In this final episode of the season Claudia talks to Amanda Bunten-Walberg and Oliver French, two fellow graduate students with interests in biosecurity. They delve into some the core themes in the season (including questions about scale, reproduction, and power) as well as some of the difficulties for thinking about biosecurity and animals.
Date Recorded: 27 January 2023
Amanda (Mandy) Bunten-Walberg (she/ her) is a PhD Candidate at Queen’s University’s School of Environmental Studies. Her research explores more-than-human ethics in contagious contexts through the case study of bats and COVID-19. In particular, Mandy is interested in how more-than-human ethics, critical race theory, queer theory, and biopolitical theory might guide humans towards developing more ethical relationships with bats and other (human and more-than-human) persons who are dominantly understood as diseased. Connect with Amanda via email (19abbw@queensu.ca).
Oliver French is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of St-Andrews, working as part of the Welcome Funded Global War Against the Rat project. His BA thesis explored the production and application of eco-governmental power within Swedish National Parks. His current research develops a historical-ethnography of human-rat relations in epidemic of control during the third plague pandemic with a focus on India, where he is currently on archival fieldwork. Find out more about Oliver on the St. Andrews website.
Featured:
Biophilic Solutions: Nature Has the Answers
A podcast about the human connection to nature. Biophilia is the innate connection that…
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E)
Biosecurities Research Collective
The Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.
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. Also check out our website: www.theanimalturnpodcast.com.
Join PhD Candidate Claudia Hirtenfelder as she learns about important concepts in Animal Studies. Season 1 focuses on Animals and the Law.
In this episode Claudia speaks to Nina Jamal about One Health. They discuss the changing definition of One Health and its significance for biosecurity and animals. They spend time thinking through the challenges and opportunities, particularly at the level of …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 25 January 2023
In this episode we discuss how rhetorical constructions of animality, and humanity are mobilized to serve specific power structures, including white supremacy and colonialism. Lauren Corman, David Rooney, and S. Marek Muller come on the show to talk about some …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 29 September 2025
Carrie Freeman and Christopher Eubanks join Claudia on the show to explore animal (mis)representation in media. They examine some of the ways in which animals are represented in activist messaging and the interconnections of animal rights with other social justice …continue
Proudly brought to you by: 22 September 2025
