E, of the eels
Bobby Jr. & E, a few years
(& inches of beard) ago
GUEST:
E (nee Mark Oliver Everett)--singer-songwriter of
the eels, one of the most critically acclaimed bands
of the last dozen years--in a discussion framed around
animal ideas, discusses the werewolf motif and animal
instinct that underpins some of "Hombre Lobo,"
the band's new album, which has generated yet another
stack of laudatory reviews; addresses the inspiration
behind the animal songs and images that pop up in
his songwriting; specifically recounts the impetus
behind "I Like Birds," a signature eels
song written as a sweet tribute to E's late mother;
explains how Bobby, Jr.--his beloved once-homeless
rescue dog, immortalized in song and video (Bobby,
Jr. even has his own MySpace page)--entered his life,
and has since had a profound impact personally and
musically; and touches on an array of other topics
from Michael Jackson to the prospect of touring behind
"Hombre Lobo," to the striking new length
of his beard. [www.EelsTheBand.com]
GUEST:
Sue Pike--a Reiki Master, Intuitive Healer and Medium...and,
more directly relevant for our purposes, an Animal
Communicator, who heals and communicates with animals--discusses
her background and path toward the healing arts, including
the evolution of her work as an animal communicator;
touches on The New York Times profile of her in that
capacity, and the Gawker post mocking that profile
and Sue herself as part of addressing the skepticism
she routinely encounters in her work; explains the
preparation for and phases of communicating with an
animal, tied mostly to a session she conducted with
one of the animals that lives with my family and me:
our beloved, beautiful, female cat Curtis; responds
to some of the elements of that session--and some
specific questions we included that only my family
would know the answers to, and which Sue's communication
with Curtis yielded the correct responses; fields
some listener calls, and more. [www.MySpace.com/SuePike]
GUEST:
Stacey Thomas and Sue Roenbeck--founders of Healing
Animals with Love Organization (H.A.L.O.), a St. Petersburg,
FL-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to
create an ongoing network of medical care providers,
rescue and other services and various resources equipped
to respond to animal emergencies around the clock--discuss
the incident that spurred the creation of H.A.L.O.;
the relationships already forged with animal rescue
organizations, veterinarians, city agencies and others;
the first responder and other training they plan to
offer H.A.L.O. volunteers; how H.A.L.O.'s services
will complement those provided by--and likely lighten
the load of--other emergency response agencies; how
other local organizations have reacted to H.A.L.O.
arriving on the scene; ambitions over time to widen
the network well beyond the St. Petersburg/Tampa/Clearwater
area, and more. [www.HaloPlanet.org]
GUEST:
Writer-reporter-poet essayist Charles Siebert,
the author, most recently, of "The Wauchula Woods
Accord: Toward A New Understanding Of Animals"--which
chronicles his extended encounter with a retired circus
chimp named Roger at The Center For Great Apes, a
chimpanzee sanctuary in Wauchula, FL and widens out
considerably from the personal reportage of that encounter,
including incorporating reporting and impressions
featured in some of The New York Times Magazine cover
stories he's written about animals and animal issues--discusses
his history and how he began writing about animals,
the experiences that led to writing the new book,
the current landscape when it comes to captive chimps,
how even wild chimps may well be on the path toward
experiencing the profound behavioral disturbances
that have afflicted elephants (both captive and wild)
which have exhibited something akin to Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, how captive dolphins (including ones
used in therapeutic settings) are now also reflecting
signs of having been traumatized, and more.
GUEST:
Ric O' Barry--the nominal star of "The Cove,"
the acclaimed and award-winning documentary-thriller
that partly functions as an expose of the "secret"
dolphin slaughter that takes place annually in the
small Japanese town of Taiji--discusses his involvement
in the film (when the movie was completed, he was
surprised he was at the center of it), how he began
as a dolphin trainer (most notably, the dolphins used
in the TV series "Flipper"), how the "Flipper"
experience compelled him to renounce that world and
become in the ensuing 40 years arguably dolphins'
chief protector/rescuer/advocate, not only trying
to generate attention toward the tightly-guarded Taiji
carnage, but also staunchly opposed to any form of
dolphin captivity. While addressing this tale of redemption,
he also commented optimistically on the prospects
of Michael Vick experiencing his own tale of redemption,
and more. [www.SaveJapanDolphins.org]
GUEST: Wayne
Pacelle--the President and CEO of The Humane Society
Of The United States, the country's largest animal
protection organization, with upwards of 11 million
members--discusses what he views as the three most
important hallmarks of his tenure as CEO, at the five-year
mark; his decision to have HSUS team with Michael
Vick for educational efforts on dogfighting, and how
that decision (and reaction to it) speaks to the intricacies
and challenges of leadership at that level; how animal
welfare has evolved as a social movement and how certain
organizations have kept pace with that evolution and
some, like PETA, may not have; the increasing premium
he has placed on cultivating and passing legislation;
what sorts of political posts he imagines could lure
him away from running HSUS, and more. [www.HSUS.org]
GUEST:
Nellie McKay--the singer-songwriter-animal welfare
advocate, who, the day before this interview, released
her new album, "Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute
To Doris Day" -- returned to "Talking Animals"
(this marks her fourth visit), discussing the rescue
pitbulls, Hank and Bessie, that share her home (and
the "Blueberry Pie" album cover); the details
of how she first became enchanted with Doris Day as
a pre-adolescent, while protesting an aquarium in
Baltimore; re-explaining why, in her 2007 New York
Times Book Review critique of a Doris Day biography,
she took the author to task for his repeated use of
the phrase "animal lover"; the animal welfare
issues she currently considers the most urgently important,
and more. [www.NellieMcKay.com]
GUEST:
Sue Martino, Executive Director of The Pet Project,
an Oakland Park, FL-based organization that helps
serve the needs of pet owners who are living with
HIV/AIDS, have a terminal illness, are disabled, or
seniors on low, fixed incomes--discusses the history
of The Pet Project and its specific focus in the earliest
days; describes the organization's growth and widening
out of both the coverage area and clientele served,
as part of longer range plans to operate not just
statewide, but nationwide; outlines the scene of a
quintessential Pet Project client and the products
and resources provided her; addresses the group's
corps of volunteers; and fields a handful of calls
from listeners offering to help The Pet Project in
one way or another, and more. [www.PetProjectForPets.org]
GUEST:
Jonathan Safran Foer--the 32-year-old author
acclaimed for his novels "Everything Is Illuminated"
and "Extremely Loud," he's now penned a
non-fiction book, "Eating Animals," which
just in its first week out has already generated tremendous
attention, discussion and coverage across all forms
of media and the blogosphere--discusses the struggle
with ambivalence for much of his life over eating
meat that launched him on the journey that forms the
core of the book, how he came to widen out the book
beyond a memoir into a colorful mosaic of voices and
viewpoints (addressing, for instance, the striking
juxtaposition of essays by PETA VP Bruce Friedrich
and Bill Niman, formerly of Niman Ranch), the farmer
Frank Reese emerging from the book as both a singular
figure and its hero, what will be served/eaten at
Foer's house this Thanksgiving, and more [www.EatingAnimals.com]
GUEST:
Bill Smith--the founder of Main Line Animal
Rescue in Pennsylvania and a nationally-respected
expert on puppy mills, who's been featured on "Oprah,"
profiled in People, and who received the ASPCA's Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2007--discusses the history of
puppy mills; outlines the religious, geographic, cultural
and other factors that account not only for Pennsylvania's
Lancaster County being deemed the puppy mill capitol
of the U.S., but also the Amish and Mennonite farmers
being at the forefront of practicing this dark business;
describes the conditions found in any given puppy
mill and the traits that often characterize the dogs
living in these facilities; addresses the care and
special handling these animals receive at Main Line
Animal Rescue after they're surrendered or seized;
emphasizes the importance of contacting your congressmen
and women and other representatives to educate them
about puppy mills and push for legislation that would
help stymie such operations, and more. [www.MLAR.org]
GUEST:
Dr. Jane Goodall--the primatologist and anthropologist
whose study in the 1960s of chimpanzees in the Gombe
Stream National Park in Tanzania yielded pioneering
findings, and she has since increasingly been viewed
as a highly influential, heroic figure--discusses
her latest book, "Hope For Animals And Their
World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued From
The Brink," (which chronicles, among other things,
a few dozen success stories of folks across the globe
rescuing a wide array of species from extinction);
offers a short list of the people who've had the same
type of profound impact on her life that she's had
on so many lives across the globe; addresses her view
of zoos, some of which played a pivotal role in the
book's extinction-rescue success stories; talks about
chimps, ranging from her annual visits to Gombe, to
some chimp sanctuaries, to captive chimps' attacks
on humans; discusses the potent feelings of Hope that
have fueled her outlook and work for decades; explains
what constitutes an ideal day on the road (she travels
about 300 days a year) and an ideal day at home, and
more. [www.JaneGoodall.org,
www.RootsAndShoots.org]
