For the January 2025 episode of his In a Manner of Speaking podcast, Paul temporarily takes off his Henry Higgins hat and puts on his Doctor Dolittle cap. That’s because this month’s episode is the first to tackle non-human speakers.
Paul’s guest is distinguished Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum. Go here to listen, or find it on your favorite podcast channel or index.
Welcome to the first podcast episode of 2025. To start off the new year, In a Manner of Speaking is doing something it’s never done. In all previous 83 episodes, Paul has focused on human speech. But this month, Paul and his guest, distinguished Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, discuss the speech of animals.
Kersenbaum is the author of the bestselling The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy. His latest book, Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication, explores the communication of seven animals: wolves, dolphins, parrots, hyraxes, gibbons, chimpanzees, and humans.
In addition to serving as the Herchel Smith Research Fellow in zoology at the University of Cambridge from 2014 to 2017, Arik was the postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 2012 to 2014. Dr. Kershenbaum received a PhD in evolutionary biology and ecology from the University of Haifa, Israel. He is currently a college lecturer, tutor, and director of studies at Girton College, University of Cambridge.
Below you will find video clips of Arik and other content related to this month’s topic. To visit his YouTube channel, go here.
(Bach’s Cello Suite #1 in G Major BMV 1007 Prelude (by Ivan Dolgunov) is courtesy of Jamendo Licensing.)
