John Hainze— The Endangered Species Act is one of the premier environmental laws in the United States. It offers protection for endangered and threatened organisms both large and small—from orchids to insects to bears. That the Act does not differentiate between charismatic animals and those of a lesser pedigree is
Leslie Anthony— Life on our planet is changing, of that there can be no doubt. That alien invasive species are a measurable component of this is also clear. The questions raised, then, are simple, and essentially those we began with: do we care about this? And if so, what are
Jenny Diski— The great advantage over real live creatures that my Three Bears had in common with Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, aside from not needing to be fed or produce droppings, was neoteny. Mickey and my ursine family looked only glancingly like a mouse or brown bears, and much more like babies.
Mike Unwin— You needn’t be a birder to recognize an owl. The round face and large, forward-facing eyes immediately distinguish it from any other bird. And it is arguably this face—with its superficially human expressions—that explains why owls have maintained such a hold on our imaginations. It has led us to personify the
Bernie Krause— Nearly twenty years ago, while exploring links between natural soundscapes and music, my dear late father-in-law introduced me to the writings of Paul Shepard. The book, The Others: How Animals Made Us Human, contained a chapter titled “The Gift of Music.” One particular line in that section stood
Tony Angell— To most of us owls are mysterious and elusive creatures of the night. That they can freely operate in darkness that leaves us gripping a flashlight to make our way, contributes to their singular standing among birds. Of course their broad feathered faces collect all available light to
John M. Marzluff, co-author of the award-winning In the Company of Crows and Ravens, has been featured in a recent NPR interview discussing the “Crow Paradox.” This popular broadcast originally aired on July 27th, but can be accessed online here. In the interview, Marzluff discusses research he conducted at the
In light of continued media coverage about the U.S.’s relationship with Iran, Trita Parsi’s attention-grabbing Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States was reviewed by both Salon and Bloomberg News. Gary Kamiya of Salon calls it “an important new book,” addressing a “fundamental misunderstanding of
Ben Kiernan was interviewed by Lewis Lapham, former Harper’s editor and now editor of Lapham’s Quarterly. They discussed Kiernan’s recently released Blood and Soil on Lapham’s radio program “The World in Time,” which aired this past Sunday, October 28. The interview is posted on Lewis Lapham’s website at Lapham Quarterly,
Yesterday, William Burt’s exhibit opened at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, featuring 40 of his vividly stunning photographs. Running through December 16, 2007, this exhibit traveled from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and will continue on to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas, upon leaving