Wild Connection

Ecological Grief- A Conversation with Nathaniel Popkin

This episode is about our relationship to nature, how no matter how passionately you care about the planet you are complicit in its destruction by merely existing, and what, in face of calamity can we actually do about it? 

Nathaniel Popkin,  novelist, essayist, editor, documentary writer, and critic has released a new book called To Reach the Spring: From Complicity to Consciousness in the Age of the Eco-Crisis brings to the forefront all of these aspects. 

In our conversation we talk about environmental advocacy, the inequality of influence, decolonization, and integration of the messiness of nature back into our lives. 

If you want to cnnect with Nathaniel check out his website, reach out on twitter @NathanielPopkin and get a copy of his new book, To Reach the Spring

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for our Patreon link coming up soon!

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

Butterflies: The Pandas of the Sky

This episode is all about butterflies, or the pandas of the sky. Check out this cool art I had my friend and artist extraordinaire, Kry Hookuh create. You can check out her work at kryshookuhdoodles.com and follow her on Instagram @kryhookuh

With the release of two new papers looking at what is happening to butterflies as a consequence of climate change, Katy Prudic, Assistant Professor of Data and Citizen Science in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona and colleagues are revealing that big changes are happening for butterflies. One study, published in Science, shows a decline in butterfly populations over the past 40 years. Given continuing warming, especially in Fall, this decline will likely continue. What does this mean for butterflies? For many it means they won’t be able to take the heat. For some, though, like the Giant swallowtail, they may be able to shift northward to escape the increasing temperatures. That comes from the second important paper Katy and her colleagues also just published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 

We talk about these studies and more. Like why do people love butterflies? And of course, because people do love butterflies, they are helping scientists get science done. Plus, you’ll learn some interesting little tidbits about butterflies you may not have known before. I know I did. You can follow Katy on Twitter @Envirokaty 

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be part of the monarch butterfly tagging effort. Check out the video of me tagging one on my YouTube Channel, Wildlife Connection TV, here.

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Thanks for supporting the show and keep an eye out for our Patreon link coming up soon!

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

Look Who's Talking

This week's episode explores what we know about language, cognition and emotional intelligence in other animals. I talk with Con Slobodhcikoff,  CEO of Zoolingua and author of Chasing Dr. Doolittle: Learning the Language of Animals. You can find out more about Dr. Con at his website https://www.conslobodchikoff.com and you can order a copy of his thoughtful and provocative book here.

He is at the forefront of utilizing new technology like artificial intelligence to decode the language of other species. A lot of us already know that our companion animals communicate with us. Whether its dogs or cats they have been smart enough to develop unique vocalizations reserved just for talking to us. Cats for instance don’t meow at each other, that just for us. Its almost as if they realized us silly humans can’t speak their language so they worked out a way to talk to us. People like Con Slobodchikoff are working to develop tools that will help us better understand their language. Perhaps then we can stop trying to make other species speak human language as a criteria for having language. Science is finally catching up with better tools and creative minds to reveal just how connected we really are.

Speaking of creativity, Con is an artist as well. Check out his work at https://www.artabstractphotography.com and also his partner Judy, another scientist and artist creates spectacular paintings, https://www.judekaiart.com/index.php

You can connect with Con on Facebook at Twitter at 

https://www.facebook.com/con.slobodchikoff/

https://www.facebook.com/Doctor.Con

@DoctorCon

Don't forget to follow the show and connect with us on Twitter @wildconnectpod and with me, your host @realdrjen 

An Ape's Ethic- A Conversation With Gregory Tague

Welcome to the fourth episode of Wild Connection The Podcast. In this episode I share a little about how I came to even study animal behavior, some of my early experiences with great apes, and talk with literary scholar Gregory Tague about what he calls an ape ethic. 

I got my start as a volunteer for the Center for Great Apes (https://www.centerforgreatapes.org), a sanctuary dedicated to providing a safe haven of life long care for chimpanzees and orangutans in need of a home. They are always in need of donations, so please consider giving. You can also support them by buying some of the wonderful artwork created by the apes, some of whom love to paint for enrichment. I have shared a piece I own as the cover art for this episode

My guest for this episode is Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D. (1998), New York University, who is a Professor in the departments of Literature, Writing and Publishing / Interdisciplinary Studies and founder and senior developer of The Evolutionary Studies Collaborative at St. Francis College, N.Y. He is also the founder and organizer of a number of Darwin-inspired Moral Sense Colloquia and other multidisciplinary events. Recent, relevant books include An Ape Ethic and the Question of Personhood (Lexington Books, 2020), Art and Adaptability: Consciousness and Cognitive Culture (Brill, 2018), Evolution and Human Culture (Brill, 2016), and Making Mind: Moral Sense and Consciousness (Rodopi, 2014). Tague has written or edited a number of other academic books, such as Character and Consciousness (2005) and Origins of English Dramatic Modernism (2010). He is the founding editor of the peer-reviewed ASEBL Journal (ethics/arts/evolution) and general editor of the Bibliotekos literary website as well as Literary Veganism: An Online Journal. Tague has also edited five literary anthologies, notably, Being Human (2012) and Puzzles of Faith and Patterns of Doubt (2013). Tague is currently working on a book about veganism and evolution.

We first discuss his book An Ape Ethic and his perspective on why we can look to other species for developing a better ethical relationship with nature. We spend that last part of the interview talking about his latest work on the evolution of veganism. 

You can find out more about Gregory, his books, and other works at his website https://sites.google.com/site/gftague/an-ape-ethic

He also co-authors an online journal called Literary Veganism which you can check out here  www.litvegan.net  and another journal of ethics/art/evolution, ASEBL  www.asebl.net

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

 

The Animal Pocket Guide to Dating

Happy Valentine's Day! While other animals celebrate their unions more than once a year we humans have taken the single anniversary, single holiday, and otherwise infrequent approach. Our dating lives are filled with challenges and the same is true for other species.

Like so many other species, we have to figure out how to date and mate successfully. As hard as that is, talking about it seems even more challenging. This is where other species can help. You just might find that discussing dancing prairie chickens, picky lionesses, or cheating swans makes the perfect segue into talking about some very common human problems. At the end of the day, whether it's the blue-footed booby, the adzuki bean beetle, or a slew of other species, animals have a lot to teach us about love and relationships.

This short episode is based on content from my book, Wild Connection: What animal courtship and mating tell us about human relationships. The audio version is available on my website at https://www.jenniferverdolin.com/books

If you like the cover that's by Krys Hookah. You can check out more of her art here: Kryshookuhdoodles.com and you can follow her on Instagram @kryhookah

 

If you like the show theme music that's thanks to George Nardo of Luna Recording Studios in Tucson AZ. https://lunarecording.com

 

 

 

WayTo Light Up A Room

This episode is about bioluminescence, why animals have it, the recent discovery that loads of mammals might just glow, and how the idea for one human invention was sparked by a creature that glows. When the story broke recently that Tasmansian devils are bioluminescent they joined the ranks of the platypus, the puffin, and quite a few other species. I knew it was time to get to the bottom of why so many animals are unexpectedly glowing. To help I was lucky enough to talk to Dr. Kenny Travouillon the Curator of Mammals at the Western Museum of Australia in Perth.

Among the many exciting discoveries he is making, including identifying new species he's also one of several scientists uncovering how some marsupials are glowing in the dark. When it comes to Australian marsupials, he shed some light on how this all got started with a chance discovery of a bioluminescent platypus. After learning of this, he decided to carry out a real life night at the museum and investigate what other surprises might be lurking in the dark. What resulted was uncovering that it’s an endless rave party down under with animals walking around like glow sticks, from brilliant whites to pinks, oranges, and greens. This colorful menagerie is leading scientists like Dr. Travouillon to investigate why so many of these mammals are lighting up the night (See photos at the end) 

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @wildconnectpod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

To keep up with Dr. Travouillon, follow him on Twitter @travouillonk and to learn about what’s happening at the Museum during the day and at night follow them Western Museum of Australia 

• Twitter https://twitter.com/wamuseum

• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wamuseum

• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wamuseum/

A few other highlights from this episode include exciting research Dr. Travouillon is conducting on bandicoots and bilbies, my special segment called “Kids don’t try this at home: the wonder and special talents of other animals” and finally I make the connection between how bioluminescent animals, especially fireflies, are impacting our lives. Fireflies were the inspiration for the artwork for this episode. For more on this check out these two articles:

https://www.futurity.org/light-bulbs-leds-fireflies-1988062/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2886568/How-firefly-lights-Researchers-reveal-incredible-lantern-structure-insects-use-time.html

 

Here are a few photos of Dr. Travouillon and the magic hidden under the cover of darkness. All photos are the property of the Western Museum of Australia and used with permission.

 

Dr. Travouillon (Copyright Western Museum of Australia)

Bandicoots (Copyright Western Museum of Australia)

Frilled-neck lizard (Copyright Western Museum of Australia)

 

Echidna (Copyright Western Museum of Australia)

My What Big Eye Sockets You Have

 

To start off the very first season I was able to snag an interview with Dr. Julie Meachen, vertebrate paleontologist specializing in Ice Age carnivores who is an Associate Professor of Anatomy at Des Moines University. Her and her collaborators have been in the news a lot lately. We’ll also get to talk about all the exciting discoveries she and her collaborators are making a little later in the episode. You can follow her on Instagram @sabercatwoman and @DesMoinesUniv

A chance discovery of a deer skull while hiking was exciting because of my love of skulls and bones, but it was also intriguing because later, after the skull was cleaned by dermestid beetles and other insects, I was fascinated by the structure and shape of the skull, particularly the eye sockets. This was the second time I was struck by how big some eye sockets really are. That’s what this show is about (and a whole lot more). By the way, you can see the whole process of the discovery, collection, and processing of the remains of the deer I found on the Wild Connection TV episode called “Bone Collecting” and my friend, fellow scientist and artist’s Instagram page @Omnivoresgratiude. Here’s the deer skull and a few vertebrae she painted for me. 

First, Dr. Meachen and I talk about skulls, what we can learn about animals from their skulls, and why eye sockets are so darn big. All this talk of bones, teeth, skulls, and what we can learn led us to talk about something that’s recently been in the news, a 57,000 year old Beringian wolf puppy discovered by a gold miner in the Yukon. Her name is Zhur and like modern day puppies, this little one with mighty big teeth is garnering a lot of attention and affection. Check out this article which also has a great photo and you can read the original research paper published Dec 21, 2020 here: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(20)31686-9.pdf

Dr. Meachen was featured in one of my Wild Connection TV episodes where she talks about the discovery of Beringian wolves as a new species. Here is the link to that episode: https://youtu.be/lRtlDwC2-UU

Then  I introduce my special segment called “Kids don’t try this at home: the wonder and special talents of other animals” and finally I make the connection between how some skulls of other species, the woodpecker, are changing the way we design the  protective gear for our own fragile heads.

Finally, we hear about Dr. Meachen’s latest research on how the dire wolf isn’t really a wolf at all and is upending much of what scientists have believed about this now extinct carnivore. The change is so drastic that they had to redraw the species itself. The painting by artist and paleontologist Mauricio Antón is stunning and you can see it here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dire-wolves-werent-wolves-dna-analysis-reveals-180976765/

The original research paper just published is available here  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03082-x

If you are digging the show subscribe and share it so others can enjoy it too. You can follow the show on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also follow the show on Twitter: @WildConnectPod

You can also follow me on 

Twitter: @realdrjen

Instagram: @readrjen

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealDrJen

There is also a YouTube Channel where you can find a range of videos, some of them tied to podcast episodes. More are on the way so subscribe to Wild Connection TV

Link to the Wall of Skulls:https://www.calacademy.org/skull-stories

https://www.wired.com/2014/05/being-surrounded-by-640-animal-skulls-is-a-strangely-fascinating-experience/

 

Theme Music: Russian Tears by George Nardo: https://lunarecording.com