This episode’s guest is Professor Marcy Norton of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of History. She’s a historian of the early modern Atlantic interested in questions about how Europeans shaped the Americas and how Native American peoples shaped Europe. She’s the author of the beautifully named 2008 book Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures, a History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World, but we’re going to talk primarily about her 2024 Harvard University Press book The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492.
This is a particularly special episode of Knowing Animals, as it is a tie-in with the Journal of the British Academy, with a written version of the interview appearing in the journal.
In answer to the regular questions, Marcy mentioned:
Knowing Animals is a fortnightly podcast hosted by Dr Josh Milburn who discusses all things related to animals and ethics; animals and the law; animals and politics; and animal advocacy. The show features interviews with Animal Studies scholars and animal advocates.
On the 250th episode of Knowing Animals, the guest is Jin Qian, a PhD candidate at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. She researches China’s environmental governance and its global implications, with a focus on the intersection of food, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 1 June 2026
On the 250th episode of Knowing Animals, the guest is Jin Qian, a PhD candidate at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. She researches China’s environmental governance and its global implications, with a focus on the intersection of food, …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 1 June 2026
On this episode, we speak to Nathan Poirier. Nathan is an interdisciplinary critical animal studies scholar with a background in anthrozoology, sociology, and mathematics. He currently teaches at Lansing Community College in Michigan. He’s the co-editor of the 2022 collection …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 4 May 2026
