The Animal Highlight

Claudia Hirtenfelder
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Set around specific themes, The Animal Highlight offers glimpses into the wonderful and complex worlds of animals. This is a spinoff of The Animal Turn Podcast, a podcast that unpacks important concepts in animal studies. 

  1. S6E3: Parrots and frogs - Multispecies Assemblages and the Changing of Feathers

    2D AGO

    S6E3: Parrots and frogs - Multispecies Assemblages and the Changing of Feathers

    Rosa traces a Munduruku feather cap from Brazil to the museum case and discuss how tapirage was a process used to turned green parrots  feathers a blazing yellow by using frog toxins, dyes and time. Beauty and pain sit side by side as we weigh Indigenous innovation, care and the cost to animals. Pitt Rivers Museum Credits: Recorded: 9 November 2023 Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Rosa Dyer, script writer, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, episode artwork and logoGordon Clarke, bed musicOther sound effects from BBC Sound Effects, Pixabay, Epidemic SoundLearn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/  Send us Fan Mail The Animal TurnThe Animal Turn is the sister podcast to The Animal Highlight. 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 show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    19 min
  2. S6E2: Hummingbirds - Warrior birds and feathered jewels

    MAR 23

    S6E2: Hummingbirds - Warrior birds and feathered jewels

    Using a feather fan as her base, Rosa Dyer traces how Victorian fashion turned fierce hummingbirds into quiet ornaments. The object brings into focus the differences between indigenous mythologies and western ideas of hummingbirds and what the impacts of global trade were on how we understand them today.  Pitt Rivers MuseumHow hummingbird and vulture mediate between life and death in Latin America by Nicole Sault The disguise of the hummingbird: on the natural history of Huitzilopochtli in the Florentine Codex Montero Sobrevilla  The Hummingbird Warrior by Ze Frank Animals and Experience on The Animal Turn. Compassionate Conservation with Daniel Ramp on The Animal TurnSonic Methods with Jonathan Prior on The Animal Turn   Credits: Recorded: 9 November 2023 Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Rosa Dyer, script writer, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, episode artwork and logoGordon Clarke, bed musicOther sound effects from Freesound, Prelinger Archives, Internet ArchiveLearn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ Send us Fan Mail The Animal TurnThe Animal Turn is the sister podcast to The Animal Highlight. 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 show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    30 min
  3. S6E1: Huia - Birds, Museums and Global Commodification

    MAR 16

    S6E1: Huia - Birds, Museums and Global Commodification

    We start Season 6 "Museum Collections/Objects" with Rosa Dyer looking at the Huia, a New Zealand songbird whose dimorphic beaks garnered the attention of science, fashion, and empire. Rosa uses the museum object to ask questions about how different knowledge systems value animals.  Pitt Rivers MuseumSonic Specimen with Rachel Mundy on The Animal Turn. The 1848 lithograph by John Gould Birds of New Zealand by Walter Buller J.G. KeulemansFuture Remains: A Cabinet of Curiosities for the Anthropocene edited by Gregg Mitman, Marco Armiero, Robert S. Emmett'Te Karanga a te Huia | The Call of the Huia', Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision by Sarah Johnston. Huia come Home by Jay Ruka.  Credits: Recorded: 7 November 2023 Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Rosa Dyer, script writer, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, episode artwork and logoGordon Clarke, bed musicOther sound effects from BBC Sound Effects, Pixabay, and Epidemic SoundLearn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ Send a text The Animal TurnThe Animal Turn is the sister podcast to The Animal Highlight. 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 show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    31 min
  4. S5E10: Heck Cattle - Where Nazi Eugenics Meets Modern Rewilding

    08/04/2025

    S5E10: Heck Cattle - Where Nazi Eugenics Meets Modern Rewilding

    Fierce, controversial, and caught between worlds—Heck cattle embody the complex intersection of dark history and modern conservation. This final episode of Season 5 of the Animal Highlight explores how these bovines were deliberately bred by Nazi zoologists in the 1920s and now find themselves at the center of rewilding debates across Europe. Recorded: 14 December 2023   Featured:  Season 6 Grad Review on The Animal TurnThe Cow with Ear Tag #1389 by Kathryn Gillespie From “Nazi Cows” to Cosmopolitan “Ecological Engineers” by Jamie Lorimer and Clemens DriessenConceptualizing the multispecies triadby Andrea Petitt American Cows in Antarctica by Elizabeth Leane and Hanne Nielsen  Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interactions with their environment and with other animals. Virginia’s work explores the social and ethical questions in human-animal relationships. She is currently a research fellow on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘From Feed the Birds to Do Not Feed the Animals’ which examines the drivers and consequences of animal feeding. This leads on from her previous research which examined human-animal relations in the media (as part of zoonotic disease framing) and in rewilding projects (in relation to biopolitics and human-animal coexistence). You can connect with Virginia via Twitter (@ArbitrioHumano).   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Virginia Thomas, script write, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerSound clips taken from: BBC Sound Effects, xeno canto: https://xeno-canto.org/species/milvus-milvus  Learn more about the team here.  Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ Send us Fan Mail A.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    15 min
  5. S5E9: Red Kites - Conservation and The Ethical Dilemmas of Wildlife Translocation

    07/28/2025

    S5E9: Red Kites - Conservation and The Ethical Dilemmas of Wildlife Translocation

    Virginia explores how the recovery of red kites in Britain has been shaped by international efforts and cross-border collaborations between governments and NGOs. Thinking about these birds, Virginia raises questions and concerns about translocation, culture, and species conservation.  Recorded: 14 December 2023  Featured:  International Relations with Andrea Schapper on The Animal TurnNatural EnglandRoyal Society for Protection of Birds  Animal Culture with Carl Safinaon The Animal TurnBears on Displayat Queen’s University  Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interactions with their environment and with other animals. Virginia’s work explores the social and ethical questions in human-animal relationships. She is currently a research fellow on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘From Feed the Birds to Do Not Feed the Animals’ which examines the drivers and consequences of animal feeding. This leads on from her previous research which examined human-animal relations in the media (as part of zoonotic disease framing) and in rewilding projects (in relation to biopolitics and human-animal coexistence). You can connect with Virginia via Twitter (@ArbitrioHumano).   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Virginia Thomas, script write, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerSound clips taken from: BBC Sound Effects, xeno canto: https://xeno-canto.org/species/milvus-milvus  Learn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/  Send us Fan Mail A.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    14 min
  6. S5E8: Wolf Rewilding - Rethinking Risk and Coexistence

    07/21/2025

    S5E8: Wolf Rewilding - Rethinking Risk and Coexistence

    Virginia tells us how grey wolves are reclaiming territories across Europe and North America through a process known as auto-rewilding—autonomously returning to lands from which humans once drove them out. This powerful expression of nonhuman agency challenges our conventional approach to wildlife management and invites us to reconsider what coexistence means in the Anthropocene.   Recorded: 22 November 2023   Featured:  S6E8: Re-Animalization with Krithika Srinivasan on The Animal TurnRe-animalising wellbeing: Multispecies justice after development by Krithika SrinivasanRespecting Nature’s Autonomy in Relationship with Humanity by Ned Hettinger  Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interactions with their environment and with other animals. Virginia’s work explores the social and ethical questions in human-animal relationships. She is currently a research fellow on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘From Feed the Birds to Do Not Feed the Animals’ which examines the drivers and consequences of animal feeding. This leads on from her previous research which examined human-animal relations in the media (as part of zoonotic disease framing) and in rewilding projects (in relation to biopolitics and human-animal coexistence). You can connect with Virginia via Twitter (@ArbitrioHumano).   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Virginia Thomas, script write, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerSound clips taken from: BBC Sound Effects, We Animals Media, NBC News Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PbsuGGWUrM Learn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ Send us Fan Mail A.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    13 min
  7. S5E7: Mink Concerns - The Cost of Fur Through a Photographer's Lens

    07/14/2025

    S5E7: Mink Concerns - The Cost of Fur Through a Photographer's Lens

    In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas uses one of Jo-Anne McArthur’s images as her inspiration. She compares and contrasts the lives of mink kept for fur with those of wild mink before reflecting on some of the ethical and environmental concerns that emerge from using mink for fur.   Recorded: 12 October 2023   Featured:  S6E7: Animal Photojournalism with Jo-Anne McArthur on The Animal Turn. We Animals MediaCovid Outbreaks On Mink Farms Stir Controversy Among Scientists on NBC News NOWAmerican Mink and the Cost of Fur by Virginia Thomas.   Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interactions with their environment and with other animals. Virginia’s work explores the social and ethical questions in human-animal relationships. She is currently a research fellow on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘From Feed the Birds to Do Not Feed the Animals’ which examines the drivers and consequences of animal feeding. This leads on from her previous research which examined human-animal relations in the media (as part of zoonotic disease framing) and in rewilding projects (in relation to biopolitics and human-animal coexistence). You can connect with Virginia via Twitter (@ArbitrioHumano).   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Virginia Thomas, script write, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerSound clips taken from: BBC Sound Effects, We Animals Media, NBC News Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PbsuGGWUrM Learn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/  Send us Fan Mail A.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    11 min
  8. S5E6: Brown Dog - The Forgotten Terrier Who Sparked a Movement

    07/07/2025

    S5E6: Brown Dog - The Forgotten Terrier Who Sparked a Movement

    In this Animal Highlight, fellow Virginia Thomas talks about Brown Dog, a canine who in 1903 was subjected to vivisection at University College London. Two activists brought his plight to the attention of the International Antivivisection Society and what ensued was a series lengthy legal and social battles commonly referred to as "The Brown Dog Affair." Recorded: 26 October 2023   Featured:  S6E6: Social Movement Mobilization and Feminism with Corey Lee Wrenn on The Animal Turn.S5E5: Animal Testing and its Alternatives with Thomas Hartung on The Animal Turn.The Brown Dog Affair by Virginia Thomas.   Virginia Thomas is an environmental social scientist with a PhD in Sociology. She is interested in people’s interactions with their environment and with other animals. Virginia’s work explores the social and ethical questions in human-animal relationships. She is currently a research fellow on the Wellcome Trust funded project ‘From Feed the Birds to Do Not Feed the Animals’ which examines the drivers and consequences of animal feeding. This leads on from her previous research which examined human-animal relations in the media (as part of zoonotic disease framing) and in rewilding projects (in relation to biopolitics and human-animal coexistence). You can connect with Virginia via Twitter (@ArbitrioHumano).   Credits: Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Virginia Thomas, script write, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)Gordon Clarke, bed music composerSound clips taken from: BBC Sound EffectsLearn more about the team here.   Support the podcast via:  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ Send us Fan Mail A.P.P.L.EAnimals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    17 min
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About

Set around specific themes, The Animal Highlight offers glimpses into the wonderful and complex worlds of animals. This is a spinoff of The Animal Turn Podcast, a podcast that unpacks important concepts in animal studies. 

Information

  • Creator
    Claudia Hirtenfelder
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Animal Highlight
  • Show Website
    The Animal Highlight