Biologica: Where Humans and Animals Meet

About Biologica: Where Humans and Animals Meet

Through stories and interviews, join Dr. Susan - shelter veterinarian and science educator - to explore how animals and humans interact and how nature and society intersect. From the vernal pools of Maine to the mountains of Ecuador, let’s dive in and make discoveries together.

Publisher

susanhayhurst

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Apr 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

34 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Beyond welfare to care ethics – Breaking the rose-colored glasses

   Come explore animal ethics, with a distinctly continental flare. Dr. Susan talks with Dr. Judith Benz-Schwartzburg of Vienna about ethics that go beyond traditional welfare concerns and delve into care ethics. It may raise questions and challenge your perspectives about pets, and more. More resources: Two papers co-authored by the interviewee: Caring animals and the ways we wrong them. Judith Benz-Schwarzburg et al. Biol Philos.2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37388763/ How Dogs Perceive Humans and How Humans Should Treat Their Pet Dogs: Linking Cognition With Ethics https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584037/full Dr. Judith Benz-Shwartzburg website: https://vetmeduni.academia.edu/DrJudithBenzSchwarzburg ARLGP Humane Education programs https://arlgp.org/humane-education/about/

2. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Changes: A Milkweed Mystery

   Dr. Susan, recovering from a concussion, creates a simpler episode to explore the milkweed patch in her yard, searching for a monarch caterpillar. The episode includes an older interview with the founder of Save Our Monarchs.

3. 

   23 Sept 2026

   The Rat Pack

   The Rat Pack: Rats and the Humans Who Love Them Discover why rats make wonderful, sweet pets in this episode of Biologica. If you love them, fear them, or are just curious, come learn some things that might surprise you! In this episode, Skye adopts three boy rats, and Dr. Susan interviews the adoption coordinator at Mainely Rat Rescue. We also spy on rats in the City of Lights. Mainely rat rescue home page: Mainely Rat Rescue – Because Every Rat Is Worth Rescuing https://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/ Mainely rat rescue care guides https://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/care-guides/ Teenage Beatrix Potter with her pet mouse (it’s not a rat, but it’s a close cousin): https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0A9Ym6QFzoOXlQdSoYkgiyQ5xbKs2bMBB3Fx0JdKtxJMU720dFbwEuKyyVaByFn_3aq1ZcsmJJ7ibyEJb2CrfADMSKls5HE0Jb9N-R0JRPmPYLer0tlGl-6LC4_zl3hyphenhyphenkgm3713h8yE/s1600/beatrix-potter-pets-6.jpg Cute video of rats eating peas: Rats eating peas https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H-EN32f-P6o A donation was made to Mainely Rat Rescue as part of this Episode. (Mainely Rat Rescue is unique in focusing specifically on rats. Note that Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland and many other shelters also do wonderful work adopting out pet rats along with their other charges.)

Who has been a guest on Biologica: Where Humans and Animals Meet

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Alex Sutton
• Carl Walsh
• Tim Greenway
• Darcy Baird
• Erin Thornton

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

17 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

60

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

Contact Biologica: Where Humans and Animals Meet

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Biologica: Where Humans and Animals Meet