A touching and funny podcast that explores how extraordinary people have been changed by an extraordinary animal. In this weekly show, Katya talks to fascinating guests about what their lives were like before and after they experienced a soul-level relationship with an animal.
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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 episode I explore whether learning to love chimpanzees can help break down the human/animal divide, and how Boyle’s portrayal of Sam the chimpanzee differs from other novels about animals. I also draw on Amitav Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse to argue for the importance of giving voice to nonhuman characters in fiction, and the unique role stories are able to play.
Learn more about Talk to Me here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/talk-to-me-tc-boyle
Learn more about The Nutmeg’s Curse: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo125517349.html
Read an excerpt of The Nutmeg’s Curse on brutes and storytelling animals (how this podcast got its name): https://orionmagazine.org/article/brutes/
Read the essay I mentioned on orangutans: http://newsocialist.org.uk/red-apes/
Join our next book club on The Ministry for the Future: https://daytonmartindale.com/book-club/
Subscribe to the free weekly Storytelling Animals newsletter: https://apple6.aweb.page/p/de4ee963-cd8d-4ced-9975-e13965236a7d
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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 …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 12 July 2022
A touching and funny podcast that explores how extraordinary people have been changed by an extraordinary animal. In this weekly show, Katya talks to fascinating guests about what their lives were like before and after they experienced a soul-level relationship …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 27 November 2023
A touching and funny podcast that explores how extraordinary people have been changed by an extraordinary animal. In this weekly show, Katya talks to fascinating guests about what their lives were like before and after they experienced a soul-level relationship …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 29 August 2023
