GUEST: Lori Golden--founder,
editor and publisher of The Pet Press, which recently celebrated
its 5th anniversary--discusses the history, evolution and
expansion of this Southern-California based publication that
covers all manner of pet-related topics, from animal rescue
and adoption to animal-oriented celebrity profiles.
[www.thepetpress-la.com/]
COMEDY CORNER: Triumph The Insult
Comic Dog's "Call From Triumph's Son" [www.TriumphTheInsultComicDog.com] MUSIC: Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally,"Oysterhead's
"Mr. Oysterhead," instrumentals NAME
THAT ANIMAL TUNE: “The Bear Went Over
The Mountain"
GUEST: Terry Wolf--Wildlife
Director of Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach, Florida--
who drew on his experiences with the animals there during
the string of recent hurricanes to comment on animal intuition
before a natural disaster strikes, focusing on how and why
animals in Southeast Asia largely escaped death & harm
while the human toll reached such staggering numbers.
[www.lioncountrysafari.com.]
COMEDY CORNER: Mitch Hedberg's
"Smackie The Frog" [www.MitchHedberg.net] MUSIC: Carmen McRae's version of Ray Henderson/Mort
Dixon's "Bye Bye Blackbird," Angelo Badalementi's
"Red Bats With Teeth," The Futurehead's version
of Kate Bush's "Hounds Of Love," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Duran Duran's
“Hungry Like The Wolf"
GUEST: Wildlife
veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Conrad--Director of The Paw Project,
which seeks to educate the public about the often-crippling
effects of feline declawing, rehabilitate big cats that have
been declawed, and marshal endeavors to end declawing, including
spearheading the effort to pass California's brand new law
that bans declawing of wild and exotic cats--discusses her
longstanding & vehement objection to declawing, explains
that many people fail to understand the procedure involves
AMPUTATING BONE, addresses the monthly surgeries she performs
on big cats to correct the awful and painful impact of declawing,
and a myriad of other related topics. [www.PawProject.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Sabrina Matthews'
"Kitty Confusion" [www.SabrinaMatthews.com]
MUSIC: Ray Lamontagne's "All The Wild Horses," Elvis
Costello's "Pads, Paws & Claws," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Doors' version
of John Lee Hooker's “Crawling King Snake"
GUEST: Pundit-satirist-writer
Mo Rocca--the former correspondent on Comedy Central's "The
Daily Show," now a frequent commentator on "The
Today Show," MSNBC's "Countdown" and other
TV programs--touches on a few facets of his career path, but
mostly discusses his first book, "All The Presidents'
Pets," a wonderfully absurd, often laugh-out-loud-funny
blast of satirical investigative journalism that examines
the real story behind the role played by animals in the White
House and is studded with characters ranging from Helen Thomas
(about whom there's quite a revelation), to Mr. Peabody (yes,
of "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" cartoon fame) to
Mo Rocca himself. [www.allthepresidentspets.com.]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Engvall's "Discovery
Channel" [www.BillEngvall.com] MUSIC: Carl Stalling's "2 Dogs, A Bird
& A Bone," George Clinton's "Rat Kissed The
Dog," instrumentals NAME THAT
ANIMAL TUNE: Elvis Presley's “(Let Me
Be Your) Teddy Bear."
GUEST: Cyrus
Mejia, a founder of Best Friends Animal Society (which operates
the nation's largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned
cats & dogs), and an acclaimed artist whose work is
central to The Best Friends Art Project--a traveling exhibit
that speaks to the plight of homeless animals, and is on
view in Los Angeles from Feb. 25 thru March 18--discusses
his history both as an artist and in animal rescue, the
current focus of his art work, and how the local exhibit
also serves as a kickoff event for major spay and neuter
campaign called "Desex And The City."
[www.cyrusmejia.com] COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan's "Spider
Webs & Bees" [www.BrianRegan.com]
MUSIC: Bright Eyes' "Down In A Rabbit Hole,"
Brad Mehldau's version of The Beatles' "Blackbird,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Heart's “Dog
& Butterfly"
GUEST: Dr. Temple Grandin--autistic,
internationally-renowned animal expert, longtime consultant
in designing the most humane methods for transporting and
handling livestock in meat-processing plants, Ph.D. Associate
Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University,
and author, most recently, of "Animals In Translation:
Using The Mysteries Of Autism To Decode Animal Behavior"--discusses
many of the ideas in the new book, her own autism (and how
the way she thinks is similar to the way animals do), some
of the animal-related work and consulting she's done over
the years, and more. [www.grandin.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard's "Mad
European Cow" (first minute or so) [www.EddieIzzard.com] MUSIC: Rudy Green & His Orchestra's
"Buzzard Pie," Black Heart Procession's "Dog
Song," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Steely Dan's
“Black Cow"
GUEST: Vicki
Stevens, Director of Programs at the Doris Day Animal Foundation--an
organization founded, not surprisingly, by Doris Day, and
devoted to promoting increased protection for animals--discusses
some of DDAF's programs, most notably & imminently "Spay
Day USA" (an annual, major, national spay & neuter
campaign, to be held this year on Feb. 22), but also addresses
the organization's history and some of its other programs,
including "Comics For Compassion" & "The
Empathy Connection." [www.DDAF.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Triumph The Insult
Comic Dog's "Call To Kennel" [www.TriumphTheInsultComicDog.com] MUSIC: Hope Sandoval's "Butterfly
Mornings,"The Young Dubliner's version of The Waterboys'
"Fisherman's Blues," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Beatles' “Octopus's
Garden"
GUEST:
Adam Roberts--Vice-President of Born Free USA,
an organization working to prevent wild animal suffering,
protect threatened species in the wild, and monitor and
often improve the welfare of captive wildlife--discusses
the genesis of the organization [which is both an offshoot
of the older Born Free Foundation and a separate entity
with its own 501(c)(3) status and agenda], some of its more
pressing programs and campaigns, the fundamental shortcomings
of zoos, his recent trip to Sri Lanka to survey the tsunami
damage and see the Born Free-sponsored Elephant Transit
Home there, and more. [www.BornFreeUsa.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Ellen DeGeneres' "Licking
A Frog" MUSIC: Adam & The Ants' "Antmusic," The
Kills' "Cat Claw," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Bent Fabric's
“Alley Cat
Seals at Children's Pool /
Casa Beach - February 2005
GUEST: Sarah Khorram--who
coordinates the "Rake A Line, Hold A Sign" volunteer
program designed to help protect the seals at a cove on the
shoreline in La Jolla, California known as the Children's
Pool (also called Casa Beach), where the seals ostensibly
are already protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act--discusses
the odd, emotionally-charged human-vs-animal controversy that's
erupted in the last year or so around the Children's Pool,
where for many decades several dozen seals have lived and
had their babies, yet the San Diego City Council voted to
remove the rope line and warning signs that were protecting
the seals against close proximity to humans and harassment;
subsequently, the Humane Society Of The United States and
other organizations have filed lawsuits against the City of
San Diego, and seals have been harassed and even attacked,
causing some to suffer miscarriages and some seal pups to
have been born prematurely. [www.AnimalAdvocates.org,
www.SaveTheSanDiegoSeals.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Robert Klein's "Animals
All" (first minute) MUSIC: Sidney
Bechet's "Muskrat Ramble," The White
Stripes' "Little Bird," instrumentals NAME
THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Los Lobos' “Will
The Wolf Survive."
Seals at Children's Pool / Casa Beach near San Diego, CA
GUEST: Gene Bauston--co-founder
and President of Farm Sanctuary, the nation's largest farm
animal rescue and protection organization--discusses the history
and evolution of Farm Sanctuary, a handful of its more notable
campaigns and legislative inroads, some of the philosophical
and perception hurdles about farm animals they have to overcome
in order to improve the animals' plight, farm animal adoption
options, and more. [www.FarmSanctuary.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard's "Birds"
(first minute) [www.EddieIzzard.com]
MUSIC: Kaki King's "My Insect
Life," Porno For Pyros' "Dogs Rule The Night,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The
Stray Cats' “Stray Cat Strut"
GUEST: Alexandra
Powe Allred--a dog trainer and author of animal books, including
"Teaching Basic Obedience: Train The Owner, Train The
Dog" and her latest, "Dogs Most Wanted: The Top
10 Book of Historic Hounds, Professional Pooches, And Canine
Oddities"--discusses her colorful background (she was
a world-class bobsledder...on assignment for Sports Illustrated,
she tried out for, made and wrote about a women's professional
football team, etc.), her current book (which is chockfull
of canine information of all kinds, organized into lists of
10: "Best Breeds For Kids," "Most Common Behavior
Problems [& Quick Tips To Fix Them]," "Most
Popular Dog Fiction Of All Time" and so on), and more.
[www.AlexandraPoweAllred.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Emo Philips' "Animal
Square Dance" [www.EmoPhilips.com]
MUSIC: Stan Ridgeway's "Snaketrain," Cream's'
"Cat's Squirrel," instrumentals NAME
THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Warren Zevon's “Werewolves
Of London"
GUEST: Dr. Joel
Parrott, Executive Director of the Oakland Zoo--considered
by many, including those staunchly anti-zoo, to be one of
the best zoos anywhere--discusses what traits he feels constitute
a great zoo, philosophical & more tangible changes he's
embraced and implemented in his 20-plus years at the Oakland
Zoo, his views on the complex issue of zoos exhibiting elephants,
and more. [www.OaklandZoo.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Cosby's "Dogs"
MUSIC: John Taylor's "Delicate
Prey," Kings Of Leon's "King Of The Rodeo,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Simon
& Garfunkle's "At The Zoo"
GUEST: Ted Rheingold,
creator of Dogster.com and Catster.com--web sites that constitute
a friendly, fun social network for the humans who live with
cats and dogs; you essentially create a little web page for
your canine &/or feline friends, featuring their pictures,
information, etc.--discusses what prompted him to start the
sites, their powerful popularity and appeal (launched in January
of '04, Dogster.com has already attracted 70,000 dogs), cultivating
the friendly & fun & gentle tone that characterizes
both sites, newly-added features, plans for the future, and
more. [www.Dogster.com,
www.Catster.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Soupy Sales' "The
Mouse" MUSIC: Kasey Chamber's
"Bluebird," Bill Doggett & His Combo's
"Big Dog Blues (Part One)," instrumentals NAME
THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Lobo's “Me &
You & A Dog Named Boo"
GUEST: Chris Chester--author
of "Providence Of A Sparrow: Lessons From A Life Gone
To The Birds," an acclaimed, award-winning memoir of
sorts--discusses this gorgeously-written & poignant chronicle
of rescuing and then living with a house sparrow named B.,
the extraordinary impact this singular bird had on him (and
anyone else who met B.), including the seismic shift B. created
in the way Chris & his wife Rebecca lived their lives,
which continues to this day with 17 birds living in their
home. COMEDY CORNER: Mitch
Hedberg's "Koalas" (snippet) R.I.P., Mitch.
[www.MitchHedberg.net]
MUSIC: U2's "An Cat Dubh"
("The Black Cat" in Gaelic), Adrian Legg's "Cuckoo
Shuffle," Charlie Parker's "Chasing The Bird,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Rolling
Stones' “Wild Horses"
GUEST: Philip
Jenni, Executive Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
of Minnesota--which, with a staff of 14 & 400-plus volunteers,
cares for injured, ill & orphaned wildlife, treating over
8000 "patients" last year--discusses the history
of the Center (founded in 1979 by a group of vet students
at the University of Minnesota...now an independent non-profit),
the evolution & growth of the facility (now one of the
largest of its kind in the country), the Center's guiding
philosophical principles, and some of the Center's current
and recent patients, including Trumpeter Swans, a woodchuck,
green herons, and a bobcat. [www.wrcmn.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Engvall's'
"Whale Watching" [www.BillEngvall.com]
MUSIC: Loudon Wainwright III's "Animal
Song, "The Hollywood Flames' "Buzz Buzz Buzz"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Prince's
“When Doves Cry"
GUEST: Jennifer
Swanson & Brad Gaver--founder-directors of Pure Thoughts
Inc.-Florida Foal Rescue--discuss their major and ongoing
efforts to rescue foals and yearlings from the slaughterhouse
(most of these horses are born on farms where the urine from
pregnant mares is collected to make Premarin) and place them
in good homes/stables through their adoption program, while
addressing that this is an outgrowth of their initial program
to help young people achieve increased self-esteem, greater
compassion, etc. by caring for & developing a relationship
with a young horse. [www.FloridaFoalRescue.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Bob Newhart's "On
Poodles & Planes" [www.BobNewhart.com]
MUSIC: Rainstick Orchestra's "Waltz
For A Little Bird," My Morning Jacket's version
of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Tom Jones' “What's
New Pussycat?"
GUEST: Tippi
Hedren--the veteran actress perhaps best known for starring
in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," but for more
than three decades has operated The Shambala Preserve, an
80-acre facility in Acton, CA for big cats and other animals--discusses
her lifelong love of animals, how making the movie "Satan's
Harvest" in Africa in 1969 launched her on a path to
make the film "Roar" and then to create Shambala,
where the animals there come from (circuses, zoos, phony sanctuaries,
idiots who have big cats as pets, etc.), some of the animal-oriented
legislation she's working on and supporting, the films she's
still making, and more. [www.Shambala.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Paul F. Tompkins'
"Alternative Pets" [www.PaulFTompkins.com]
MUSIC: Matthew Sweet's "The Big Cats Of Shambala,"
Kaki King's "All The Landslides Birds Have Seen Since
The Beginning Of The World," Echo & The Bunnymen's
"Bed Bugs & Ballyhoo," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Herb Alpert “The
Spanish Flea"
GUEST: Bo Rinaldi--a
natural food chef and co-author of "Vegan World Fusion
Cuisine," a gorgeous cookbook jam-packed with wonderful
recipes, stunning photography, an array of resources &
information, including gentle guidance on making the transition
to a veg diet, and a foreword by Jane Goodall--discusses his
background and the path that led him to get involved with
The Blossoming Lotus (a widely acclaimed vegan restaurant
on Kauai--with a second location in Portland--that he co-owns
with co-author Mark Reinfeld), which in turn led to creating
the cookbook and a spiritually & philosophically-related
collection of businesses, services and projects. [www.veganfusion.com]. COMEDY CORNER: Jonathan Winter's "Used
Pet Shop" [www.JonathanWinters.com]
MUSIC: Angelo Badalamenti's "Cool
Cat Walk," John Doe's "There's A Black Horse,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Beatles'
“Dig A Pony"
GUEST: Marking the first
time a talking animal has been a guest on "Talking
Animals," Triumph The Insult Comic Dog--best known
for his regular, hilarious appearances on "Late Night
With Conan O'Brien," for which he's "covered"
such events as the Westminster Dog Show, the "Star
Wars" premiere, and the "Video Music Awards"...though
he's a significant recording artist in his own right, whose
debut album, "Come Poop With Me" was nominated
for a Grammy in the Best Comedy Album category--discusses
his observations of the Grammy ceremony & certain attendees,
of some noted animal activists, of some selections on "The
Best Of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog" DVD (which collects
some of his most famous and controversial pieces from "Conan"),
of other high-profile canines, of Conan O'Brien and Don
Rickles, as well as an assortment of pop culture figures
and musicians who characteristically draw his ire. [www.TriumphTheInsultComicDog.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan's "Fishing
On TV" [www.BrianRegan.com]
MUSIC: eels' "Lone Wolf," The
Hollywood Blue Flames' "Black Cat Bone," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: U2's
“Zoo Station"
GUEST: Dr. Kim
Haddad, a veterinarian and manager of The Captive Wild Animal
Protection Coalition--a group of zoo professionals, sanctuary
operators and animal protection groups (including some surprising
bedfellows), who've banded together to focus their attention,
and ours, on the problems and perils of keeping wild animals
as pets--discusses the way the Coalition came together, its
broader objectives as well as specific educational efforts
and work in the legislative realm, and more.
[www.CWAPC.org]
COMEDY CORNER: Bobby Collins' "Ma'
Dog" [www.BobbyCollins.com]
MUSIC: Moby's "Spiders," Porno
For Pyro's "Porpoise Head," instrumentals NAME
THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Black Sabbath's "War
Pigs"
GUEST: Kat Albrecht--a
real-life pet detective, author of "The Lost Pet Chronicles,"
and founder of Pet Hunters International, which trains pet
detectives and search dogs--discusses how her background as
a police officer/bloodhound handler/search-and-rescue manager/crime
scene investigator led to her pioneering the field of pet
detective work, addresses key techniques and strategies for
locating a lost pet (including differences in searching for
dogs vs cats, indoor cats vs outdoor cats, etc), touches on
a few of her more unusual cases, and outlines some of the
training programs she offers. [www.PetHunters.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Cosby's "Froofie
The Dog" MUSIC: Roy Harper's "Goldfish,"
Original Sinners' "Birds & Bees," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: John Lennon's
“Cold Turkey"
GUEST: Kinky Friedman--the
singer-songwriter who, fronting his band The Texas Jewboys,
toured in the '70s with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue...more
recently has worked as a prolific mystery novelist...is now
running for Governor of Texas..and has long been an animal
advocate--discusses the founding of the Utopia Animal Rescue
Ranch in Texas, the philosophy and some of the operatives
behind his gubernatorial bid, that a key plank of his campaign
platform is his intent to make declawing of cats illegal in
Texas, and much more. [www.KinkyFriedman.com,www.UtopiaRescue.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Jeff Wayne's "The
Wolf, The Bear & The Alligator" [www.JeffWayne.com]
MUSIC: Adrian Belew's "The Lone
Rhinoceros," Split Lip Rayfield's "Blue Tick Hound,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:
Steve Miller's “Fly Like An Eagle"
GUEST: Jane
Hoffman, president of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals--which
brings together more than 60 non-profit animal care groups
based in and around Manhattan, with a collective goal to
make New York City "no kill" in a two-stage, five/10-year
plan--discusses the history and evolution of the Alliance,
how a 60-group collective can and does work well and cohesively,
the Alliance's wildly ambitious goals and the wildly enormous
grants (to the tune of about 20 million bucks) it has received
toward achieving those goals. [www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org] COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard's "Talk
To The Animals" [www.EddieIzzard.com] MUSIC: Slobberbone's "Gimme Back My
Dog," Wire's "Small Black Reptile," instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Simon & Garfunkle's
“At The Zoo"
While "Talking Animals"
is my chief radio focus, I also host a weekly music show,
called "The Dead Air Zone," and
on June 7, I was thrilled to be joined in studio by John
Doe, the founder-bassist of legendary L.A. punk band X,
who's gone on to an acclaimed solo career as a singer-songwriter.
We had a peppy, sprawling chat about everything from his
excellent new album, "Forever Hasn't Happened Yet"
(we played some songs from it, including the "world
premiere" of the radio edit of "Ready," featuring
Kristin Hersh), to X to his acting career (he's been in
40+ films), to the unique challenges of performing a set
of Woody Guthrie songs for a children's show in Seattle.
Actually, the whole visit was great; John was endlessly
gracious, fun and funny. And then he stepped into the
John Doe in the KUCI studios
station's makeshift performance space and
played four songs, which sounded great.
As an added bonus that day, I was also joined for a radio
reunion by my friend Randy Fender--we'd last been on the
air together in '82!
While we're on the topic of added bonuses...Although this
John Doe action may seem to have damn little to do with
"Talking Animals," John is indeed an animal lover
(he and his family share their home with several animals),
something of an animal advocate, and he recently did the
narration for a documentary about animal rights. So we'll
invite him to return as a guest on "Talking Animals."
Meanwhile, we hope you'll enjoy this archive of his interview
and performance at KUCI.
GUEST: Karen Johnson,
who created Clarinetherapy--in which she takes her clarinet
and her greyhounds to convalescent homes and other facilities,
and the combination of her music & these greyhounds (which
are certified therapy dogs), helps the patients heal and feel
better--discusses the birth of Clarinetherapy, the physical
and physiological effects on the patients (predominantly those
with Alzheimer's), how the therapeutic impact of the music
and the dogs is much greater than the sum of its parts, the
pieces of music she typically plays, and more [www.Clarinetherapy.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Stiller & Meara's
"The Whale" MUSIC: Ryan Adams
& The Cardinals' "Mockingbird," The incredible
String Band's "Wild Cat Blues," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Jethro Tull's “Mother
Goose"
GUEST: Linda Tellington-Jones,
the veteran animal handler and trainer who created the Tellington
Touch, or TTouch, method--a revolutionary technique for handling
and training horses, dogs, cats and other domestic animals,
and one that's also effectively applied to exotic animals
in zoos and elsewhere--discusses how creating TTouch was an
outgrowth of her lifelong passion and experience with horses
(as a kid growing up near Edmonton, she rode a horse to &
from school every day...later, she addressed the challenges
of how to handle and train, or re-train, so-called "problem
horses" by devising the TTEAM technique, etc), how the
central aim of TTouch has been exploring and honing her notion
of "releasing fear at the cellular level," and more.
[www.TTouch.com]
COMEDY CORNER: The Comedy Corner was
dark today. (Don't ask.) MUSIC: Combustible
Edison's "One Eyed Monkey," Robert Wyatt's "Brian
The Fox," Loudon Wainwright III's "Dump The Dog,"
instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Weather
Report's “Birdland"
GUEST: John Hoyt, the president emeritus
of the Humane Society Of The United States--he was president
and/or CEO of the organization from 1970 to 1996--discusses
his own history (he was a minister before taking over leadership
of HSUS), the structural and philosophical changes he implemented
& the reasons for them, the animal protection issues
he felt most personally passionate about, his observations
of the way the animal welfare landscape shifted during his
tenure and since, and more. [www.HSUS.org.]
COMEDY CORNER: Bill Engvall's's "Dorkfish"
[www.BillEngvall.com]
MUSIC: Van Morrison's "The Lion This
Time," Honey Davis' "Poor Dog," instrumentals NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Pink Floyd's “Pigs
On The Wing (Part 1)"
