June 6, 2023

If you’re planning a roadtrip or long flight this summer, you might be looking for new podcasts to help pass the time. We have a recommendation for you: Wild Animal Initiative's Wildness podcast, a series produced by multimedia journalist Maia Laperle in 2019. The four-part series covers introductory topics surrounding wild animal welfare and features interviews with leaders in the larger wild animal welfare community, including Animal Ethics Co-founder Oscar Horta.

Episode 1: Who cares about wild animals?

Maia introduces the values and tenets of wild animal welfare while interviewing leaders in the wild animal welfare space.

Guests:

• Persis Eskander, co-founder of Wild Animal Initiative

• Abraham Rowe, co-founder of Wild Animal Initiative

• Oscar Horta, co-founder of Animal Ethics

Episode 2: Addressing uncertainty

Maia considers the role uncertainty plays in wild animal welfare research, and how we handle it.

Guests:

• Joe Ballenger, writer for Ask An Entomologist

• Hollis Howe, former team member at Wild Animal Initiative

• Marianne van der Werf, program officer for the Effective Animal Advocacy Fund

• Brian Tomasik, advisor for the Center on Long-Term Risk

Episode 3: Who is nature for?

Maia asks hard questions about what we value in nature, who we’re preserving it for, and what that means for wild animals.

Guests:

• Rachel Bjork, board member at Northwest Animal Rights Network

• Rob Smith, Northwest Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association

• Mark Davis, biology professor at Macalaster College

• Christopher Sebastian, author, researcher, and lecturer

Episode 4: A seat at the table

In the season finale, Maia explores the moral and political future of wild animal welfare.

Guests:

• Natalie Kofler, founder and director of Editing Nature

• Jay Shooster, associate and animal welfare legal fellow at Richman Law Group

Maia Laperle
Producer and Host

Maia is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, and animal advocate living in Portland, Oregon. She has a degree in fine arts from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and is committed to promoting equity and compassion through art, storytelling, and education.