The Animal Turn

Claudia talks to Camille Labchuk about the two recent legal cases at Smithfield and Excelsior which involved animal activism on pig farms in North America. They discuss how biosecurity is used as a means of creating ag-gag laws, the relative absence of biosecurity considerations in the cases, and the legal exceptionalism animal farms enjoy in Canada.  Date Recorded: 27 October 2022 Camille Labchuk is an animal rights lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice—Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization. Under her leadership, Animal Justice fights legal cases in courtrooms across the country, works to pass ground-breaking new laws, and ensures industries are held accountable for illegal animal cruelty. Camille has litigated to advance animals’ legal interests at all levels of court, including before the Supreme Court of Canada. She regularly testifies before legislative committees, and was instrumental in passing Canada’s precedent-setting national ban on whale and dolphin captivity. She has brought constitutional cases seeking to protect the interests of animals and animal advocates; filed false advertising complaints against companies making misleading humane claims; documented Canada’s commercial seal slaughter; and exposed hidden suffering behind the closed doors of farms and zoos through undercover exposés. Camille was previously a founding board member of Mercy For Animals Canada, press secretary to the leader of a federal Canadian political party, and is a former two-time candidate for Parliament. Camille is a frequent lecturer on animal law, co-host of the Paw & Order podcast, and a regular contributor to national publications like the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. She is a Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. Connect with Camille on Twitter We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Claudia talks to Thomas Hartung about animal testing in pharmacology and toxicology. They discuss how animal testing involves a weighing of values as well as some of the disruptive technologies that are providing alternatives to animal testing – including stem cell technologies and artificial intelligence.   Date Recorded: 5 October 2022 Thomas Hartung, MD PhD, is the Doerenkamp-Zbinden-Chair for Evidence-based Toxicology in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, with a joint appointment at the Whiting School of Engineering. He also holds a joint appointment for Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School. He is adjunct affiliate professor at Georgetown University, Washington D.C.. In addition, he holds a joint appointment as Professor for Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Konstanz, Germany; he also is Director of Centers for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) of both universities. CAAT hosts the secretariat of the Evidence-based Toxicology Collaboration and manages collaborative programs on Good Read-Across Practice, Good Cell Culture Practice, Green Toxicology, Developmental Neurotoxicity, Developmental Immunotoxicity, Microphysiological Systems and Refinement. As PI, he headed the Human Toxome project funded as an NIH Transformative Research Grant and the series of annual Microphysiological Systems World Summits starting in 2022 by 52 organizations. He is Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. He is the former Head of the European Commission’s Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), Ispra, Italy, and has authored more than 620 scientific publications with more than 41,000 citations (h-index 105). His toxicology classes on COURSERA had more than 15,000 active learners. Connect with Thomas on Twitter (@ToxmasHartung)We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Claudia talks to Christos Lynteris, an anthropologist with a long history of researching some of the interconnections between animals and disease. In this episode they focus on rats and the third plague pandemic highlighting how rats went from being understood as in relation to others to being cemented as a vilified species in the spread of disease.    Date Recorded: 29 September 2022 Christos Lynteris is Professor of Medical Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on the anthropological and historical examination of epidemics and has pioneered the field of the anthropological study of zoonotic diseases. His most recent book is Visual Plague: The Emergence of Epidemic Photography (MIT Press, 2022). He was also a co-author of Sulphuric Utopias: A History of Maritime Fumigation and co-editor of Plague and the City. He is also the leader of the project “The Global War Against the Rat and the Epistemic Emergence of Zoonosis” which you can read more about here. Connect with Christos on Twitter (@VisualPlague) or via the St Andrew’s website (here).  Featured: Visual Plague: The Emergence of Epidemic Photography by Christos Lynteris “Scurrying seafarers: shipbWe have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Claudia talks to Lauren van Patter about the concepts of feral and invasive species. They touch on the differences between the two concepts and consider how issues of colonization, reproduction, and human control lead to the categorization of some animals as biosecurity threats.  Date Recorded: 21 September 2022 Dr. Lauren Van Patter is the Kim & Stu Lang Professor in Community and Shelter Medicine in the Department of Clinical Studies at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. Lauren is an interdisciplinary animal studies researcher with a background in Environmental Sciences and Cultural Geographies. She has researched urban coyotes and feral cats in Canadian cities as well as free roaming dogs in rural Botswana. Lauren is a co-editor of the volume ‘A Research Agenda for Animal Geographies’, and has published in peer-reviewed Veterinary, Animal Studies, Geography, African Studies, and Wildlife Management journals. Connect with Lauren on Twitter (@levanpatter) or on her website.  Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email (info@theanimalturnpodcast.com) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne). Featured: Animal Liberation by Peter Singer; Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights by Will Kymlicka and Sue Donaldson ; Managing Love and Death at the Zoo: The Biopolitics of Endangered Species Preservation by Matthew Chrulew; Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species by NWe have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

In this episode Claudia talks to Jeff Sebo about bioethics and how it straddles both health and environmental ethics. They touch on some of the grounding principles of bioethics and how these principles frequently neglect to account for animals. They further discuss why a consideration of animals is necessary to achieve health and environmental justice. Date Recorded: 16 August 2022 Jeff Sebo is Clinical Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Philosophy, and Law, Director of the Animal Studies M.A. Program, Director of the Mind, Ethics, and Policy Program, and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program  at New York University. He is author of Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves (Oxford University Press, 2022), co-author of Chimpanzee Rights (Routledge, 2018) and Food, Animals, and the Environment (Routledge, 2018). He is also an executive committee member at the NYU Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, an advisory board member at the Animals in Context series at NYU Press, a board member at Minding Animals International, a mentor at Sentient Media, and a senior research affiliate at the Legal Priorities Project. Find out more about Jeff on his website or connect with him on Twitter (@jeffrsebo)  Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular CoWe have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.International Women's Podcasting AwardsThe Animal Turn is proud to have been shortlisted in the International Women's Podcasting Awards. iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Claudia launches season 5 of The Animal Turn with a conversation on biosecurity with Steve Hinchliffe, a renowned geographer. They discuss how biosecurity is centered on the idea of keeping life safe and how this often operates through spatial logics of trying to keep threats out. They touch on how animals are often blamed for biosecurity threats, questions about whose lives are kept safe, and the various walling work that is done under the banner of biosecurity.  Date Recorded: 21 September 2022 Steve Hinchliffe is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Exeter, UK and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. His books include Pathological Lives (2016, Wiley Blackwell) and Humans, animals and biopolitics: The more than human condition (2016, Routledge). He currently works on a number of interdisciplinary projects on disease, biosecurity and drug resistant infections, focusing on Europe and Asia.  He is a member of the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health at Exeter, and sits on the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Exotic Diseases and on the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Science Advisory Group’s Social Science Expert Group. Find out more about Steve on Exeter’s website.  Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email (info@theanimalturnpodcast.com) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne). Featured: We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Biosecurities Research CollectiveThe Biosecurities and Urban Governance Research brings together scholars interested in biosecurity.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

In this bonus episode Claudia talks to Jamie Woodhouse about his podcast Sentientism. Most of the episode is concerned with sentientism as a concept and they talk about some of the tensions and opportunities guests on Jamie’s show have flagged.  Date Recorded: 26 September 2022 Jamie Woodhouse is working to develop Sentientism (“evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings”) as a worldview and as a global movement. He hosts the Sentientism Podcast and YouTube and has published articles and presented academic seminars on the Sentientism philosophy and its implications. He is building a range of global Sentientism Communities (open to all) that so far span over 100 countries. You can find him on Twitter @JamieWoodhouse and @Sentientism. Full links here. Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email (info@theanimalturnpodcast.com) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne). Featured: The Mere Considerability of Animals by Mylan Engel Jr; A Rational Approach to Animal Rights: Extensions in Abolitionist Theory by Corey Wrenn;  We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

In this bonus episode Claudia talks to Alice Crary and Lori Gruen about their recent book “Animal Crisis: A New Critical Theory.” They touch on what inspired the book and spend most of the conversation focused on what “Critical Animal Theory” means. It is a timely and theoretically dense conversation.Date Recorded: 1 August 2022 Alice Crary is University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the New School, where she is a co-founder and steering committee member of the Collaborative for Climate Futures. She was previously Chair of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research (2014-2017) and Founding Co-Director of the Graduate Certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies (2014-2017). As a moral and social philosopher, Crary has written widely on issues in metaethics, moral psychology and normative ethics, philosophy and literature, philosophy and feminism, critical animal studies, critical environmental studies, critical disability studies, and Critical Theory. Alice is also the author of Inside Ethics: On the Demands of Moral Thought as well as Beyond Moral Judgment. You can find out more about Crary and her work at www.alicecrary.com.  Lori Gruen has been involved in animal issues as a writer, teacher, and activist for over 30 years. She is currently the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University.  She is also a professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Science in Society, and founder and coordinator of Wesleyan Animal Studies.  She is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including Entangled Empathy ; Critical Terms for Animal Studies ; and Animaladies: Gender, Animals and Madness, to name a few. Gruen’s work lies at the intersection of ethical and political theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in philosophical investigations, e.g. women, people of color, incarcerated people, non-human animals.  Find out more about Lori on her website (www.lorigruen.com) or connWe have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

In this final episode of Season 4 two graduate students, Hannah Hunter and Bailey Hilgren, chat with Claudia about some of the core themes and tensions to emerge from the season. This includes a focus on sound methodologies, such as issues with how we collect animal sounds to how (or even indeed whether) there is something special about sound in trying to understand the lives of animals.    Date Recorded: 2 May 2022 Bailey Hilgren is a musicologist and sound studies scholar about to begin a PhD in ethnomusicology at New York University. Her most recent research project traced environmentalists’ construction of a wilderness area in northern Minnesota as a primarily silent place, an idea and legal practice that has undermined non-human animal agency and limited Ojibwe sovereignty in related but distinct ways. She holds master’s degrees in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon and Historical Musicology from Florida State University, and she completed undergraduate studies in biology and music performance from Gustavus Adolphus College.  Hannah Hunter is a PhD Candidate at the Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory at Queen's University. Her research explores the intersections of animals, sounds, and extinction through the case study of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Hannah is particularly interested in how we can build relationships with distant and lost beings through sound, and how sound may be a potent force for representing and challenging the sixth mass extinction. Connect with Hannah via email (hannah.hunter@queensu.ca) or on Twitter (@HannahfHunter)  Featured: We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory (SAPLab)The SAP Lab provides workspace and equipment for students engaged in sound related activities. Sonic Arts StudioThe Queen’s Sonic Arts Studio (formerly Electroacoustic Music Studio) was founded in 1970.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Claudia talks to conservationist and ecologist Gloriana Chaverri about the numerous and diverse ways in which bats communicate. This bonus episode deviates from the usual focus on concepts to a more sustained focus on this large order of animals  Date Recorded: 29 March 2022 Gloriana Chaverri is an Associate Professor at the Golfito campus of the University of Costa Rica. She is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Her research with bats first focused on the topic of mating systems and social organization, and her past and current projects have a broad focus on the ecology, behavior and conservation of bats. However, Gloriana’s main interests is currently on bat vocal communication, a topic that she has been developing since 2009. Connect with Gloriana on Twitter (@morceglo) and learn more about her work on her website (www.batcr.com).  Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. She was recently awarded the AASA Award for Popular Communication for her work on the podcast. Contact Claudia via email (info@theanimalturnpodcast.com) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne). Featured: Social communication in bats We have a range of book titles to give away. To be entered into the draw share your favourite episode of The Animal Turn via social media and tag us. Competition ends on the 31st of December. Nature DisturbedMother Nature is one weird ladyListen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyA.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory (SAPLab)The SAP Lab provides workspace and equipment for students engaged in sound related activities. Sonic Arts StudioThe Queen’s Sonic Arts Studio (formerly Electroacoustic Music Studio) was founded in 1970.iROAR NetworkiROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showThe Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. Leave a Review on Podchaser Check out The Animal Turn Merch. Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.