Wild About Pets: Being With Animals

Susan & Barbara discuss the main themes of Being With Animals, why we are so obsessed with animals, and the profound connection that we seem to share with them. Then, we hear about some amazing animal encounters & learn about a unique event for animals at St. John’s cathedral.

Wild About Pets: The History of Animal/Human Connection

Barbara describes the long history humans have relating with animals, as exemplified by cave paintings. Barbara also talks about her experiences with gorillas and the great apes, as well as how humans show their appreciation and love through symbols.

Wild About Pets: Interacting with Wild Animals

Barbara shares an amazing story of how gorillas deal with death, and tells us about her work helping feral cats. Susan and Barbara then describe the wonder of entering the world of large mammals.

Look While You Listen!

Click here to view the photos Susan and her guest are discussing.

To Order \"Being With Animals\"

What do Mickey Mouse, Ganesh, a leopard-skin pillbox hat, A Lion Called Christian, and the Aflac duck have in common? They all represent human beings' deeply ingrained connection to the animal kingdom. In Being With Animals, anthropologist Barbara King unravels the complexity and enormous significance of this relationship.

Barbara J. King

Barbara J. King is Professor of Anthropology at the College of William & Mary.
She is author of the highly acclaimed Being With Animals (Doubleday 2010), Evolving God (Doubleday 2007, and The Dynamic Dance(Harvard University Press 2004).

Dr. King has studied monkeys in Kenya and great apes in various captive settings. Her research has advanced the thesis that humans and animals have deeper emotional relationships than previously thought.

Barbara is a popular guest on interview programs and recently appeared on the Diane Rehm Show and National Geographic Radio. Previously, she has been interviewed on radio programs in Canada, Austria, Germany, and Australia.

Dr. King is the recipient of numerous teaching awards from William & Mary and the state of Virginia. She is also associated with the Teaching Company which produces course material taught by America's leading professors.

Barbara King graduated from Douglass College with a BA in Anthropology. She also received her MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma.

Together with her husband, she cares for and arranges to spay and neuter homeless cats.

Click here to visit her website