Guests Laura Fernández, Amanda Weiss, and Siobhan Speiran join Claudia to discuss case studies as wide ranging as Japanese animal cafes, Spanish bull fighting, and Costa Rican sanctuaries to unfurl the complex relations of social media and animals. Together they probe how social media packages animals as content, why that changes real lives, and where activism, policy, and platform design can push back. 

Date Recorded: 11 April 2025 



Featured: 

 * Han Heroes and Yamato Warriors: Competing Masculinities in Chinese and Japanese War Cinema by Amanda Weiss
 * Critical Animal and Media Studies [https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Animal-and-Media-Studies-Communication-for-Nonhuman-Animal-Advocacy/Almiron-Cole-Freeman/p/book/9781138597976] by Núria Almiron, Matthew Cole, Carrie P. Freeman
 * Media Theories and the Crossroads of Critical Animal and Media Studies [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315731674-9/media-theories-crossroads-critical-animal-media-studies-debra-merskin] by Debra Merskin
 * Wounded men of feminism: Exploring regimes of male victimhood in the Spanish manosphere by Elisa García Mingo and Silvia Díaz Fernández
 * A field-based Conservation Welfare Assessment Framework for Costa Rican primate sanctuaries by Siobhan Sperian
 * The Emotional politics of images: moral shock, explicit violence and strategic visual communication in the animal liberation movement by Laura Fernández
 * Animal Traffic: Lively Capital in the Global Exotic Pet Trade by Rosemary-Claire Collard
 * Big Cat Reporting Tool [https://www.four-paws.org/campaigns-topics/campaigns/ruthlesstrade/big-cat-reporting-tool] by Four Paws
 * About Looking by John Berger
 * The Philosopher and the Wolf by Mark Rowlands.
 * 

Nature Disturbed [https://www.naturedisturbed.com/podcast-links]
Mother Nature is one weird lady


Listen on: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1822495541]   Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3rsF7WzQKm56sB9btn91V8]

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Buzzsp [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

S8E7: Social Media with Laura Fernández, Amanda Weiss, and Siobhan Speiran 

We celebrate 100 episodes by asking how podcasting can teach, build community, and improve animal welfare across languages, disciplines, and daily routines. Guests Maria Carreras and Kate Acton share concrete changes, strategic insights, and challenges that reshape how we listen to animals and to each other.

Date Recorded: 11 April 2025



Featured: 

 * When Animals Speak [https://www.hugendubel.info/detail/ISBN-9781479863136/Meijer-Eva/When-Animals-Speak] by Eva Meijer
 * The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J Adams.
 * Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz
 * Evaluating the Addition of Positive Reinforcement for Learning a Frightening Task: A Pilot Study With Horses [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5285763_Evaluating_the_Addition_of_Positive_Reinforcement_for_Learning_a_Frightening_Task_A_Pilot_Study_With_Horses] by Camie R Heleski et al
 * The Ventriloquist’s Burden: Animal Advocacy and the Problem of Speaking for Others [https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.51644/9781771122115-020/html?srsltid=AfmBOorxTOy4bUyJXGt-mcnRU7YjyzPC6Bi_eCAN3HOEruJ6bKbGIqGj] by Lauren Corman
 *  Preliminary evidence supporting the use of equine science podcasts to bridge the gap between scientists and horse enthusiasts to improve horse welfare [https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eve.13926] by Kate Acton and others. 
 * iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/]
 * Culture and Animals Foundation [https://cultureandanimals.org/] 
 * Conversations in Equine Science podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/0L9iSKPBP7NE5On4tXt44F]
 * ECA Podcast [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/maria-r-carreras/] 

Nature Disturbed [https://www.naturedisturbed.com/podcast-links]
Mother Nature is one weird lady


Listen on: Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1822495541]   Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3rsF7WzQKm56sB9btn91V8]

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and

S8E6: Podcasting and Education with María Carreras and Kate Acton

Gaming is one of the most consumed forms of media globally making it an omportant space from to explore human-animal relations. In this episode, media scholars Michael Rübsamen, Osvaldo Cleger, and Keung Yoon Bae discuss the interconnections of gaming, representation, and identity and what the significance of this might be for considerations of animals. 

 

Date Recorded: 3 February 2025 



Featured: 

 * The Witcher [https://www.thewitcher.com/at/en/] 
 * Thoughts towards an Ontology of Play [https://s58b450072a30462b.jimcontent.com/download/version/1531664773/module/6688835061/name/Oasis%20of%20Happiness_Eugen%20Fink.pdf] by Eugene Fink 
 * Homo Ludens: A Study of Play Element in Culture [https://merton.bellarmine.edu/files/original/b0899cfad820ab8ad7033952b7a022ba1d7cab9d.pdf] by Johan Huizinga
 * Why Animals can’t get enough of touch screen technology [https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140903-why-animals-love-touchscreens] by Jason Goldman
 * Red Dead Redemption 2 [https://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption2]
 * Westworld [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475784/]
 * Grand Theft Auto [https://www.rockstargames.com/gta-v]
 * Assassin’s Creed [https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/assassins-creed/games]
 * Disco Elysium [https://discoelysium.com/]
 * Death Stranding [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850570/DEATH_STRANDING_DIRECTORS_CUT/] 
 * Borderlands [https://borderlands.2k.com/]
 * The Lend of Zelda [https://zelda.nintendo.com/]
 * Unravel [https://www.ea.com/games/unravel]
 * Dungeons and Dragons [https://www.dndbeyond.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopNbenBs0-kCDNHsjYh-BWgE1OlDOP4Mm9SklOh0fu_aGsNhFy2]

 

Remember to Leave a Review on  Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878] and to check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/]. You can also support the show financially via Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and

S8E5: Gaming with Keung Yoon Bae, Osvaldo Cleger, and Michael Rübsamen

In this episode we animals, power, and popular media. Emily Major, Debra Merskin, and Lu Liu help to think through how animals are manufactured as “pests” and “icons” in media and how those labels shape empathy, policy, and everyday cruelty towards animals. 

Date Recorded: 15 January 2025 

Featured: 

 * Animals and Media [https://animalsandmedia.org/]
 * Mass Media and Society [https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-international-encyclopedia-of-mass-media-and-society/book244632] edited by Debra Merskin 
 * Seeing Species [https://www.peterlang.com/document/1056750] by Debra Merskin 
 * Media, Minorities and Meaning [https://www.peterlang.com/document/1143733] by Debra Merskin 
 * Communicating Nature [https://islandpress.org/books/communicating-nature#desc] by Julia B. Corbett. 
 * Projecting on Predators [https://mediarep.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/52bfd395-6dae-4d00-839e-734a0c0f980d/content#page=67] by Debra Merskin
 * Brushtail possums and species-inclusive social work in Aotearoa New Zealand [https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.T2025041500011000202907105] by Emily Major 
 * Slayers, rippers, and blitzes: [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1377559/full] dark humor and the justification of cruelty to possums in online media in New Zealand by Emily Major 
 * Playful Killing [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/968276/summary]: Animals and Socialist Childhood in 1950s People's Republic of China by Lu Liu
 * Animals in Media [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/bonus-episodes/bonus%3A-animals-in-media] on The Animal Turn 
 * Panda Politics [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cag.12010] by Rosemary-Claire Collard
 * Animals and Tourism with Carol Kline and Jes Hooper [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/bonus-episodes/bonus%3A-animals-and-tourism-with-carol-kline-and-jes-hooper] on The Animal Turn 
 * We Animals [https://weanimals.org/]
 * Sentie [https://sentientmedia.org/]

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Buz [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

S8E4: Popular Media and Pests with Lu Liu, Debra Merskin, and Emily Major

In this episode we discuss how rhetorical constructions of animality, and humanity are mobilized to serve specific power structures, including white supremacy and colonialism. Lauren Corman, David Rooney, and S. Marek Muller come on the show to talk about some of the complex networks of media influence and consumption that shape such thought. 

 Date Recorded: 19 February 2025

Mentioned: 

 * “Pageantry of aggression”: QAnon, animality, and the violent pursuit of whiteness [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1461250/full] by Lauren Corman
 * Long live the Liver King: right-wing carnivorism and the digital dissemination of primal rhetoric [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1338653/full] by Marek Muller, David Rooney, and Cecilia Cerja
 * Interspecies Subjectivity with Lauren Corman [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/s2e6] on The Animal Turn
 * Dangerous Crossings [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/dangerous-crossings/F9B0757D753463291E59D99065C5C193] by Claire Jean Kim
 * Decolonization is not a Metaphor [https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf] by Eve tuck and K. Wayne Yang
 * Nature's Wild [https://www.dukeupress.edu/natures-wild] by Andil Gosine
 * Sexual Politics of Meat [https://caroljadams.com/spom-the-book] by Carol Adams
 * Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0305829818775817] by Cara Daggett
 * The Animal ThereforeI I am [https://fordhampress.com/the-animal-that-therefore-i-am-hb-9780823227907.html] by Jacques Derrida
 * Animals and Capital [https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-animals-and-capital.html] by Dinesh Wadiwel
 * Multispecies Disposability: Taxonomies of Power in a Global Pandemic [https://www.uowoajournals.org/asj/article/id/198/] by Darren Chang and Lauren Corman
 * Becoming Hum [https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1n6ptnn]

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Buz [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

S8E3: Rhetoric and Supremacy with S. Marek Muller, David Rooney, and Lauren Corman

Carrie Freeman and Christopher Eubanks join Claudia on the show to explore animal (mis)representation in media. They examine some of the ways in which animals are represented in activist messaging and the interconnections of animal rights with other social justice movements.

 

Date Recorded: 29 February 2025 

 

Featured: 

 * The Human Animal Earthling [https://www.humananimalearthlings.com/] by Carrie Freeman
 * Critical Animal and Media Studies [https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Animal-and-Media-Studies-Communication-for-Nonhuman-Animal-Advocacy/Almiron-Cole-Freeman/p/book/9781138597976?srsltid=AfmBOoony8GaH7z4kbWUiA1cLHtIyRuTNwLFe3_B1q0Lt_mKAFVhDaTd] by Núria Almiron, Matthew Cole, Carrie P. Freeman
 * Framing Farming [https://brill.com/display/title/27896?language=en#:~:text=Contributing%20to%20a%20classic%20social,emphasizing%20animal%20rights%20and%20abolition).] by Carrie Freeman
 * What a Fish Knows [https://www.jonathanbalcombe.com/what-a-fish-knows/] by Jonathan Balcombe 
 * Animals in Media [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/bonus-episodes/bonus%3A-animals-in-media] on The Animal Turn. 
 * Animal Activism Starter Guide Advocacy Guide for BIPOC Activists [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60e7990f0da249037c32b026/t/65ea10954b67fc5687a93be0/1709838493314/BIPOC+Activism+Starter+Guide_digital.pdf] – by APEX Advocacy 
 * In Tune to Nature [https://cpfreeman.podbean.com/] with Carrie Freeman
 * Animals and Media Style Guidelines [https://animalsandmedia.org/about/] by Carrie Freeman and Debra Merskin
 * Human supremacism: why are animal rights activists still the “orphans of the left”? [https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/04/human-supremacism-why-are-animal-rights-activists-still-the-orphans-of-the-left-2] by Will Kymlicka
 * Crossings [https://www.bengoldfarb.com/crossings] by Ben Goldfarb 
 * Social Movement Mobilization and Feminism with Corey Lee Wrenn [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/animals-and-politics/s6e6] on The Animal Turn

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and

S8E2: (Mis)representation and Activism with Christopher Eubanks and Carrie Freeman

The Animal Turn podcast launches Season 8 with a dive into the intersections of media, racism, and speciesism. Tobias Linné, Ellen Gorsevski, and Natalie Khazaal join Claudia on the show to discuss how race and species intersect each other in animated film and the development of their Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism (MARS) test to evaluate the ways in which they do. 



Date Recorded: 31 March 2025 



Featured: 

 * Media, Racism, Speciesism: Issues and Solutions for Creaturely Racism in the Anthropocene [https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/54383/media-racism-speciesism-issues-and-solutions-for-creaturely-racism-in-the-anthropocene] edited by Natalie Khazaal, Ellen Gorsevski and Tobias Linné
 * Monsters, Heroes, and Others: Unpacking Power in Media and Politics through Race or Species [https://iac.gatech.edu/events/item/680185/monsters-heroes-others-unpacking-power-media-politics-through-race-species]a symposium at Georgia Tech 
 * Many meats and many milks? [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09505431.2018.1544232] by Tobias Linné
 * Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence Against Women of Color [https://tidsskrift.dk/KKF/article/view/28090] by Kimberlé Crenshaw
 * Critical Animal and Media Studies [https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Animal-and-Media-Studies-Communication-for-Nonhuman-Animal-Advocacy/Almiron-Cole-Freeman/p/book/9781138597976?srsltid=AfmBOor6A1E7fu_0jnYo3Z7jihxxr7yvOhewCGYahQu4EACy9o3K8o-7] edited by Núria Almiron, Matthew Cole, Carrie P. Freeman
 * Connecting racial and species justice: Towards an Afrocentric animal advocacy [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0191453721999693?casa_token=DEWLednGHzMAAAAA%3AbtpBiDyZRdNpksPNFDNSu5Jdl7zxHAkhPtn8T1v4GzZdNAtauLM6DOGjyFrh6JyIogFrUkBRwJ5z8w] by Luis Cordeiro-Rodrigues
 * Afro-Dog [https://cup.columbia.edu/book/afro-dog/9780231186650/] by Bénédicte Boisseron
 * The dreaded comparison: human and animal slavery [https://archive.org/details/dreadedcompariso0000spie_o7y4] by Marjorie Spiegel





A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

Pollination Project [https://thepollinationproject.org/]
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Georgia Institute of Technology [https://www.gatech.edu/]
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Buzzsprout. [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

S8E1: Trans-Speciesism and the MARS Test with Natalie Khazaal, Tobias Linné, and Ellen Gorsevski

Death permeates our relationships with animals, yet we rarely confront the complex ethical questions it raises. In this conversation with Katja Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan, editors of "When Animals Die," we delve into the emerging field of animal death studies - an interdisciplinary approach examining how animals experience and humans justify animal death. 

Date Recorded: 21 April 2025

 Katja M. Guenther is Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Riverside, where her research and teaching focus on gender, feminist activism and social movements, human-animal relationships, and the state. Her work centers on improving our understanding of how and why inequalities of gender, race, class, dis/ability, and species reproduce so reliably, and what we can do to challenge these inequalities. Most recently, she is co-editor of When Animals Die: Examining Justifications and Envisioning Justice (New York University Press, 2024). She is the author of The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals (Stanford University Press, 2020), winner of the 2021 American Sociological Association’s Section on Animals and Society Distinguished Book Award, Making Their Place: Feminism After Socialism in Eastern Germany [https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=18396] (Stanford University Press, 2010), and numerous journal articles. Learn more: www.katjamguenther.com [http://www.katjamguenther.com].



Julian Paul Keenan is a Professor of Biology and Psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey, USA. His focus on animals has centered around consciousness and cognition attempting to understand how vastly different nervous systems have evolved. Dr. Keenan is the founder of the journal Social Neuroscience and he is the first to identify the neural substrates of self-awareness. 

 

 Featured: 

 * When Animals Die [https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.18574/nyu/9781479818914.001.0001/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOopftG80Jo1kKwO75XnbsjFgLLaNmxsq7N02Ze90ddWKjPEhcZ7l] by Katja M. Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan
 * The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals [https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/lives-and-deaths-shelter-animals] by Katja M. Guenther
 * Animals and urban gentrification: Displacement and injustice in the trans-species city by Phil Hubbard and Andrew Brooks
 * Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet [https://wwnorton.com/books/crossings] by ben Goldfarb
 * Killer Cities by Nigel Thrift
 * Living Car-Fr

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Bu [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

Bonus: Death with Katja M. Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan 

Thom Norman joins Claudia on the show to discuss the work of FarmKind and the tenets of effective altruism. They talk about FarmKind’s compassion calculator and how it strategically doesn’t include vegan messaging. They discuss the organizations FarmKind supports and some of the critiques levelled against effective altruism.  



Date Recorded: 20 March 2025

 

Thom Norman is the co-founder of FarmKind, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the end of factory farming by expanding the coalition of people working to protect farmed animals. After a career as a nuclear energy lawyer, Thom launched FarmKind to create new pathways for compassionate people to make a meaningful difference for animals suffering in factory farms. Working with expert evaluators and grant-makers, FarmKind identifies and promotes highly effective charities that are creating tangible improvements in farm animal welfare while building a more sustainable food system. Their innovative Compassion Calculator offers an alternative to the traditional "go vegan" message, helping people understand how strategic donations can create substantial impact regardless of their dietary choices.

 

Featured: 

 * FarmKind [https://www.farmkind.giving/]
 * What’s Effective Altruism and what are some alternatives? [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/whats-effective-altruism-and-what-are-some-alternatives/id1615187651?i=1000663184827] With Alice Crary and Lori Gruen on Think Like a Vegan
 * Eating Animals [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jonathan-safran-foer/eating-animals/9780316069885/] by Jonathan Safran Foer
 * Animal Liberation [https://www.petersinger.info/shop/p/animal-liberation] by Peter Singer
 * Moral Ambition [https://rutgerbregman.com/books/moral-ambition] by Rutger Bregman
 * S6E5: Abolition with Gary Francione [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/animals-and-politics/s6e5] on The Animal Turn
 * S6E6: Social Movement Mobilization and Feminism with Corey Lee Wrenn [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/animals-and-politics/s6e6] on The Animal Turn
 * What’s Effective Altruism and what are some alternatives? [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/whats-effective-altruism-and-what-are-some-alternatives/id1615187651?i=1000663184827] on the Think Like a Vegan Podcast. 
 * Plant Based Treaty [https://plantbasedtreaty.org/]
 * Good Food Institute [https://gfi.org/]

A.P.P.L.E [https://animalpolitics.queensu.ca/]
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network [https://iroarpod.com/about/]
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and

Bonus: FarmKind and Effective Altruism with Thom Norman

In this crossover episode from The Deal With Animals Podcast, Marika S. Bell talks to two experts about the impacts of sensory pollution on animals. Sensory pollution from artificial light and noise has profound effects on wildlife behavior, reproduction, and survival. Brett Seymour and Jennifer Phillips share insights about how everyday choices impact everything from insect flight patterns to bird nesting success.



Date Released: 7 May 2024



Dr. Jennifer Phillips is an assistant professor at Washington State University. [https://environment.wsu.edu/jennifer-phillips/] Jenny's research focuses on animal behavior communication and the effects of human activity on wildlife, especially passerine birds, specifically, she's interested in how functional traits are affected by landscapes and sensory pollution, and whether changes in these traits lead to population and community level ecological consequences.

Dr. Brett Seymour,an associate professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, his research interests include how animals interact with their visual environment and how light pollution disrupts natural behaviors, physiology and ecosystem services in arthropods and their predators!

The Deal With Animals Podcastis about the interactions and connections between humans and non-human animals. The mission of the show is to make research more accessible to the public while sharing the voices and lived experience of human connection with animals. The show is hosted by Marika S. Bell. 



Featured: 

 * The Darkness Manifesto [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Darkness-Manifesto/Johan-Eklof/9781668000908] by Johan Eklöf
 * Wildscape [https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/wildscape?srsltid=AfmBOoq9ZxpF5tXRJIrYmCsxx1DMK1sZ29bOt9e2ROlT6RoO4x0I-o6w] by Nancy Lawson

 

Thank you to Marika S. Bell for sharing this content with The Animal Turn Podcast.  

The Deal With Animals [https://www.thedealwithanimals.com/]
The Deal With Animals Podcast is about the interactions and connections between humans and animals.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.



Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1246910/support]

The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR [https://iroarpod.com/join/] Network. Learn more on our website. [https://www.theanimalturnpodcast.com/]

 * Leave a Review on Podchaser [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-animal-turn-1395878]
 * Check out The Animal Turn Merch [https://the-animal-turn.teemill.com/].
 * Support us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn], Buy Me a Coffee [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn], and Buzzsprout. [https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/]

Bonus: Sensory Pollution with Brett Seymoure and Jennifer Phillips

Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – Not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Join PhD Candidate Claudia Hirtenfelder as she delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship, thinking, and being.

Claudia Hirtenfelder

Shows