The Animal Turn

In this episode Claudia talks Teddy Duncan Jr. who departs from the Marxian consideration of the meat-commodity to think about how psychoanalysis, especially Lacanian psychoanalysis, might be useful in understanding human relations with meat. They discuss the interconnections of language, disavowal, symbolism, jouissance, and ‘the Real’ in this discussion. 
Date Recorded: 12 November 2025
Teddy Duncan Jr is a professor at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Teddy’s academic writing on subjects such as animality, psychoanalysis, pedagogy, and philosophy has been published in Between the Species, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, the International Journal of Zizek Studies, The Latin American Literary Review, and The Midwest Quarterly. His freelance writing on art, politics, and literature has appeared in publications such as The Observer, Compact Magazine, Document Journal, and Washington Independent Review of Books, among others. His first academic book, Interpreting Meat, was released in late 2024.  Get in touch with Teddy Duncan via [email protected]
Featured: 
Zoological Lacan: A Lacanian Framework for Animality and Humanness by Teddy Duncan
For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment as a Political Factorby Slavoj Žižek
The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol Adams 
Mythologiesby Roland Barthes 
Powers of Horror by Julia Kristeva
Animal to Edible by Noilie Vialles
Ecrits: A Selection by Jacques Lacan
Human, All Too Human: "Animal Studies" and the Humanities by Cary Wolfe 
“Eat More Chicken” – Chick-Fil-A-Cows Ad Campaign

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. 
Leave a Review on  Podchaser 
Check out The Animal Turn Merch. 
Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

A scientific abstract can tell you a species is declining. A story can make you feel what that loss means and why it should change how you live. In this episode Claudia talks to Lucy Spelman, Susan Tacent, and Christopher Kondrich, the co-editors behind Creature Needs, a striking book that juxtaposes conservation science with poems, essays, and fiction written in response. They discuss the book, writing as a means of connection, and the politics of conservation.  
Date Recorded: 29 June 2025
Featured: 
Creature Conserve
Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation Edited by Christopher Kondrich, Lucy Spelman and Susan Tacent
Animals and Sound on The Animal Turn
Feral Atlas by Anna Tsing 
What is it like to be a bat? By Thomas Nagel
The Animal Highlight
Compassionate Conservation with Daniel Ramp, The Animal Turn
The Animal Turn is part of the  iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, LinkedIn, Blue Sky, and Instagram
 
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast; Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, Jeremy John for the logo, Rebecca Shen for her design work. This episode was edited and produced by the host Claudia Towne Hirtenfelder. 
A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. 
Leave a Review on  Podchaser 
Check out The Animal Turn Merch. 
Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

We explore how Stranger Things signals a new monstrous moment, moving from unknowable creatures to human-made villains, and what that shift says about power, identity, and culture. Along the way, we ask how animals get coded as monsters and when their agency is reclaimed or removed in film and TV.

Date Recorded: 22 April 2025
 
Featured: 
Tolerance Discourse and Young Adult Holocaust Literatureby Rachel Dean-Ruzicka 
Paranormal Maturation: Uncanny Teenagers and Canny Killers by Rachel Dean-Ruzicka 
Of Scrivens and Sparks: Girl Geniuses in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction by Rachel Dean-Ruzicka 
Monster Culture (Seven Theses) by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen
The Monster Theory Reader by  Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
The Angel of Indian Lake by  Stephen Graham Jones
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
Stranger Things
Cocaine Bear
Mickey 17
Okja
Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. 9
Nature Trail to Hell
Monsters, Heroes, and Others: Unpacking Power in Media and Politics through Race or Species
A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. 
Leave a Review on  Podchaser 
Check out The Animal Turn Merch. 
Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

Gina Song Lopez, researching vegan movements in Taiwan and China through the lens of local culture and social media, and Taylor Jobling, a law lecturer unpacking how Australia’s legislation categorises animals, come on to the show to discuss the main themes and tensions to emerge in Season 8, Animals and Media 
 
Date Recorded: 8 December 2025

Featured:
 What Comes After Entanglement by Eva Giraud
The Birth of Korean Cool by Euny Hong
The Omnivore’s Deception by John Sanbonmatsu
Animals and the Rights to Politics by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka
An analytical framework to understand the problematization of urban (historical) animals by Claudia Hirtenfelder
Black Fish 
Finding Nemo 
Flow
The Cove
Cowspiracy
Earthlings
A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. 
Leave a Review on  Podchaser 
Check out The Animal Turn Merch. 
Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.

In this episode we bring together a photojournalist from India, a Canadian columnist, and a political scientist/reporter to discuss animals and the news. We discuss different types of news as well as some of the challenges that come with creating news content that focuses on animals.   
 
Date Recorded: 4 June 2025
 
Featured: 
How to Spot Misinformation and Bias About Climate and Food in the News by Jessica Scott-Reid
Meatsplaining by Jason Hannan
Feed the People by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg
Mother Cow, Mother India by Yamini Narayanan 
Netflix’s Liver King  Doc skips the meat of the story by Jessica Scott-Reid
An animal rights activist was in court on criminal charges. Why was the case suddenly dismissed? On The Guardian
Sentient Media
Free Willy
We Animals
Future Perfect on Vox
Animal Rights on The New Republic
Animals on The Guardian  
Animals Rights Activism on The Intercept
Animals on Wired
Animals on New York Times
Animal Justice

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

iROAR Network
iROAR brings together podcasts that aim is to make the world a better place for animals.

Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Modern Language, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Literature, Media, & Commun

Pollination Project
The Pollination Project empowers volunteers across by providing the funding they need.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the  iROAR Network. Learn more on our website. 
Leave a Review on  Podchaser 
Check out The Animal Turn Merch. 
Support us on Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and Buzzsprout.