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. S6E8: A Review of Museum Collections and Objects

    2D AGO

    S6E8: A Review of Museum Collections and Objects

    Herre de Bondt and Rebecca Shen are back on the show to discuss Rosa Dyer’s season “Animal Collections/’Objects”. We delve into some of the key themes and tensions to emerge in the season including questions of value, colonization, ethics, and practices of preservation. We revisit a season that follows birds, bodies, and objects across museums and beyond, asking how ethics, beauty, and decay shape what gets collected, displayed, and believed. The talk moves from drawers of parrots to a living hippo, mapping the gap between preservation and care.  Natural history Museum in LondonSmithsonian MuseumPitt Rivers MuseumRe-Animalization with Krithika Srinivasan on The Animal TurnAnimals and Waste with Herre de Bondton The Animal Highlight The Complex Relationship Between Humans and Baboons by Claudia HirtenfelderThe Lion’s Historian by Sandra Swart Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism (MARS) test finds Oscars so AnthropoScenic in contemporary animated films by Natalie Khazaal, Ellen Gorsevski, and Tobias Linné Animals and Media on The Animal TurnAnimapolis   Credits: Recorded: 10 June 2025Claudia Hirtenfelder, executive producer, editor and co-host Rosa Dyer, script writer, narrator and co-hostRebecca Shen, episode artwork and logo, guestHerre de Bondt, guestGordon Clarke, bed musicLearn 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.

    53 min
  2. S6E7: Moo Deng – Questioning if Zoos are Living Collections

    APR 27

    S6E7: Moo Deng – Questioning if Zoos are Living Collections

    Rosa questions whether zoos could be thought of as “living collections” that objectifying animals in ways that are similar to the animal objects one finds in a museum or archive.  She considers the internet sensation Moo Deng and asks whether her fame as achieved much in the way of the conservation goals for pygmy hippos.  Meet Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo taking the internet by storm by The Today Show.  Credits: Recorded: 3 June 2025Claudia 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 The Today ShowLearn 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.

    27 min
  3. S6E6: Feather Heists and Questions of Value

    APR 20

    S6E6: Feather Heists and Questions of Value

    Rosa returns to feathers in this episode, this time to discuss the infamous 2009 “feather heist”, in which Edwin Rist stole an invaluable collection of bright-coloured feathers from tropical birds. She uses the heist to open a deeper consideration of the value of feather collections for science and the ethics of collecting and maintaining such collections.   Pitt Rivers MuseumSmithsonianNatural history Museum in LondonThe Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson  Credits: Recorded: 28 May 2025Claudia 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 Pixabay, Epidemic Sound, and FreesoundLearn 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.

    27 min
  4. S6E5: Moths and Wasps – Tasty Collections and ‘Confused’ Insects

    APR 13

    S6E5: Moths and Wasps – Tasty Collections and ‘Confused’ Insects

    In this episode Rosa steps away from feathered objects to consider how museum collections and archives should be thought of as living ecosystems. She discusses how webbing clothes moths are understood as ‘pests’ and some of the strategies curators are trying to employ to manage them: including sexual confusion and the introduction of parasitoid wasps.  Pitt Rivers MuseumOxford University Natural History MuseumNational Trust launches pest-control trial combining wasps and moth pheromonesThe Lion’s Historian by Sandra Swart  Credits: Recorded: 28 May 2025Claudia 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 Bill Hayes - I Know an Old Lady (Archie Bleyer, Internet Archive)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 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.

    23 min
  5. S6E4: The Oxford Dodo - Science, Myth, and a Fragmented Afterlife

    APR 6

    S6E4: The Oxford Dodo - Science, Myth, and a Fragmented Afterlife

    In this episode Rosa focuses on the Oxford Dodo, attempting to trace the life history of a bird whose only trace is a fragile head and foot in the Oxford University of Natural History. She unpacks some of the competing routes the bird might have taken – from being hunted and shipped from Mauritius to being kept in an urban menagerie. She also follows the afterlife of the museum object itself once again raising questions about the interconnections between power, possession, and knowledge.  Pitt Rivers MuseumOxford University Natural History MuseumLewis Carroll’s Alice in WonderlandThe TradescantsMurder most fowl: Oxford dodo 'shot in the back of the head'   Credits: Recorded: 16 January 2024Claudia 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 Alice in wonderland Soundtrack, Epidemic Sound, PixabayLearn 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.

    27 min
  6. S6E3: Parrots and frogs - Multispecies Assemblages and the Changing of Feathers

    MAR 30

    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
  7. 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
  8. 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 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.

    31 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
    56
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Animal Highlight
  • Show Website
    The Animal Highlight