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The Animal Turn: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Claudia Hirtenfelder
Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Claudia Hirtenfelder delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship, thinking, and being.
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- 1 weeks ago1h 27m
S9E8: World War II and Zoos with John M. Kinder
John M. Kinder is on the show to discuss World War II and zoos. Together with Claudia the episode touches on how zoos were implicated in the propaganda and the nazification of Europe, how concentration camps had zoos, and some of the devastating day to day decisions that needed to be made about the keeping of captive animals during war time. Topics Covered: John’s pathway from war and society scholarship Zoos as politically fraught spaces The problem of using the A...
- 2 weeks ago1h 19m
S9E7: Fieldwork and Affect with Michael Glover
Historian Michael Glover talks about what it takes to write animal history that treats cows as sentient subjects while still meeting the standards of rigorous scholarship. He unpacks how fieldwork with cows in the Karoo affected his writing. Topics Covered: Michael’s path into animal history through South African landscapes The methodological gap in writing historical animals as subjects Historical ethnography as a way of rebuilding past worlds from documents and ...
- 3 weeks ago48 min
S9E6: Municipal Records with Frederick L. Brown
In this episode we continue our focus on methodology by talking with Frederick L. Brown about how he used municipal archives to conduct his more-than-human history of Seattle. We discuss everything from petitions to bylaws, pound records, council minutes, public health reports, property tax assessments, and city directories. Topics Covered: why urban animal history matters and why cities are always more than humanhow Seattle’s city archives make animal searching possible through indexin...
- 4 weeks ago1h 21m
S9E5: Historical Methods with Jennifer Bonnell and Sean Kheraj
In this episode we switch gears toward considering historical methods. Sean Kheraj and Jennifer Bonnell come onto the show to discuss their edited book Traces of The Animal Past and together with Claudia they delve into some of the ways environmental and animal histories differ as well as some of the key methods scholars interested in them can use. Topics Covered: animal history versus environmental historysearching for animals in the archive borrowing tools from natural and socia...
- Sep 28, 20261h 11m
S9E4: Segregation with Jules Skotnes-Brown
Jules Skotnes-Brown joins Claudia on the show to discuss how segregating logics were used to govern humans and animals in South Africa’s history. This includes everything from Addo’s elephants being driven, enclosed, and “tamed”, to Kalahari San people being policed inside a national park and managed through rations and confinement. Topics Covered: The difference between environmental history and animal history Defining segregation as a ideological and material connect...
- Sep 21, 20261h 6m
S9E3: Taxonomies with Harriet Ritvo
Harriet Ritvo discusses animals and taxonomy, unfurling the ways in which animals are categorised scientifically and in everyday vernacular. She unfurls what this might mean for how we know animals and the ways in which we understand and write their histories. Topics Covered: how classification systems expose human values and power why herd books matter for animal history and domesticationscientific taxonomy versus vernacular categories naming rules, authorit...
- Sep 14, 20261h 32m
S9E2: Modernity with Erica Hill and Susan Nance
Erica Hill and Susan Nance join Claudia on the show to discuss “modernity.” They discuss what this relatively messy shorthand means for history and for understanding human–animal relations. They try to unpack what is meant by modernity and touch on everything from industrialisation to concealment and consumption. Topics Covered: Animal History, the journal that tries to understand animals as historical subjects Using animal welfare science to interpret historical animals’ be...
- Sep 7, 20261h 37m
S9E1: Animals' Cultural Histories with Sandra Swart
Claudia speaks with historian Sandra Swart about the importance of recognising animals’ cultural histories. They discuss the maturation of animal history as a field and focus on the cultural histories of baboons and elephants in South Africa. Topics covered: Working definition of animal culture Fuffification and disnification of wildlife The deep and urban history of baboons A lone elephant in the Knysna Forest ‘Rogue’ elephants in the PilanesbergAnimal Highlig...
About The Animal Turn
Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Claudia Hirtenfelder delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship, thinking, and being.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of The Animal Turn as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
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