wildly curious
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Why Animals Talk

Dr. Arik Kershenbaum
/
Dr. Arik Kershenbaum / Penguin Random House

The howling of wolves, the mewing of your cat, dolphins whistling —these aren’t just noises. They’re animals talking, and what they say might surprise you.

Dolphins, for instance, give themselves names, and they can recognize the voices of their companions, even over recordings. Wolves actually have accents, just like we do. When animals roar, chirp, bark, and sing, they’re communicating in complex ways that we’re only beginning to understand. Our guest is the zoologist Arik Kershenbaum. He’s spent years observing wild animals, learning why and how animals talk to each other — and what he’s discovered might just reveal something about us humans, too.

GUEST –

Dr. Arik Kershenbaum | Zoologist, college lecturer and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge. His book is called “Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication” [Amazon|Bookshop].

Airdate: Wednesday Sept. 25, 2024, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.