The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the biggest climate legislation in US history, just passed Congress. What is the good, the bad, and the ugly of the bill? How did we get here, and what is next for the climate movement? I spoke with Johanna Bozuwa, executive director of the Climate …continue
Today’s guests are philosophers Alice Crary and Lori Gruen, authors of the new book Animal Crisis: A New Critical Theory. In it, they argue that the dominant approaches to animal ethics–whether utilitarian or rights-based– treat animals too much as abstractions and often fail to engage with the political, economic, and …continue
Am I conscious? Yes. How about you, or a chimpanzee or a parrot? Almost definitely. What about an oak tree, a bacterium, an electron, or God? In The Book of Minds: How To Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, From Animals to AI to Aliens, science writer Philip Ball explores the …continue
In T.C.Boyle’s 2021 novel Talk To Me, one of the main characters is a chimpanzee. It’s a fascinating study in how humans respond to other apes, and an ambitious experiment in imagining what it might be like to be one. Using the novel as a starting point, in this solo …continue
Today marks the 205th birthday of Henry David Thoreau, and to celebrate, I brought on Alda Balthrop-Lewis, author of Thoreau’s Religion: Walden Woods, Social Justice, and the Politics of Asceticism. Why (if at all) does Thoreau still matter? How did he engage with the political issues of his time, in …continue
Today’s topic is “degrowth”: What does it mean? Is it actually desirable? How could we achieve it? And do we really need to confront economic growth if we want to fight climate change and build a just, sustainable society? My guest is Aaron Vansintjan, co-author of The Future Is Degrowth: …continue
Today’s guest is paleontologist Steve Brusatte, author of the new book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us, previously the author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, and also a paleontology consultant on the new movie Jurassic …continue
Today I talk with David M. Peña-Guzmán about his new book When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness. David is associate professor of humanities and liberal studies at San Francisco State University and the cohost of Overthink podcast.Learn more about the book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691220093/when-animals-dreamSign up for my free …continue
