In this final episode of Season 2, Claudia talks to Joshua Jones, Siobhan Speiran, and Pablo Perez Castello about the theme of Animals and Experience. Together they unpack some of the overarching ideas to emerge in episodes 1 to 9 (such as relationality, imagination, meaning, and beauty) and highlight areas that could be explored more in future.
Date recorded: 4 January 2021
Siobhan Speiran is a PhD candidate in Environmental Studies at Queen’s, working with Dr. Alice Hovorka and The Lives of Animals Research Group. Her research is funded by a SSHRC Bombardier Scholarship and focuses on the lives of nonhuman primates in Costa Rican sanctuaries. Her central research question is interdisciplinary, considering how sanctuaries – as sites of ecotourism – contribute to the conservation and welfare of four monkey species. Follow Siobhan’s research on @theanimalwelfarist via Instagram or her website theanimalwelfarist.weebly.com
Joshua Jones is a PhD candidate at the School of Environmental Studies, Queen’s University. His research interests include extinction studies, the philosophy of ecology/biology, and biosemiotics. Josh’s thesis explores the emptiness that resides in ecological communities after species extinction. Twitter: @joshdanieljones
Pablo Perez Castello is a PhD candidate at the School of Humanities, Royal Holloway University of London. His thesis in Philosophy focuses on understanding the role human language plays in producing anthropocentrism, and the importance of animal language in relation to political agency and zoodemocracy. Pablo is also undertaking research at the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, where he explores how the constitution of Australia should change in light of the argument advanced by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka that communities of wild animals should have a right to sovereignty. He has taught Ancient Greek Philosophy, and lectured on philosophical concepts of nature in the MA in Political Philosophy at Royal Holloway. For more information, see here.
Featured: The Complete Capuchin by Dorothy Fragaszy; Decolonizing Extinction by Juno Parreñas; Beasts of Burden by Sunaura Taylor; Being Singular Plural by Jean-Luc Nancy
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast, Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John (Website) for the logo.
The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, and Instagram
Join PhD Candidate Claudia Hirtenfelder as she learns about important concepts in Animal Studies. Season 1 focuses on Animals and the Law.
This episode explores a concept that works to highlight the experiences of animals caught up in human systems that oppress animals. Claudia talks to pattrice jones about how animals’ experiences (particularly those of chickens) compare in factory farms versus at …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 4 January 2021
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 …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 15 December 2025
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 …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 8 December 2025
