Tag Archives: animal intelligence

Podcast

Entwined Lives: Bridget Lyons on the Intersection of Species, with Carl Safina on Alfie and Me

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Today we explore what it really means to share the planet with other forms of life. We’ll talk with writer Bridget Lyons about her acclaimed book, Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species, a collection of essays that invites us to see animals, plants, and even ourselves in a radically more connected way.

Part of the reason I wrote this book was to encourage people, inspire people to just go outside and look around and see who else is living around you.” — Bridget Lyons

And then we’ll hear an excerpt from our conversation with ecologist and author Carl Safina about his book Alfie and Me, the extraordinary story of a baby owl that helped him rethink what animals know — and what humans believe. 

People have often said humans are the only logical animals, but I think that’s almost completely backward. We’re really the only illogical animals.” — Carl Safina

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.

Key Words: Bridget Lyons, Entwined, Carl Safina, Alfie and Me, Writers Voice podcast, animal intelligence, anthropomorphism, biodiversity, environmental ethics, sea stars, interspecies relationships

You Might Also Like: Adam Nicholson on BIRD SCHOOL, Richard Louv, OUR WILD CALLING & Carl Safina, BEYOND WORDS

Read the Transcript on Substack

Continue reading

Podcast

Sanjana Sekhar, METAMORPHOSIS & Sy Montgomery, WHAT THE CHICKEN KNOWS

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.

Episode Summary

Earth Day is coming up this month, so we get a jump on environmental awareness. From visionary climate futures to the minds of our feathered friends, this episode reminds us that joy, attention, and imagination may be our greatest tools for survival.

First, we speak with Sanjana Sekhar, editor of Metamorphosis: Climate Fiction for a Better Future, a bold new anthology of climate fiction that reimagines our planet’s future with optimism and justice at its core.

“Ancestral intelligence is the first AI—it’s the wisdom that has always known how to live on this planet.” — Sanjana Sekhar

Then we sit down with beloved naturalist and author Sy Montgomery to explore the surprising world of chickens—yes, chickens—in her delightfully enlightening new book, What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird.

“Almost everything we know about chickens is wrong.” — Sy Montgomery

Connect with WV:

Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and subscribe to our Substack. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast 

You can support our show and the others you listen to by contributing through Lenny.fm. Your support helps us bring you more of the episodes, like this one, that you look forward to. Thanks for being a vital part of our community!

Key Words: Sanjana Sekhar, Metamorphosis anthology, Imagine 2200, climate fiction, cli-fi, climate hope, Sy Montgomery, What the Chicken Knows, animal intelligence, ethical eating, chicken cognition, Earth Day

You Might Also Like: Sy Montgomery & Matthew Patterson: OF TIME AND TURTLES, James Bridle, WAYS OF BEING & Sy Montgomery, THE HAWK’S WAY

Read The Transcript

Continue reading