her earliest professional animal advocacy work began in 1997, but […]

Amy Kight—newly named executive director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary (though she’s worked at the Jupiter, FL wildlife refuge, hospital, rehabilitation facility, and educational center since 2004)—discusses being so passionate about […]

Dr. Peter Rork—a retired orthopedic surgeon and pilot who co-founded Dog Is My CoPilot, an organization that flys shelter animals to different parts of the country, boosting their prospects of […]

Dr. Ann Weaver—an animal behaviorist conducting a long-term study of bottlenose dolphins off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida—talks about the enormous array of species she has worked with directly […]

Christophe Cox—co-founder and CEO of APOPO, a Tanzania-based nonprofit organization that trains African giant pouched rats to detect landmines and to detect tuberculosis—recounts the genesis of the organization, when co-founder […]

This morning, I once again tabled the usual “Talking Animals” format to present my Annual Christmas Animal Song special—that is, a show entirely devoted to Holiday-oriented animal tunes. Once again, […]

Scott Hardy—co-founder of Hardy Hayes Refuge, a mom-and-pop rescue-rehab operation with sizable ambitions, and accomplishments to match—outlines his lifelong love of animals, describing a childhood where the insights gleaned from […]

Kathy Stevens—founder and director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which sprawls over 148 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley, providing refuge to about 300 farmed animals rescued from cruelty, neglect, and abandonment—recalls […]

Ronnie Graves—owner of Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics And Orthotics, in Bushnell, Florida, which, for more than 20 years, has created custom prosthetic limbs for animals suffering from injuries, illnesses, or birth […]

For this edition of “Talking Animals,” I scrapped the usual format to present two discussions about sexism, sexual harassment and misconduct within the animal welfare world—against the backdrop of what […]

Arin Greenwood and Lee Greenwood—siblings who are both lawyers, skillful writers, and engaged in promoting animal welfare, from different platforms—recount growing up in a house that was, unsurprisingly, brimming with […]

Dr. Gregory Berns—author of multiple books, including The New York Times bestseller “How Dogs Love Us”—discusses his new book, “What It’s Like To Be A Dog: And Other Adventures In […]

John Corry—a veteran filmmaker and producer whose credits include “Forks Over Knives”; he also produced “PlantPure Nation,” a documentary screening at the 8th Annual Tampa Bay Veg Fest, Nov. 4 […]

Dr. Jillian Johnson—a chiropractor and owner of Farmhouse Chiropractic, a Tampa-based mobile practice that involves treating humans and animals (her slogan is “chiropractic care for you and the horse you […]

Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice—an entomologist and writer who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and who just published four new guides on ants—recalls growing up having a fascination with ants (and […]

Tracy Voss—the co-founder of TracysDogs, a San Antonio, Texas-based organization that pulls dogs from high-kill shelters, rehabilitates them, then adopts them out to families across the country, transporting the dogs […]

For this edition of “Talking Animals,” we broke format and did something a little different: Setting aside our customary approach of a long-form guest interview and, often, a shorter second […]

Patti Ragan—the founder of The Center For Great Apes, a 120-acre sanctuary in Wauchula, FL that houses nearly 50 chimpanzees and orangutans—recalls how she first became interested in great apes. […]

Dr. Keith Lindsay—the conservation biologist whose career reflects a longstanding dedication to studying elephants—recalls how he got started in 1977 at the Amboseli Elephants Research Project, in southern Kenya, by […]

Jo-Anne McArthur—the acclaimed photojournalist who specializes in documenting animals and their stories—explains how her work, compared with that of most other photographers with similar specialties, is informed by more than […]

Jason Meltzer—co-founder and Chief Dog Officer of Wag, the on-demand dog walking app—describes being a dog guy since childhood, growing with dogs around and, foreshadowing his later adult careers, making […]

Yuan Wang—co-founder of American Marine Research Company, essentially a quartet of young engineers (recent graduates from M.I.T., Cornell, and Olin College of Engineering; Wang is a young mathematician from Princeton) […]

Shawn Flynn—author of “THE KITTY Who Rescued Me After I Rescued Him”—recalls growing up in a household that had dogs, but not cats, and how he really didn’t have prolonged […]

Fern Levitt—the director of “Sled Dogs,” a documentary that provides a behind-the-scenes examination of both the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and commercial operations in Canada and the U.S. that […]

Ronnie Lee—the veteran British animal rights activist, who in 1976, founded the Animal Liberation Front (ALF)—muses about how to reconcile a lad whose childhood, in its basic contours, resembled many […]

Denice Heatherly—co-founder of Music City Animal Advocates, a non-profit organization whose stated goal is “to create an animal-saving culture in greater Nashville and surrounding counties” —describes her formative years, when her […]

Priscilla Feral—the president of Friends of Animals, an international animal advocacy organization founded in 1957—discusses FoA’s late founder, Alice Herrington, outlining the characteristics that helped account for her pioneering inroads. […]

Jessica Rubin—a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law who’s at the forefront of a new law in that state, allowing judges to appoint legal advocates for abused animals […]

Stacy LeBaron—a veteran animal welfare advocate (felines, in particular) who hosts The Community Cats Podcast—recalls her first memory of a cat…who happened to be named Duncan! Still, she allows that […]

Janet Vorwald Dohner—an author whose specialized books, including “Farm Dogs,” “Livestock Guardians,” and her new one, “The Encyclopedia of Animal Predators,” reflect 35-plus years experience on her small family farm […]

Dr. Dani McVety—a Tampa native and veterinarian who co-founded Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice in 2009, and it’s since become the nation’s largest network dedicated solely to end of life […]

Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald—a veterinarian for 35 years, featured on Animal Planet’s “Emergency Vets,” which aired for 11 seasons—recounts his pre-vet, 25-year stint working security for Rolling Stones tours, and how […]

Anthony Bellotti — founder of the White Coat Waste Project—describes his formative years, and the role animals played in them, highlighting his pivotal experience as a high school student, when […]

W. Bruce Cameron — the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including “A Dog’s Purpose,” made into a feature film starring Dennis Quaid —discusses how he decided to make […]

Ellie Laks —the founder of The Gentle Barn, a Southern California sanctuary that houses more than 170 animals that have been rescued from abuse, neglect or slaughter—discusses the ideas and […]